Through the Looking Glass

[Redneck]

I remember reading an article awhile back where it stated a lesson stays with a person for ~ 6 hours before beginning to wear off..., and at times we must repeat the lesson(s) over and over before it/ they actually stick

You’re going on ~31 hrs now…

I truly hope it sticks this time Illiquid….time will tell…



May I respectfully suggest you print out your last post and tape it to your monitor – at least for a little awhile Sir… Not to discourage – but as a governor/ throttle/ reminder....



fwiw - here’s an excerpt from my journal…

“Discipline and Control are funny things – just because I “think” I have them – does not mean I do… Have no doubt the market will painfully teach me the difference – until I lean it”


May not be worth much but it's from the heart

RN

 

[Xspurt]

Quote from Xspurt:

There's always two ways to solve this problem. One is to do what you are doing and return to the original trading plan. It will be interesting to see if it is as simple as that, or if you find that subconsciously you sabotage it because it is time to move on.

The other solution is to tighten up your trading so that technique takes care of discipline rather than the opposite way round. The mind is a fascinating thing and sometimes it needs refreshing and if you don't give it what it needs, it wanders off to do its own thing.

That is why I subscribe to slow but continual development. It keeps the mind fresh. A coach can lead a team to victory, but without the knowledge of how to prevent routine becoming staleness a great team can begin to self destruct.

I could say more but might influence your thinking, and as this is a self discovery process I will stand back and enjoy your journey.

Good trading

No surprises. This is part of the rebirth process and it's always messy. You know what you want to do but you need inner agreement with what your stated plans are. Just because you state them does not mean you mean what you think you mean!

So there are things to resolve. It will be interesting to see how you go about that. Isn't self discovery wonderful lol.

 

[ammo]

Quote from ammo:

profit will do that , show your ego the door, in most games you have human opponents or peers and you gauge them as the ones to beat, the market is not human, hence no ego, this is a traders biggest nemisis, it gives the market another leg up, which it doesn't need

repeat,show your ego the door,you need to money manage, not massage your feelings,one could assume from stats that the 95% that dont make it can't do this,this is your hump illiquid,your ego wont let you see it.....,write down all the reasons you could win as a trader , and all the reasons you could lose,as quickly as you can,..............dont filter them,.............. then go back and read them and rate them as 1-10 as how true they are,start throwing out the false beliefs.....always remember ...this is just business, dont take it or make it personal

 

[Gabfly1]

Quote from illiquid:

...Just to show you all how much "effort" and "dedication" and "passion" is worth in this game. Surprise! It's a big fat fucking zero...

Just so long as "effort, dedication and passion" are not synonyms for holding on to losing positions. I hope next week goes much better for you.

 

[NoDoji]

Quote from illiquid:

P/L for week 6/4: -32k on 250k shares traded

+10, -32, -2, -8

You had a very strong Tuesday. Do you think this set you up for taking greater risk the next day or was it more a case of changing market conditions Wednesday where patterns that worked well in the past suddenly failed?

Quote from illiquid:

I think I'll rate my week from now on with how many crappy hollywood movies I can squeeze in before the bell.

Just watched "Fantastic Mr. Fox" last night. I highly recommend it after a tough week in the trading trenches.

 

[illiquid]

Thanks for the reminders and encouragement, this lesson has been a repeat lesson years in the making, and the culprit has always been success -- or at least my reaction to it. I've never been able to just keep cruising with what's working, I've always been one to keep pushing my game, cuz in the back of my mind I knew I could always hunker down and get it back. Well it's done, I'm done pushing, I'm getting tired of the whole cycle forwards and back. I wanted everything to make sense, I wanted a story, right down to each position, and it's just been bullshit. You don't need a story to make money, the way I see it now you can stumble into riches, smash-and-grab your way to a future, scour the pavement every day for a windfall -- I'll be just another rake for the 95% to deal with from now on.

For as much as I wanted to believe, there is no art to trading -- none at all. There is nothing timeless that exists on its own to behold, admire, inspire. There is only joy and suffering in the markets, one feeding off the other. The rest is numbers.

 

[~~~]

Quote from illiquid:



I wanted everything to make sense, I wanted a story, right down to each position, and it's just been bullshit. You don't need a story to make money

why must everything makes sense? when sometimes life itself doesn't make any sense? (good people/hero die first, innocence babies/children born with cancer.. tsunami striked the poor countries etc.)

You are a trader not a writer, only writer needs a story to make money.

throw away the bad emotions & ego.. be cool and hope this week is a better week for you.

 

[illiquid]

P/L for week 6/11: -11k on 320k shares

-10, -5, +5 -1, 0

First half of the week just a continuation of previous before I finally settled down. Nothing more to add from a personal standpoint.

For the rest of you out there: the more I try to convince myself that "you don't need to know what's going to happen in order to make money", the more evidence I see to the contrary. The most insidious thing about facing the programs out there is that they in effect teach you to do the "wrong" thing in order to make a profit -- if you're unable to differentiate the exception from the rule, you won't survive.

 

[NoDoji]

Illiquid, it would be really interesting to see a chart posted of your entries/exits/reason for trade on a few of your big losing trades. I think the input you'd get from others here could be really helpful. It took input from four different traders over a period of time, but I finally "got it" (at least until the next time I lose my mind).

 

[~~~]

Quote from illiquid:



"you don't need to know what's going to happen in order to make money"

It's true only when gambling in casino...

My friends told me the "same words" when we went to casino yesterday (sunday) to play Baccaret in the exclusive VIP room for high rollers.

We sat on the baccaret table for a while and observed who's the lucky "winner" and who's the unlucky "loser".

After a while we placed our bets "Contrary" to the unlucky ones ..
he got 8 pts and we got 9 pts (max pts) and when we got 2pts or 1 pt ... he got "baccaret"(0 pt)

we won a few hands and moved to another table...
we observed the lucky ones and just followed him/her to place our bets...
The "Lady-luck" was incredible .."natural 8 pts" & "natural 9 pts" was her nickname

"The God of Fortune" was smilling at us yesterday..... about 2 hrs later, we cashed out our chips. The casino PR Execs came over to offer us hotel
luxury suites for free and dining free in the swanky restaurants.
Okie! They are smart but we're not stupid either ...
we're astute businessmen and we've excellent "self-discipline".
It's fun & a beautiful sunday.

Trade-well & Good Luck and hope this week is a much better week for you.