reminiscence of(yet) a (novice)trader

[aag100]

what comes before even a strategy?
know which market your going to trade
its opening/closing times
spreads during these times
roll over charges
interest charges
dividend payouts
times of news announcements
settings on your trading platform
trading is difficult as it is and losses incurred from the above feels even more so that the market is out to screw you over.

 

[aag100]

like the mad man laughing at the rain
you might be short ftse and watch the dow.for every point the dow goes up your ftse goes another point against you.the dow goes 20 points against you and your ftse position is in the hole for another 20.fair enough you think the ftse isnt gonna go your way if the dow isnt.dows now gone 50 against you and your deeper in the hole by 50 too.
things turn round and the dows beginning to move down.great you think with a sigh of relief.it drops 20 points and the ftse only falls a point.WTF you think for every point it was going against me the ftse followed suit and for 10 points it goes for me i only get back 1.the dow gets back to where it started or even lower by another 20-30 points so your ftse position should be in the money too.but is it fk,its still down 30 points.
why is there a corrolation when its going against you but not when it would be for you.
it really does leave you feeling like the mad man laughing at the rain.

 

[aag100]

right.from monday i will be posting my trades in euro/dollar.
as they will be open to ridicule it may force me to make fewer and better trades,that is the plan.

 

[aag100]

11.37 short 1.3294

 

[aag100]

11.56 close 1.3288 +6
got out.a,what I call contradiction in my pattern and usually if I don't take even the small win it gives me,I know it can come back to fk me.

 

[pieter101]

Hey, judging from the name of your thread, can I assume your using some kind off price to volume strategy?

 

[aag100]

Hey, judging from the name of your thread, can I assume your using some kind off price to volume strategy?

wow steady on,price to volume sounds too complicated to me.
basically my strategy is the behaviour of price around certain indicators i use.

 

[aag100]

not really getting the time to call out trades.one i did call turned out ok but if only i had the balls to hold on just a few more minutes.could have taken around 20 points and been done for the day.but easier said than done.the number of times i havent taken a few points and its come back to whip me for 20-30 points!
so i shall keeping taking the few it does give and build up confidence and an account.

 

[aag100]

1.know your market
2.have a strategy
3.make some rules.ie dont trade around news
unable to sleep at 2am,dont get up and start trading.
no trading in bed.
a trade doesnt go anywhere for hours and you dont want to cut it especially
not for even a small loss.JUST CUT IT.
dont sit for hours watching the market forgetting all other bodily functions.

 

[Force the Resistance]

STAY OUT!
it really is rigged against the small retail investor.
some news is released 3min before to large institutions who can afford to pay large premiums for this service before the rest of us get to hear it.
so when i say stay out i mean stay out before news,let the big boys fight each other,then when the market settles look to enter.

Good point and nicely spotted. Event trading isn't quite a mugs game but it is if you're trying to catch the trend as the news comes in. Haven't you ever been charting at the moment an economic release is made and seen the trend start to form BEFORE the actual data is due to hit?

Nevertheless if you're swing trading or scalping the timeliness of your trade in relation to the data release isn't the be all and end all.

Nice thread, I think you may have inspired me to start my own.... if I can be bothered.

 

[aag100]

Good point and nicely spotted. Event trading isn't quite a mugs game but it is if you're trying to catch the trend as the news comes in. Haven't you ever been charting at the moment an economic release is made and seen the trend start to form BEFORE the actual data is due to hit?

Nevertheless if you're swing trading or scalping the timeliness of your trade in relation to the data release isn't the be all and end all.

