8 Months Day trader need help

I wanna say Thanks to everyone who took their time to share their wisdom and expriences.
I have tried to absorb as much as i could from the great posts here, And i KNOW i learned a few new things.
 
I wanna say Thanks to everyone who took their time to share their wisdom and expriences.
I have tried to absorb as much as i could from the great posts here, And i KNOW i learned a few new things.

One more test for you - One fine monday drop the calipers - no trading room - no Outside help... Unless you fall on you own - no one else to blame. you wont learn.
You will keep trading beyond the daily loss limit because OTHERS in that room are still trading and you will fail to stop and continue to bleed.
I hope by now you KNOW this method of yours and can detect setups on your own.. good or bad doesnot matter. Take your own calls - take the "not so good ones on Sim" and see the results.
Make sure you stick with your winning trades. Try scaling out of positions and manage stops actively. If you trade 50 shrs make it 100 and scale out of half at half your target -move your stop to entry and ride the MOmentum UNTIL its dead.

Do you Read alot of news before you trade ??- before the market open do you have an opinion as to what is going to happen. ??? Try reacting to the market especially if you are a momentum trader - trash your predictions.

Respect Daily loss limit - As soon as reached- try switching to sim for god sake.

8 months is not enuf if you have been doing this part time.

happy trading :cool:
Guru
 
Simple questions
What education & training have you had ?
What is your accoount balance ?
How long each week do you spend trading ?
With these answers it could highlight area's where streanth is required.
 
Hello all,

I took a 3 month course in swing trading - day trading a bout 10 months ago,
This course taught all the important basics about electronic trading along with technical analysis.

actually from the 3rd course lesson we already started trading real time with real money(only trades that were called by the instructor and only 50 shars or so) just to get the feel of losing/earning real money.

Ever since then i have been trading every day and i am also a member of an online trader chat room that with succsesful daytraders who teach and gives out trades real time.

anyway i have been day trading smal quantities for the last 8 months and some months i`d make a few hundred dollars profit(before commisions) and some months i`d lose a few hundreds or more.. and once i lost over a thousend.

All these losses i see as tuition fees and i understand no real learning can come without losses..
thing is after 8 months i am repeating a pattern of mistakes, I have a clear set of rules i am a Momentoum trader and i witness many highly sucssesful trades with this setup

THE PROBLEM is that every few days i have a horrible day when i throw away all my rules out the window.. i overtrade..i trade emotionally.. i dont quit when i reached my daily losing maximum.. and i end up a mental wreck and damage my account
these days normally follow up with another losing day or a break even day.

I have been starting to think about my attitude to money lately, is it possible that because this money is "virtual" i give it less meaning?

Normally what triggers these bad days for me is entering not so great setups out of the fear of "missing out"

Does anyone have any words of wisdom on how to stay in line with my rules no matter what? or is that the million dollar question?

I would really appriciate your response Cheers,

Lior

See the thread on this page entitled: "How to Avoid Going on Tilt"
I think it would be very helpful.
 
Everything in here certainly strikes a chord of my distant past - thank god - it was a tough period, and as every trader would echoe ,it is a path we must all go through and overcome.

Distanteyes, believe it or not - you have actually taken the step of overcoming your problems just by recognising what it is that you need to work on. Many newbies give-up before they take the step you have taken and I can only congratulate you on this - you are 50% of the way there.

My personal turn came when I recognised a few key areas that effected my psychology/ability to follow my strategy, these I list below:
1. I was trading scared money
- solution, reduce my account to microlots
2. I hated losing and was overjoyed when I won
- solution, when you feel your emotions building take a break, if you cant take a break then mentaly relax and tell yourself that you must feel neutral. This is best practised when you make a winning trade, tell yourself not be be happy about it. Try not to get excited. It worked for me, hopefuly it will work for you.
3. I also practice something known as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) - google it. Keep your mind open to this and don't under-estimate its power. I use it for all aspects of my life now and I cannot emphasise how much it has personaly helped me.

