Typical

[new_trader]

My trading system begins to improve after I lose faith and start paper trading it again. If I exclude the real trades I would be in profit instead of drawdown.

Typical....Bloody Typical.

 

[wasp]

Mate, sh it happens, you live you learn.

I had a dire day yesterday and shorted cable for 90 today only to watch it go another 100....

Discipline and blind faith are hard to have but worth it and remember, the markets aren't going anywhere and the opportunities will come again.

Sods law is underated but at least now you know it works!

 

[new_trader]

Mate, sh it happens, you live you learn.

I had a dire day yesterday and shorted cable for 90 today only to watch it go another 100....

Discipline and blind faith are hard to have but worth it and remember, the markets aren't going anywhere and the opportunities will come again.

Sods law is underated but at least now you know it works!

Thanks wasp. I was reading your thread and I know how you feel.

 

[TWI]

This is something you have to get over. Once you go live, stay live. It is the discipline you should sort out before you embark on mechanical trading and one of the hardest things to maintain. Equally hard when you have had a great run and then hit a couple of losses. Good luck. Suggest you write down what happened now in big letters and stick it in front of you for the next time you feel like not pulling the trigger. Stop being a girls blouse.

 

[JumpOff]

new_trader,
Are you using a platform that allows you to reduce your position size? I find my real results are more like my paper results when my size is small enough that any one single trade doesn't matter. If I increase my size too much, then I begin to inspect every darn tick through "hope and fear" covered glasses, instead of just reacting to what's actually happenning.

JO

 

[sandpiper]

My trading system begins to improve after I lose faith and start paper trading it again. If I exclude the real trades I would be in profit instead of draw down.

Typical....Bloody Typical.

new_trader.

If you are still trading the 120 min opening range break out, or some derivative of it, then the mixed results you've had are to be expected. ORB based systems all suffer when volatility contracts and benefit when it increases. If you are still trading this method then obviously position sizing isn't going to matter (I believe you trade 1 lot anyway).

It takes a certain type of temperament to trade ORBs and, imho, a largish pot that will allow you to trade the method across multiple markets, particularly the natural commodities (rather than stock index futures). To be honest (not having a go here) it looks to me as if you don't have the temperament required to trade this type of method (particularly on a single market). There's no shame in conceding that you are not psychologically suited to a particularly method, quite the opposite in fact.

One thing you can be assured of given the cyclical nature of volatility is that following your systems recent run of success there WILL be another period of draw down. Will you start trading it for real before this happens or after. Will you have to endure another period of draw down before the system comes good again? If so, can you handle it?

If you are not trading that ORB method any more then I apologies for the intrusion