Why can't I make money - when I know what do do?
- Thread starter Vespasian
- Start date
tradersboredom
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former fund managers, investment advisors /brokers make bad traders cause they've been selling long to investors so going short is counter to their experience.
trading is mostly mechanical. i feel like a mechanic hammering at the keyboard mindlessly when i trade that way.
leave your former investment advisor, academic experience behind in trading, even high school kids can make money hammering at the keyboard daytrading.
the only academic experience in if you are managing a 1 billion dollar portofolio you need to know more investment analsyis and hedging techniques..this daytrading or hammering keyboards is like a video game. really it is.
trading is mostly mechanical. i feel like a mechanic hammering at the keyboard mindlessly when i trade that way.
leave your former investment advisor, academic experience behind in trading, even high school kids can make money hammering at the keyboard daytrading.
the only academic experience in if you are managing a 1 billion dollar portofolio you need to know more investment analsyis and hedging techniques..this daytrading or hammering keyboards is like a video game. really it is.
Quote from Vespasian:
I have spent the last 3 years trying to learn the craft of trading (had minimum success) I finally broke down and hired an incredible mentor (that was referred by a good friend, who he helped turn his trading around).
I spent 3 months studying with this guy and I've learned how to use some amazing tools for reading the markets.
Going into today I was looking for shorts and every trade I took was a long.
This is truly becoming UNBEARABLE and I am at my wits end.
I've read all the psychology books and I've even had some counseling with a noted trading therapist but it never F ing changes anything.
I'm beginning to hate myself and I know now hate trading, after being so passionate about it for so long.
This really SUCKS !
Should I quit or should I keep at it ?
neveralone..your scared of losing money. I can't help you with that fear maybe others on ET can but as a trader you got to be able to make your own analysis and pull the trigger. your anaylsis is good so next time just put the trade on. Dont get stuck in the woulda shoulda coulda. "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is unknown. All you can contol is the right now."
Yes, thats exactly what I seem to be always griefing about.
Coulda.Shoulda.Woulda. Every time I see trades that i was "placing in my head" do extremelly well, then the one time I do end up placing a trade, it goes the wrong way, I quickly cover my loss ( 100$ max downside I allow myself), and my confidence also goes down. I know this is emotional trading, which I shouldn't be doing.
I am scared of losing money, because I started trading in April 2008, and I opened my account with 39,000. I lost 90% of that, currently I have 5,000$, which is maybe why I'm still soo scared,
The difference between now and then, is that now I know soo much, I have strategies, I know what I'm doing unlike before.
Literraly if I placed every trade, I placed on my piece of paper, I would have made back almost half of the money in February alone...
Anyone know any books I can read to help out with psychological issue of being scared / confident ?
Coulda.Shoulda.Woulda. Every time I see trades that i was "placing in my head" do extremelly well, then the one time I do end up placing a trade, it goes the wrong way, I quickly cover my loss ( 100$ max downside I allow myself), and my confidence also goes down. I know this is emotional trading, which I shouldn't be doing.
I am scared of losing money, because I started trading in April 2008, and I opened my account with 39,000. I lost 90% of that, currently I have 5,000$, which is maybe why I'm still soo scared,
The difference between now and then, is that now I know soo much, I have strategies, I know what I'm doing unlike before.
Literraly if I placed every trade, I placed on my piece of paper, I would have made back almost half of the money in February alone...
Anyone know any books I can read to help out with psychological issue of being scared / confident ?
neveralOne,
In my experience, the psychological problems of fear and greed are strongest when your bets are too big for your account. Try this, half your size and observe how you feel about putting on a trade, cutting your losses and letting a winner run. If you are still not calm and almost distant from the result, then cut your size in half again. Rinse and repeat until you feel relaxed and centred no matter win or lose on a bet.
In my experience, the psychological problems of fear and greed are strongest when your bets are too big for your account. Try this, half your size and observe how you feel about putting on a trade, cutting your losses and letting a winner run. If you are still not calm and almost distant from the result, then cut your size in half again. Rinse and repeat until you feel relaxed and centred no matter win or lose on a bet.
i would suggest you to leave the market a while. i understand you are eager to recoup your loss and doing your trading normally.
the thing here is very simple:
your account is too tiny, just $5000. for example, if you saw a stock like $5, and you thought it will advance $5, that is like double. so you bought it with 1000shares, now the fun part starts, the stock did not do the thing as you expexted, it dropped to $2.5 with a downgrade news or bad outlook news. from the dollar value, it just dropped 2.5 points, that means nothing to a big stock like $100 or $50. but your account is down 50%. even worse, suppose you use full margin to do this trade, you bought 2times, that is 2000shares, if the above things happened, you lost all and even owed your broker firm $5000. definitely you get margin call, and went broke.
ok, if your account is $50000. still do the same trade above, at the worst, you just lost $2500, that is just 5% of the account, the broker firm will not give your margin call, if you do not want to kill it, you can hold and wait, then next day, the companies announces buyout news: another competitor wants it at $10 a piece, man, you made $5000.
the point is the tinier the account, the more accurate in timing your trade! that is why under-funded account always wiped out, while those big deep pockets always there day in and day out, and make very attractive profits!
so the best remedy is: go back to work, until find a good enough stake again, then go back to do this trading business! or go to a prop firm, use others' money to do it.