These are my top tips, best of luck in overcoming this and you will look forward to a great trading future. Good trading to all
 
3. I also practice something known as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) - google it. Keep your mind open to this and don't under-estimate its power. I use it for all aspects of my life now and I cannot emphasise how much it has personaly helped me.

Leventib, How do you actually use ETF, I mean before starting your usual day or when you actually come across any emotional issues?
How long have you being using this technique to get rid of the issues?
Thanks!
 
Stop day trading, the odds, due to the cost of doing business mean that it's almost impossible for most people to make money over time, and that's the key - over time.

Better to wait, be patient and pick your points. That might mean not trading for several days.

Good luck :)
 
How to use EFT

Leventib, How do you actually use ETF, I mean before starting your usual day or when you actually come across any emotional issues?
How long have you being using this technique to get rid of the issues?
Thanks!

Hi, once you have read and understood its implementation it will be very easy as to how you apply it.

If ever you feel stressed, angry, happy, nervous, or just something in the pit of your stomach - that is when you apply EFT.

What you have to do is learn the technique and then apply it whenever you get the feelings that need to be pushed out. You don't need to apply it as a routine, only when you feel you need it. The moment you start to apply it properly,ideally when you are experiencing the emotion you will find that the feeling will subside within minutes, or when practiced, almost instantaniously.

If you are in a situation where you can't apply the technique for fear of looking like you've lost your mind, then all you do is go somewhere private and relive the situation in your mind, then apply the technique.

I often used it prior to making an important presentation in front of our director or customers - this I then took into my trading, and it worked wonders. With practise, the feelings that used to derail your trading will slowly subside and then you will no longer need to apply it.

Hope that helps.
 
Hi, once you have read and understood its implementation it will be very easy as to how you apply it.

If ever you feel stressed, angry, happy, nervous, or just something in the pit of your stomach - that is when you apply EFT.

What you have to do is learn the technique and then apply it whenever you get the feelings that need to be pushed out. You don't need to apply it as a routine, only when you feel you need it. The moment you start to apply it properly,ideally when you are experiencing the emotion you will find that the feeling will subside within minutes, or when practiced, almost instantaniously.

If you are in a situation where you can't apply the technique for fear of looking like you've lost your mind, then all you do is go somewhere private and relive the situation in your mind, then apply the technique.

I often used it prior to making an important presentation in front of our director or customers - this I then took into my trading, and it worked wonders. With practise, the feelings that used to derail your trading will slowly subside and then you will no longer need to apply it.

Hope that helps.

Thanks mate for the reply. I have got the course videos with me, I might just give it a try, looks quite easy. Lets see how it works out.
Cheers!
 
Yes...and no. (What you are experiencing by the way is what I think all traders go through. I put my hand up and admit I have lost money due to breaking my rules.) If you spend even just one week without trading but just taking notes, making observations, you will make NEW discoveries which will either add to or improve your current methodology, maybe even change it completely. When you are 'free' from the strain of having to trade your mind is able to absorb new information that you may have ignored or missed in the past. But, this is one thing that many who try this game are unwilling to do. To sit at your screen for 10 hours/day for a week or more and resisting the temptation to trade requires discipline. You must be committed to this exercise. You must be able to walk away from your screen after having sat watching it all day without making a trade and know you have done the right thing. This is just a start.

top posting NT. :)
 
Hello all,

I took a 3 month course in swing trading - day trading a bout 10 months ago,
This course taught all the important basics about electronic trading along with technical analysis.

actually from the 3rd course lesson we already started trading real time with real money(only trades that were called by the instructor and only 50 shars or so) just to get the feel of losing/earning real money.

Ever since then i have been trading every day and i am also a member of an online trader chat room that with succsesful daytraders who teach and gives out trades real time.

anyway i have been day trading smal quantities for the last 8 months and some months i`d make a few hundred dollars profit(before commisions) and some months i`d lose a few hundreds or more.. and once i lost over a thousend.

