Trigger Shy.... help ?

W

wiesman02

Well, I'm finally making money in the ES. But I still find myself being trigger shy once in a while. I guess its b/c I lost so much $ in 2008 when I first started.

Nowadays, I have an edge, and I have more winners than losers. Yet, I still find myself being trigger shy at times. Like tonight for instance. If you look at the ES (around 730pm CST), I wanted to go short at about 1206.25.

But i said to myself, well, I won't be able to make another trade until Monday morning due to other plans so if this ends up being a loser, I dont want to go 4 days with my last trade being a loser. Yet, looking at this evenings action, I was relatively certain I'd be able to scrape at least a point out of it. I was actually looking for the 1204 level, so we'll see if it gets there tonight.

Now, 8:15pm cst, i'd have made 1 - 1.25 ES points.

Now this type of shit doesnt happen all the time. I wouldnt be making money on a semi-consistant basis if it was. But it does happen.

But i still struggle with the trigger shy mindset. I understand that not every trade is going to make me money. And I know u have to play the odds. There's never a 'guaranteed' trade. Yet, in my mind, i still secretly wait for it. There's some trades in the morning after the open that have high expectancy. Yet, in the back of my head i'm thinking "well this COULD go against me" so i hesitate. When in reality, it was a trade I should have taken, but its trigger shyness.

What is there to do to get me to teh next level ?

Right now, I average 1 - 2 points per day. But I know getting over this hump, I can / should be making a lot more.

Help ?
 
Write down every trade that you missed as they happen.
Write your stop and profit target.
At the end of the day, see how it ended up.
Every month, add those up, and see how much money you would have won or lost and if missed out on a lot of profits write that number in big ass numbers where it you can see it at all times while at your screen.

When you put on paper how much money you lose by not pulling the trigger and you constantly remind yourself of how much your "once in a while" lack of balls costs you, then it should become much easier to pull it....

Myself I am pretty trigger happy and now that I figured out how to be disciplined enough with entries I can usually get in more or less into a trade without taking on too much/any heat.Now the second I get into a trade my balls shrink....and I exit prematurely, oftentimes killing the trade without letting it do what it's supposed to.....

Latest example in date, was long SNDK this morning at 37.83 (and passive fill to boot) could not have had a better price - stock goes back to the figure pulls back a few c and I bail out like a twat - leaving 50c on the table..... :mad:
 
Only adding to what BartS posted



Patience and the repetition of doing the same thing you’re doing now over and over, day after day, week after week…

This is where the wash, rinse, repeat comes into play – that you’ll live with for as long as you trade


Attaining the next, and every subsequent level – comes with perseverance, consistency of action, and a complete familiarity/ confidence with what you’re currently doing.

The bitch is if you try to rush it – all you’ve gained will flee – then it’s back to square one you go… Yes I’ve been there also Sir..


So on one hand always push yourself to loftier goals – on the other – don’t push too hard – or too fast



Welcome to the wonderful, exciting, fun packed, exhilarating world of trading – not….

It’s a grind – best to keep it that way Sir


RN
 
Quote from wiesman02:
Yet, I still find myself being trigger shy at times.
..
Help ?
More...
This is an understandable problem. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your type of play but it does seem hit and miss or is it discretionary?

Lets assume you had trigger paralysis for part or all of a days session. Where you have a reliable methodology, just go back and check the whole day on your chart. Write up metculously all results you would have had. This should not only show you a net profit but also how you exited any trade where your expectency was unfruitful. The purpose of this exercise is simply to reinstate your confidence for doing all your normal trade entries on subsequent days.
:)
 
Quote from Redneck trader:

The bitch is if you try to rush it – all you’ve gained will flee – then it’s back to square one you go… Yes I’ve been there also Sir..


So on one hand always push yourself to loftier goals – on the other – don’t push too hard – or too fast

It’s a grind –

RN
More...

Paraphrasing Lescor from his Grind thread: Up your size slower than you're comfortable with.

Too much size kills.
 
Consider this: Never be satisfied with todays results, you are always capable of more. But in trading, never forget ......LESS IS MORE. Tell that to your shrink and see if a confused look appears on his/her face.
http://the99percent.com/tips/6103/the-40-30-30-rule-why-risk-is-worth-it

Maybe we could say stress works for some. Stress is a great teacher and motivator if the person is wired properly. You will never know unless you push the envelope to find your comfort level. :)

Example: Our pal, NoDoji gets a little unglued when she gets flustered in crude oil. :D She is doing fine and can take a joke. :)

PSS: CL is a little unfair to retail traders, the initial stop loss points are to wide to trade properly and control risk per car. The stops are past a reasonable point to work the setups with ease...........in other words, the retail trader is using to much risk for the setups to work before the trader is nailed. NOT cool!!!!!

_done_
 
I'm an algorithmic trader, and I still get nervous/trigger shy everytime my systems enter into positions (that's 100x a day for each symbol).

It's not unusual to have forms of performance anxiety. In high school, I was nervous before every single race I ever had on the track team - even though I knew the top times of the people I was racing against and knew there wasn't a chance in hell they'd beat me.

I still get nervous before every soccer game I play.

Being nervous keeps you alert, and keeps your eyes on the prize. I'd be more worried if I didn't care anymore...
 
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