I too am struggling with this, It seems the safer I try to play it, the more disappointing the result. I am surprised at how conservative I find myself trading now that I have gone "Live" and am trading real money. I really thought I had conducted my paper trading as though it were for real. I think Bob had it right when he suggested that you should trade for reel with small lot sizes. There's nothing like the real thing.
For what it's worth I will share my trading plan with the community:
My goal is to earn 20 pip per week
My market is the EUR/USD
My method is the Bob Volman Scalp Trade
I will trade only when I am confident of the dominant market pressure.
I will trade only DD, FB, SB, BB, RB, IRB, and ARB set ups.
I will not take a trade unless the path to profit is clear.
I will trade between the hours of 06:30 and 11:00
I will not multitask
I will fund my account with $500 .
I will trade 10,000 unit lots only until:
A. I am down $250 at which point I will abandon this concept
B. I am up $250 at which point I will fund the account with $2,000 and begin a 1% position sizing strategy.
I will risk 10 pip per trade
I will target 10 pip per trade
I will comply with the following limits:
• If my first trade of the day is a winner I will stop for the day
• If I am up 20 pip for the day I will stop for the day
• If I exceed 15 pip in losses in a day I will stop for the day
• If I have 3 losers in a day I will stop for the day
• If I am up 40 pip for the week I will stop for the week
• If I am down 30 pip for the week I will stop for the week
Hopefully the plan will keep me in the game for 13 weeks at which point I will assess my ability to succeed at this. At this time I am 4 weeks into it and in the red.
Hey Datamold, thank you for being so open and honest with what you are doing.
I think you've got to do whatever works for you. But I do believe the most important thing is sticking with the decisions you have made, in the way of a trading plan, before turning on your platform and entering the fray.
Yes, there is the need to build skills in regard to reading price action, however, IMHO it is the mental/emotional side of things that is by far and away the most difficult to master. Personally, and probably similarly to others who contribute to this forum, I think I have a decent handle on the technical side of things and can spot and enter valid trades in real time. However, it is the way I respond/react to market information and my own behaviour that determines my success.
As such, I have taken to giving myself consequences for breaking rules, or any aspect of my trading plan. For example, as I mentioned before, I'll bar myself from trading for the rest of the session. This can be quite painful when you see a set-up come along you are dying to take and it ends up reaching target. And to prevent the temptation not to follow through on my consequence I will actually close my trading platform and just have my chart up.
I was considering adding to this - like having a cold shower for a minute (and it is winter where I am) but at this stage not being able to trade is painful enough. We'll see about it in the future, depending on the results...
As for stopping trading if your first trade is a winner, stopping if up 20 pip etc... Well, in an ideal world if you're following your trading plan there should be no need to stop trading. However, we're all human, complex and individual, and what works for one may not work for another. I reckon you do what you believe in until your beliefs change, if and when they do.
For me, the most dangerous times are when I have just taken a loss, even if on a valid trade, and when I have decided to skip 2 or 3 trades that ended up reaching target. For the loss taking, I have decided to walk away from my platform for a period of time (15-30 minutes) to regroup and get back into the right state in an attempt to prevent trading on tilt, or revenge trading.
As for skipping profitable trades over a period of time - to help keep in the present, and not drifting back to what I have "missed" and what I "should" have done, I have a meditation chime app on my iphone that I have set up to sound every 15 minutes. When I hear the chime it is a reminder for me to be mindful and I read through 3 or 4 quotes next to my computer that help me to execute my plan. I can't tell you how much this little exercise has helped me improve my behaviour. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, I hope some of this helps and I hope we all keep this dialogue open, as well as discussing the set-ups of course. Any other thoughts are very much appreciated.
