Tips on the Mental Game

beachhouse · Feb 17, 2012

Quote from emg:

there is no tips on the mental game for small traders. the reason is, u are under capitalized and have not trade in the "house."

treat trading as las vegas

small traders lose, they just lose.

no mental tips can help small traders. they just lose

taq · Feb 17, 2012

Planning is easy to do & hard to follow.

If you have a tested system go with it.... accept trading is a probability business & losses are part of that. Follow your plan define your risk & probable target zone & be in the moment don't worry about the outcome.

Every day i start my trading with this to stay focused & disciplined .

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438315/quotes

Regards
TAQ

clightmarathon · Feb 17, 2012

Quote from Redneck:

BD,

Flexibility

Ability to flow from one TF to the other â always knowing how price on the smaller TF â is moving within the larger TF
Ability to switch from long to shortâ¦. short to long â without hesitation
Ability not to judge, nor form an opinion â but simply go along
Ability to take small losses quickly... but be bored stiff while waiting for a profitable move to hit a target... or a setup to emerge

Flexibility taken to the extreme â you simply become one with the mktâ¦, or more specifically â one with the price of whatever youâre trading

Think of the freedom.....

==================================

Whenever I lose â it is not because price went against meâ¦ It was simply because I was not on board with price

Silly me

==================================

I trust price so muchâ¦., that if God himself came down and told me to enter one way or the otherâ¦ and price told me differentlyâ¦.

I would have to decline himâ¦ respectfully of course â but decline him nonetheless

==================================

btw â Thank You for mentioning that book Sir â think Iâm going to read it

RN

Thanks!
I see exactly what you are talking about, I have glimpses of it.
It seems so close sometimes...
So probably I am still not that close.

BobbiDigital · Mar 6, 2012

Quote from Redneck:

BD,

Flexibility

Ability to flow from one TF to the other â always knowing how price on the smaller TF â is moving within the larger TF
Ability to switch from long to shortâ¦. short to long â without hesitation
Ability not to judge, nor form an opinion â but simply go along
Ability to take small losses quickly... but be bored stiff while waiting for a profitable move to hit a target... or a setup to emerge

Flexibility taken to the extreme â you simply become one with the mktâ¦, or more specifically â one with the price of whatever youâre trading

Think of the freedom.....

==================================

Whenever I lose â it is not because price went against meâ¦ It was simply because I was not on board with price

Silly me

==================================

I trust price so muchâ¦., that if God himself came down and told me to enter one way or the otherâ¦ and price told me differentlyâ¦.

I would have to decline himâ¦ respectfully of course â but decline him nonetheless

==================================

btw â Thank You for mentioning that book Sir â think Iâm going to read it

RN

RN - if you could indulge me, I have another question:

How particular are you about entering trades - in theory, we don't know if it's going to be a small loser, small winner, or big winner. So, assuming there is adequate risk:reward, are you more likely to pull the trigger often taking small losers or wait for 'perfect' setups and risk missing out entirely (assuming chasing the market is always a bad idea).

For me trading small size makes it easy to dabble in less than perfect setups, but once I start sizing up I imagine my mindset will change...

Thank you as always sir

Redneck · Mar 6, 2012

Quote from BobbiDigital:

RN - if you could indulge me, I have another question:

How particular are you about entering trades - in theory, we don't know if it's going to be a small loser, small winner, or big winner. So, assuming there is adequate risk:reward, are you more likely to pull the trigger often taking small losers or wait for 'perfect' setups and risk missing out entirely (assuming chasing the market is always a bad idea).

For me trading small size makes it easy to dabble in less than perfect setups, but once I start sizing up I imagine my mindset will change...