All these losses i see as tuition fees and i understand no real learning can come without losses..
thing is after 8 months i am repeating a pattern of mistakes, I have a clear set of rules i am a Momentoum trader and i witness many highly sucssesful trades with this setup

THE PROBLEM is that every few days i have a horrible day when i throw away all my rules out the window.. i overtrade..i trade emotionally.. i dont quit when i reached my daily losing maximum.. and i end up a mental wreck and damage my account
these days normally follow up with another losing day or a break even day.

I have been starting to think about my attitude to money lately, is it possible that because this money is "virtual" i give it less meaning?

Normally what triggers these bad days for me is entering not so great setups out of the fear of "missing out"

Does anyone have any words of wisdom on how to stay in line with my rules no matter what? or is that the million dollar question?

I would really appriciate your response Cheers,

Lior

I started a thread entitled "How to Avoid Going on Tilt".
The responses were very helpful and I think that it would be helpful to your issue.
 
Does anyone have any words of wisdom on how to stay in line with my rules no matter what? or is that the million dollar question?

I am not sure if that question is answerable in a manner that can be fully appreciated by someone who is only trading 8 months.
I will give my 2 drachmas worth however!

"your rules" is the first conundrum. From your initial post I understand that these rules are not your rules but rules imposed upon you by someone else. In essence you are asking yourself to blindly follow a path laid by someone else to trader nirvana. Your faith in someone else path can never be whole. This is a psychological impossibility.

The rules are those laid down by someone else. If it worked they would not be selling it. I would not sell my main systems for all there is. Systems derived by yourselves become an extension of yourself. Someone else's system is an extension of themselves and you are transferring your faith in them onto your expectations.

Your expectations after 8 months may be some of the following:
expect to make money, to get what I deserve, to get paid for my effort, to get paid for my education, to prove to my mum, wife, girl, boy, son, daughter, dad, workmates that my life is valid and I can succeed, to get back at the same for doubting you, annoying you, hurting you, disbelieving you, laughing at you on that one occasion in the pub when you were 17. The list goes on......To provide a better life for your children, to....

Get rid of every expectation you have ever had, expectations are external in that they revolve around the lives of others. I do not mean that you need to be selfish, just removed from expectation.

I am not sure if you are trading one market or more. I trade across the board, softs, hards, metals, futures, stocks, futures. To me diversification was a turning point.

I have a system in YM futures. It goes like this: It is mine, I developed it. The rules are mine. Because they are mine I follow them. I believe in the system as I have developed it. I believe in myself. The rule are static yet I have 17 versions of the same system that have different rules yet show tradeable results. Only the drawdown differs slightly. I have backtested 12 years. If I break the rules of one system those incorrect entries transfer onto the next system and so on. The rules cannot be broken as they are fluid.

I have no expectations. I am not angry with my parents, my childhood. I have nothing to prove. I require no revenge.
I took years to get to this stage.
Someone mentioned EFT. This is good. Trading in the zone is excellent.

I spent 4 years losing money. All the while I said to myself that this was my "course fee" for becoming a profitable trader. Rubbish! stop this. My fee ran for at least 18 months more than they should. I conned myself out of money. Expect to pay a "course fee" expect to become an expert. Certificates are not available. Save your money- spend time on yourself, your expectations, your own system (or backtest someone elses - to death)
If I lie in a field on a rainy night I expect to get wet. Does that matter? only if I think I will look stupid, or others are whispering in the background, or or my girl will be angry, people will question my sanity, I will get flu and miss work for a few days, my nice shirt will be stained, I might be robbed.....etc. Get a life!
If you enjoy the rain on your face and the smell of grass around you and the sounds of the night just sleep in the field.
What others say is consensus,the rain is the market, the ground is your capital (as are your clothes), the sounds of the night your trade signals but the feeling inside will be the trader.

I am sorry if this seems esoteric but tonight I can describe it no better.
 
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