Nice thread, I think you may have inspired me to start my own.... if I can be bothered.

i remember when i first started trading about 3yrs ago,i short a position,it goes up stops me out for 20-30 points,i then go long and guess what,
it reverses and takes me for another 20-30 and im fuming.i would have been better sticking with my first position and been losing nothing now,instead i have doubled my losses.or i should not have tried the second in a revenge trade and would have only lost half.
time and time again this would happen.and when i stopped using stop losses,guess what-it just kept going against me now taking me for 50-100 points or as much pain as i could bare.
its maddening,how does the market know which side im on!
i start talking to people telling them its rigged and im told im paranoid.
then theres this news out saying that actually some institutions do recieve news before its released to the public also on youtube theres someone saying the brokers know where the stops are and with a single touch of a key,spike them out.so my paranoia isnt totally unfounded i know im being handicapped but by how much.those 2 instances we know,how much more do we not know? in my mind,i wouldnt be surprised if these brokers havent developed artificial intelligence already.feeding us charts which carry on as normal until the minute you enter a trade,then they alter reality and show you your worst nightmare until you cut your trade with a loss.then they go back to normal to entice you again.
but back then i was also handicapped by my own lack of knowledge,without a plan/strategy and experience adding to my paranoia.
fk i could write a book!
anyway im glad if ive inspired even 1 person.you should write.others might chime in with their 2pence giving you food for thought which might give you ideas to look at things differently or look back and think wtf was i thinking!

 

[aag100]

the week this week.end 2/8/13.

trades points average
win 34 232 6.82
draw 7
loss 9 106 11.78
+126

ended week positive but ive really got to turn those averages around.
would have helped if i hadnt let one loss run to -45.knowing that i should cut at -10,-15 or even -20.
but thats human nature,u sit and hope it will come back and it did from -90.but why i let it run that far *** knows.i need someone to sit behind me and give me a belting when i dont cut after it goes to -20.
the wins all good but ive been leaving money on the table,bottling it and taking small wins before the patterns dictated.could quite easily have doubled winnings if id held just a few minutes longer but thats easy to say in retrospect.you just dont see it in the heat of battle and i also need to grow my confidence in my system.
plan for next week:fewer and better trades.have more confidence in the system to make better entries and exits cos i think it god damn works or atleast it has been for a few weeks now when i let it.

 

[Shakone]

i remember when i first started trading about 3yrs ago,i short a position,it goes up stops me out for 20-30 points,i then go long and guess what,
it reverses and takes me for another 20-30 and im fuming.i would have been better sticking with my first position and been losing nothing now,instead i have doubled my losses.or i should not have tried the second in a revenge trade and would have only lost half.
time and time again this would happen.and when i stopped using stop losses,guess what-it just kept going against me now taking me for 50-100 points or as much pain as i could bare.
its maddening,how does the market know which side im on!
i start talking to people telling them its rigged and im told im paranoid.
then theres this news out saying that actually some institutions do recieve news before its released to the public also on youtube theres someone saying the brokers know where the stops are and with a single touch of a key,spike them out.so my paranoia isnt totally unfounded i know im being handicapped but by how much.those 2 instances we know,how much more do we not know? in my mind,i wouldnt be surprised if these brokers havent developed artificial intelligence already.feeding us charts which carry on as normal until the minute you enter a trade,then they alter reality and show you your worst nightmare until you cut your trade with a loss.then they go back to normal to entice you again.
but back then i was also handicapped by my own lack of knowledge,without a plan/strategy and experience adding to my paranoia.
fk i could write a book!
anyway im glad if ive inspired even 1 person.you should write.others might chime in with their 2pence giving you food for thought which might give you ideas to look at things differently or look back and think wtf was i thinking!

The market is wonderful isn't it. It encourages you to do the thing that will lose you the most money

 

[aag100]

The market is wonderful isn't it. It encourages you to do the thing that will lose you the most money

its like discovering sex for the very first time and chasing everything and anything that moves.but with experience you learn to be more patient and only go for ones you think you stand a chance of success with and even then not to splash out too much and be prepared to cut your losses.

