How desperate are you in your trading?

[babyjake1961]

Do you happen to revenge-trade in your desperation? Do you trade your bread money? Do you get emotional about your trading?

I believe psychology is just as important as a strategy when it comes to trading - the former even prevents one from following the latter. A profitable strategy alone is hard to find/develop but forcing yourself to stick to it seems even harder.

 

[Signalcalc]

If you know the strategy works over the long term and you are not over leveraging risk for your account, then trading can be very relaxing.

Find a strategy that's fits with lifestyle and goals and having a plan are all essential to make trading easier on yourself.

Make a plan and have the discipline to stick to it, if the plan doesn't work then stop trading and make a new plan before starting again.

The market will always be there providing opportunities everyday, so there is no need to rush or revenge trade.

 

[babyjake1961]

The thing is, many stumble over trading when they run into financial issues and seek ways to re-establish or supplement their income. When they run into trading losses on their bread money accounts, they get emotional and revenge-trade only to lose the remainders of their accounts. That's the main problem I see with retail traders on boards like these, unprofitable strategies being secondary.

 

[NVP]

to win in the long term you have to get your head in the zone and trade objectively.....a desperate trader is a losing trader .......

always get your MM straight and don't overleverage or stake high %s of capital on individual trades....

you are in the game for the long term so trade that way

N

 

[babyjake1961]

Sure, but these people are in it for quick superprofits and wouldn't settle for less. They have been told by slick salesmen who prey on them that they can get rich in no time by trading and they want it here and now - much to the joy of bucket shops.

 

[Signalcalc]

Sure, but these people are in it for quick superprofits and wouldn't settle for less. They have been told by slick salesmen who prey on them that they can get rich in no time by trading and they want it here and now - much to the joy of bucket shops.

There are many good pieces of advice related to trading. Having been a beginner myself I can relate to someone that either didn't listen or didn't know any of that advice at the beginning and made mistakes and wasted/lost money in the beginning.

However the one golden rule that applies in life in general is ....... Don't risk/spend money you cannot afford to lose ESPECIALLY bread money.

So it doesn't really matter that much what you do in trading wether you are successful or lose your account as long as you follow at least that one golden rule.

 

[babyjake1961]

Those who turn to retail trading while not being financially constrained are rather few in my observation. Employed and well-paid professionals reasonably prefer to focus on their careers rather than entertain the seemingly insane idea of consistently beating the markets. People who come to retail trading are mostly cash-strapped persons looking for a really quick and big buck or unsophisticated individuals who think they can come and succeed in what thousands of experienced others miserably failed.

 

[Signalcalc]

Those who turn to retail trading while not being financially constrained are rather few in my observation. Employed and well-paid professionals reasonably prefer to focus on their careers rather than entertain the seemingly insane idea of consistently beating the markets. People who come to retail trading are mostly cash-strapped persons looking for a really quick and big buck or unsophisticated individuals who think they can come and succeed in what thousands of experienced others miserably failed.

I don't know what the stats would be and I would have a hard time believing anything that's said about the nature of why people take up trading and what they believe about what and why they are doing it. There's too much snake oil out there. The media doesn't help either as they report events as facts when most of it is just journo opinion.

I should think that most of us start the journey with thoughts of private jets and millionaire lifestyles, I did and still do. But once you are past the overwhelming amount of info related to attempting to make money from the markets, it becomes clear that it is just like any other profession - a steep learning curve at the beginning followed by a period of consolidation/specialisation followed by a period of work over a long period of time that hopefully earns you money.

Like most other professions where there is training available and a steep learning curve there will be failures, those that pass the grade and get the job and earn money and the few that excel, get the job and go on to become the CEO.

Anyone starting in this business needs to have requirements other than just to make money and at the end of the day it should be an enjoyable way to spend your time. If people are unhappy with what they are doing then they should change.

 

[babyjake1961]

I strongly disagree that trading is like any other profession. It is far harder to succeed in trading than it is to succeed in the absolute majority of professions. Only slick salesmen make it look like trading is easy by touting an illusion of repetitive markets.

 

[Signalcalc]

I strongly disagree that trading is like any other profession. It is far harder to succeed in trading than it is to succeed in the absolute majority of professions. Only slick salesmen make it look like trading is easy by touting an illusion of repetitive markets.

My analogy is with the process of becoming proficient at anything, the analogy was not relating the level of difficulty of trading with that of other professions because there are far riskier professions than trading.

But as with other professions, if you fail in the exams then you won't get the job!

 

[babyjake1961]

In my experience, one can't profit in trading consistently as markets are never the same while you have to stick to your stategy and weather out the bad periods. So no stable monthly paycheck here. However, your monthly expenses are pretty stable on the other hand, so you need something to live off before you accumulate enough profits on your trading account to withdraw. That's if you are a profitable trader in the first place. A dentist or a lawyer only gets better at their job over time while even the best traders often fail abruptly (think John Taylor of FX Concepts). Lastly, not to take excessive risks with the trading lot and the leverage, one's trading account must be sufficiently big, and hardly anyone has such an amount of risk capital.

 

[mlawson71]

I don't do revenge-trading at all, I've long learned not to do that, and I avoid trading with money that I would need for other things. That said, I am plenty emotional when I do trade, in the sense that I am always anxious when I open new positions.

 

[babyjake1961]

Do you happen to exit the trades prematurely because of your anxiety?

 

[mlawson71]

Do you happen to exit the trades prematurely because of your anxiety?

Yes, it happens sometimes, unfortunately. Sometimes I actually exit them too late trying to compensate for that and that just makes me even more anxious. It's a vicious circle.

 

[NVP]

you must execute your exits as mechanically as possible .......but first you need to understand what kind of trader you are to determine the best strategy for yourself .........

remember your personality / profile is a huge part of your trading strategy in all areas

one size does not fit all and it is also the reason why you cannot trade someone elses successful system .........its not just the learning ...its your personality getting in the way

N

 

[piphoe]

The wild card introduced fairly recently is HFT. If you don't think it's made a negative difference, i have a nice bridge to sell you.

The markets are much more erratic and random today. Lots of noise!

Most of the trading is not done in secs or minutes...but nanosecs. how does the human compete???

 

[Signalcalc]

The wild card is called the human brain. Just as NVP says, you need to come to terms with the type of trader you are before you can be a relaxed trader. If you are sweating over trades then you have not 'found yourself' as a trader yet.

 

[SmartGeek]

Well I was desperate when I have started to trade, but when the time passed and I learnt about it, now I am Patient enough and don't remain desperate, as it ruins our trade.

 

[babyjake1961]

If one is a beginner then you need to be more advance in learning something. so if a guideline is provided then it will be better service in learning. so a simple guide that can make you experienced in trading.

These guides are usually written by loser traders. Profitable traders don't write guides - they stay busy trading.

 

[SmartGeek]

I am not at all desperate, rather I stay calm while trading and wait patiently for the opportunities to make successful trades.