Quote from Vespasian:
Red,
It seems like there is always a chain of events like this when this happens and while the day plays out I go through short periods where my analysis "looks" spot on only for it too turn on a dime but those short periods lull me into complacency and hope.
Long story but the end result is still the same.
You are missing one key thing that you need to be a successful trader. I wrote about it in another thread, but I'll state it here again.
What you need, and what you lack, is a "shut off switch". You need an internal mechanism that makes you STOP TRADING when you are screwing up. It is amazing what a difference a simple half hour break can do. If you had this mechanism, and if you had actually walked away while you were losing, you would have regained your sense of perspective and either come back successfully for the rest of the day or else taken some time off and eventually come back the next day, or the next day after that. Instead you continued to trade and took large losses.
The only advice I could give you is to actually visualize yourself placing a bad/stupid trade. Visualize yourself getting angry about it, and placing another one, causing even more damage to your account. You need to visualize this scenario because it IS going to happen.
Now continue with the exercise, and visualize yourself stopping and walking away. See yourself calming down, and then returning to the computer in a restful state of mind and doing whatever needs to be done.
There is no point in only visualizing positive outcomes and great trades. Those things are important, but if you don't prepare for and practice those times when you are going off the wall, you will not be able to handle them when they occur.
It is ridiculous to expect that you can trade without making mistakes, and equally ridiculous to think that you will never get mad at yourself. The #1 thing that successful traders have is an internal "self monitor", that allows them to analyze themselves (not the market), and stop themselves when they are screwing up.
When you screw up, the goal is not to fix whatever mistake you just made and get the money back, the goal is to make yourself WALK AWAY. You can't possibly fix your mistakes in an emotional state of mind, so step #1 is getting away from the computer.
If you ever decide to trade again, make sure that you spend a heck of a long time visualizing and practicing what I said. You need an internal shut off switch, and if you don't have one naturally, then you'll have to practice getting one. If you can't do that, then for god's sake just walk away from trading because you are 100% doomed without this ability.
(And by the way you're absolutely right, the market IS literally out to get you. It is nothing more than all the other traders in the world doing actions that are specifically designed to screw you over and part you from your money.)
But even 1 car would've provided a great day. Some day I'll start trading this thing live...