Yes, thats exactly what I seem to be always griefing about.
Coulda.Shoulda.Woulda. Every time I see trades that i was "placing in my head" do extremelly well, then the one time I do end up placing a trade, it goes the wrong way, I quickly cover my loss ( 100$ max downside I allow myself), and my confidence also goes down. I know this is emotional trading, which I shouldn't be doing.
I am scared of losing money, because I started trading in April 2008, and I opened my account with 39,000. I lost 90% of that, currently I have 5,000$, which is maybe why I'm still soo scared,
The difference between now and then, is that now I know soo much, I have strategies, I know what I'm doing unlike before.
Literraly if I placed every trade, I placed on my piece of paper, I would have made back almost half of the money in February alone...
Anyone know any books I can read to help out with psychological issue of being scared / confident ? [/QUOTE]
the thing here is very simple:
your account is too tiny, just $5000. for example, if you saw a stock like $5, and you thought it will advance $5, that is like double. so you bought it with 1000shares, now the fun part starts, the stock did not do the thing as you expexted, it dropped to $2.5 with a downgrade news or bad outlook news. from the dollar value, it just dropped 2.5 points, that means nothing to a big stock like $100 or $50. but your account is down 50%. even worse, suppose you use full margin to do this trade, you bought 2times, that is 2000shares, if the above things happened, you lost all and even owed your broker firm $5000. definitely you get margin call, and went broke.
ok, if your account is $50000. still do the same trade above, at the worst, you just lost $2500, that is just 5% of the account, the broker firm will not give your margin call, if you do not want to kill it, you can hold and wait, then next day, the companies announces buyout news: another competitor wants it at $10 a piece, man, you made $5000.
the point is the tinier the account, the more accurate in timing your trade! that is why under-funded account always wiped out, while those big deep pockets always there day in and day out, and make very attractive profits!
so the best remedy is: go back to work, until find a good enough stake again, then go back to do this trading business! or go to a prop firm, use others' money to do it.
Yes, thats exactly what I seem to be always griefing about.
Coulda.Shoulda.Woulda. Every time I see trades that i was "placing in my head" do extremelly well, then the one time I do end up placing a trade, it goes the wrong way, I quickly cover my loss ( 100$ max downside I allow myself), and my confidence also goes down. I know this is emotional trading, which I shouldn't be doing.
I am scared of losing money, because I started trading in April 2008, and I opened my account with 39,000. I lost 90% of that, currently I have 5,000$, which is maybe why I'm still soo scared,
The difference between now and then, is that now I know soo much, I have strategies, I know what I'm doing unlike before.
Literraly if I placed every trade, I placed on my piece of paper, I would have made back almost half of the money in February alone...
Anyone know any books I can read to help out with psychological issue of being scared / confident ? [/QUOTE]
Im 22 years old...that was my 4 years worth of savings, I doubt I will save that much again - for a while, especially in these crappy job market.
Thanks for the opinion though, although I would prefer to trade.
Now, I mostly trade ETF's like SRS / FAZ / stocks like RIMM and GS.
Thanks for the opinion though, although I would prefer to trade.
Now, I mostly trade ETF's like SRS / FAZ / stocks like RIMM and GS.
do not trade SRS/FAZ, they are wild animals. small currents in those wild animals will kill you even you are dead right!
QUOTE]Quote from neveral0ne:
Im 22 years old...that was my 4 years worth of savings, I doubt I will save that much again - for a while, especially in these crappy job market.
Thanks for the opinion though, although I would prefer to trade.
Now, I mostly trade ETF's like SRS / FAZ / stocks like RIMM and GS. [/QUOTE]
QUOTE]Quote from neveral0ne:
Im 22 years old...that was my 4 years worth of savings, I doubt I will save that much again - for a while, especially in these crappy job market.
Thanks for the opinion though, although I would prefer to trade.
Now, I mostly trade ETF's like SRS / FAZ / stocks like RIMM and GS. [/QUOTE]
Quote from Vespasian:
I have spent the last 3 years trying to learn the craft of trading (had minimum success) I finally broke down and hired an incredible mentor (that was referred by a good friend, who he helped turn his trading around).
I spent 3 months studying with this guy and I've learned how to use some amazing tools for reading the markets.
Going into today I was looking for shorts and every trade I took was a long.
This is truly becoming UNBEARABLE and I am at my wits end.
I've read all the psychology books and I've even had some counseling with a noted trading therapist but it never F ing changes anything.
I'm beginning to hate myself and I know now hate trading, after being so passionate about it for so long.
This really SUCKS !
Should I quit or should I keep at it ?
what exactly are you trading?