 

[aag100]

week ended 9/8/13.

trades points average
win 20 85 4.25
draw 3
loss 14 -117 8.36
charges -5
total -37

**** losing week.might aswell have been playing marbles.
a few less trades than the previous week but still too many and still going after a few points rather than patiently waiting to try for bigger moves.
might have ended a little up rather than with a loss if i hadnt broken some rules - trading in bed,trading on mobile,entering when patterns didnt dictate because i thought i could beat the market and then not wanting to cut a loss even though i should never have been in all because i couldnt wait.its going to take some discipline to stay out of the market and become a trader rather than sometimes let the gambling adrenaline junkie wanting some action side take over.
will try to remember that next week,the pain/anxiety caused from taking a trade when conditions arent there but taking them anyway because i just dont want to wait and usually its only a matter of a few more minutes.
thinking back,ive taken trades because ive thought the right conditions will never appear but more often than not they do only a few minutes after my entry and waiting would have resulted in a better price.and on occasions when the right conditions havent appeared,i need to realise that at times there just is no trade to take rather than make one just for the sake of doing something.

 

[aag100]

week ending 16/8/13
trades points average
win 17 45 2.65
draw 1
loss -8 -225 -28.13
-180(two single losses of -94 and -87)


week ending 23/8/13
trades points average
win 8 27 3.37
draw 3
loss -8 99 -12.38
-72(one single loss of -53)



week ending 30/8/13

trades points average
win 20 77 3.85
draw 10
loss -11 -100 -9.1
-23(biggest loss -16)


3 crap weeks!
making the same mistakes repeatedly 1)entering impatiently before patterns dictate.
2)not cutting losses.

three biggest losses of -94,-87,-53 amount to more than i lost in total.why i didnt cut them sooner baffles me.knocked my confidence and added to my anxiety every time i sat down to trade.but i told myself the market didnt screw me,i allowed it to,to that extent and next time no matter how much it hurts to crystalise a loss i would cut losses sooner(still hurts to cut losses,i hate losing.the number of times ive not wanted to cut at -1/-2 even though the bias has changed and then watched it go furthur against me!). the -94 and -87 i had the opportunity to cut at -2 but because i had been in the trade for hours i now wanted a win.

enough for now.im logging my losing weeks for all to see because there wont be too many of them as i improve.
i just have to stop repeating my last 2-3 mistakes

 

[barjon]

As soon as you say to yourself "I should cut this now" do it on paper even if you can't bring yourself to do it for real.

Then compare the results. One or two will have turned round, but you'll soon see the truth staring you in the face. It's a short step from there not to think of the cuts as "losers" but as "winners" from a money management perspective.

 

[Shakone]

Barjon's suggestion is a good one.

I am also curious what your initial stop is. When holding a losing position you may feel anxiety, and it's hard to think clearly. So a stop should be placed when you are thinking clearly, at the outset of a trade. You can cut a loser before the stop is hit, but it should always be there.

 

[aag100]

As soon as you say to yourself "I should cut this now" do it on paper even if you can't bring yourself to do it for real.

Then compare the results. One or two will have turned round, but you'll soon see the truth staring you in the face. It's a short step from there not to think of the cuts as "losers" but as "winners" from a money management perspective.

perhaps the one or two that do turn around after i have cut them are the ones that are foremost in my mind and stop me from cutting others which then i let get out of hand.its a real head fk.
now i try to remember the pain of losing 50-100 points and to why not cut at 20-30 and try to get in at a better price again.but then fear,paralysis and even revenge trading sometimes takes hold.still need to work on these aspects.
but your absolutely right,i need to bring myself to cut a loss.

 

[aag100]

Barjon's suggestion is a good one.

I am also curious what your initial stop is. When holding a losing position you may feel anxiety, and it's hard to think clearly. So a stop should be placed when you are thinking clearly, at the outset of a trade. You can cut a loser before the stop is hit, but it should always be there.

when i first started trading i had a stop of 20 but after seeing them spiked out repeatedly (sometimes even for more 30,40 as not guaranteed unless you pay extra spread),and then to see that spike fade really used to **** me off.so i stopped using them and cut them manually when the pain got intolerable.
but that was back then when i had less of a clue.now with a bit of a strategy(i think) i need to stick with it and bring myself to cut a loss once the bias has changed.
just need my fickle mind to remember the pain/stress/anxiety caused by holding on to a loser especially when the bias has changed and to cut it.
will see how it works out next week.