Thank you as always sir

BD

Glad to indulge you Sirâ¦, and You are Very Welcome

================================================

Assuming there is adequate R:Râ¦,

Am I likely to pull the trigger, often taking small losersâ¦

or

Do I wait on perfect setups, and risk missing out entirely

Many ways to answer your question BD

Noâ¦, Yesâ¦., Maybeâ¦, come to mindâ¦ :eek:

=======================================================

Do perfect setups exist â yes (and if you would like to discuss this further simply say so)

Do less than perfect setups exist â yesâ¦

Do I trade each â yes, unfortunatelyâ¦

Do I miss out on moves â yes at times

Are entries one way I grade myself as a trader â You Betcha

======================================

Taking anything less than a perfect set up isâ¦, by defaultâ¦, assuming more risk

So then the question is; Is assuming more risk appropriate?

The only acceptable answer is â only if the reward is commensurate...

Most times it aintâ¦, and/ or often times we donât know if it is - until it is too late.

======================================

As a ruleâ¦, and the only advice I would share isâ¦

Only take perfect set ups

Yup it takes patienceâ¦, and considerable tolerance for missing movesâ¦ but they also provide clear entries, targets, and most importantly, small risk

Having said thisâ¦, truth isâ¦, sometimes I do take less than perfect setupsâ¦. Because I get impatientâ¦, opinionatedâ¦, susceptibleâ¦ (Iâm only human)

Butâ¦ NEVER would I make a habit out of it â nor a profitable career over the long haul

I absolutely knowâ¦, taking only perfect setups is the right way to tradeâ¦

I also absolutely knowâ¦, sometimes I screw upâ¦

=======================================

Market is already tough enoughâ¦, no sense in helping â and/or â making it easier for â the market to take our moneyâ¦

========================================

Couple of additional thoughts

Absolutely nothing stopping a trader from adding additional perfect setups to his/ her tool bag â thereby diminishing further the need to take less than perfect setups â It only takes a few criteria to make one

Also..

One big difference between gambling / guessingâ¦ and trading â is our setups, and our ability to wait till theyâve materialized - imo of course

RN

bone · Mar 7, 2012

Patience can be a real asset with trading - a common mistake in terms of timing an entry is typically on the early side. Reacting "to" the market condition versus getting chopped up and whipped around in a premature entry can be preferable. Probably the best way to accomplish this would be to make a conscious decision to sacrifice some trading range / profit targeting in exchange for better entry signal confirmation.

oldtime · Mar 7, 2012

Quote from bone:

Patience can be a real asset with trading - a common mistake in terms of timing an entry is typically on the early side. Reacting "to" the market condition versus getting chopped up and whipped around in a premature entry can be preferable. Probably the best way to accomplish this would be to make a conscious decision to sacrifice some trading range / profit targeting in exchange for better entry signal confirmation.

what is that they say? "Never wrong, often early"

emg · Mar 7, 2012

u should take martial art. If u made it to black belt, u achieved discipline

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nDd3Z_L0PwU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Bruce Lee's influence is felt far beyond his chosen discipline of martial arts as he remains an iconic figure to all those who value harnassing mental as well as physical capabilities, emotional discipline, and the pursuit of self knowledge. Lee turned combat into art, a show of strength into a discipline and showed the world what we are capable of when our thoughts, emotions and actions are in the power of our will.

bigarrow · Mar 7, 2012

Quote from bone:

Patience can be a real asset with trading - a common mistake in terms of timing an entry is typically on the early side. Reacting "to" the market condition versus getting chopped up and whipped around in a premature entry can be preferable. Probably the best way to accomplish this would be to make a conscious decision to sacrifice some trading range / profit targeting in exchange for better entry signal confirmation.

Very good. For me the Brooks book has helped me control my anticipation to enter a trade early. I've hit quit a few bottoms and tops on trades, and that has cost me dearly because I've lost much more on the times I didn't catch the top or bottom, trying to repeat perfection. Brooks is a tough but good read but it did help clarify waiting, for me at least.

intradaybill · Mar 7, 2012

Quote from emg:

u should take martial art. If u made it to black belt, u achieved discipline

You are absolutely correct. Warren Buffett and Steven Cohen have a black belt.