TOTW What was the last thing you had to master before becoming profitable?

[Sharky]

This week's TOTW is reserved for the small minority of traders who have broken through and achieved sustained profitability.

What was the last thing you had to master before becoming profitable?

Last week's TOTW: What have you learnt about yourself from trading?

 

[Mr. Charts]

I was profitable from the very beginning, but that was because,
a) I spent a long time figuring out the methods that were reliable and consistent with a high %age success rate based on my own analysis of charts and market/price behaviour and reading sentiment.
b) Then forward tested (live) all of them on hundreds of paper trades, eliminating those that did not have a high success rate (using tight stops)
c) Made sure I understood what worked well in different types of market environment
d) Thought long and hard about the probable emotional and psychological effects on myself of trading with money and realised I just had to ignore my feelings and trade on the facts, not what I felt.
e) Developed a trading plan with specific targets, starting with small numbers of shares, then worked up gradually.

So there wasn't really a last thing as such, it was more of a process.

Hope that helps someone think about what they need to do,
Richard

 

[Mr Fox]

The last thing I had to master was my own psychology.

The issue I had was like all humans having this inherent notion of wanting to tweak, fiddle, enhance or improve, to the point where I ended up so far away from the rules/entry&exit criteria that I was on a different planet.

So every morning I got up only to be battered by the markets psychologically, thus compounding the problem exponentially every day. Even on profitable days my subconscious knew there was a problem, and these days were just as traumatic.

Luckily for me a member of this forum got in touch with me via PM, who had gone through the same issue, and helped me no end. He set out a plan of action for me, and we spoke every day analysing the results, and week by week until I identified the issue. I am eternally grateful to this member, and what did he ask for in return for his help, absolutely nothing.

Even small changes like instead of trading in t shirt, and shorts from a laptop to dressing smarter(red braces, and single breasted grey suits shall wait till next year ), and having a home office have helped, to the point where now I am shortly moving into an external office for one.

Chaps like him really deserve awards for their unselfish goals of wanting others to succeed, without wanting anything in return.

Would I say that now I am a psychological Zen master with no issues at all, absolutely not. I've just learnt better coping methods, and learnt to stick with the K.I.S.S. principal in regards to my strategy.

Nowadays if I feel like fiddle, I play with my fiddlestick, if I want to make money I adhere to the rules.

Best
John.

 

[brewski1984]

I'll come back and answer this when I find out...

 

[Mr Fox]

I'll come back and answer this when I find out...

Good Evening @brewski1984

First of all, I hope you've had a profitable day trading.

Just remember that the majority of traders are made, not born, and it is something that we have to persevere at. Hard work, dedication, and self discipline will help you go a long way.

There is so much free, and more importantly valuable info across these forums, however you will need to do a little search for it. Then again some things are savoured more when they follow hard work.

I wish you all the best, and if there's anything I can help you with, then please don't hesitate in asking.

Best
John.

 

[chetalien]

Recently started trading only 3 days of actual trading. started with 500 and was up 250 within a day and obviously greed got me- lost all of it plus a further 100.
Now finally getting back into it. halfway through.
My rule is bet no more than £1/point- small trades, no more than 5 or 10 point profit and set on limit, taking out my greed completely.
definitely stop loss

 

[aag100]

not quite broken through yet but now have a better appreciation for stops(or even something of the like soft stop/my 'stop point') will be my break through.

 

[chetalien]

I'm using stop loss after lost a lot due to margin call. I was at that time trading 5-6 instruments at a time and unfortunately lost the lot.
So i'm now being cautious trade no more than 2 lines/instruments at a time with a stop loss.
also bet size only £1/point or even lower with limit at +10 and loss at -50.
trading only indices and fx.

 

[myLIVEaccount]

1. Risk and money management - for me it was always crucial.
2. Profitable strategy that should be based on some kind of advantage/specific conditions in the market. There are not many advantages in the market that could retail traders use.
3. If you can beat S&P500 index, year by year, then it's great! You should expect 20% a year, not 20% a month. This is the main reason why the most of traders fail.
4. For me, trading is like any other business now. My first goal must be to STAY IN BUSINESS and don't get out of the game.
5. Good broker. Too high costs/spread can turn your profitable trading into the negative numbers.

 

[Forexmospherian]

Mind - Time - Patience - Boredom - lies and deceit of the Industry- ignoring 80%+ of all existing traders and tutors / guru's - that's about it - then its just you v the market

 

[drtro]

I was very successful in picking trades from the beginning. I was 90% in Sim and once I started live, I was still in the high 70s, low 80s on my trade success. But I never had risk. Once one of the 20% trades go against me, I would keep averaging down until I'm maxed out and take huge losses depleting my previous day's profits, or sometimes even a week or two's progress. So now I'm just developing a R:R ratio. The higher it is, the more confident I feel. So sometimes, I will just take some scratch trades on purpose to increase the ratio. It's all psychological. I've been 40-50% successful since then with a R:R ratio of 3-5. I make 5-10 trades a day, so at the end of the day, I've been profitable 100% since I began increasing my R:R. The next step for me is to find trades where I can turn a 1:4 trade into a 1:15.

 

[Inquisitor]

Managing risk is the only thing that matters is the last thing that I learned and attempting to predict market direction is almost all but futile. If you manage risk correctly you are onto a winner.

 

[flipya4it]

I was profitable from the very beginning, but that was because,
a) I spent a long time figuring out the methods that were reliable and consistent with a high %age success rate based on my own analysis of charts and market/price behaviour and reading sentiment.
b) Then forward tested (live) all of them on hundreds of paper trades, eliminating those that did not have a high success rate (using tight stops)
c) Made sure I understood what worked well in different types of market environment
d) Thought long and hard about the probable emotional and psychological effects on myself of trading with money and realised I just had to ignore my feelings and trade on the facts, not what I felt.
e) Developed a trading plan with specific targets, starting with small numbers of shares, then worked up gradually.

So there wasn't really a last thing as such, it was more of a process.

Hope that helps someone think about what they need to do,
Richard

Good post.

Have you never taken/left a trade because you had a feeling something wasn't quite right though?Or perhaps because you felt that what should be happening wasn't quite happening the way it should?Hope the question makes sense.Trying to ascertain if you operate completely without feel(or instinct I guess you could call it).

 

[flipya4it]

I was profitable from the very beginning, but that was because,
a) I spent a long time figuring out the methods that were reliable and consistent with a high %age success rate based on my own analysis of charts and market/price behaviour and reading sentiment.
b) Then forward tested (live) all of them on hundreds of paper trades, eliminating those that did not have a high success rate (using tight stops)
c) Made sure I understood what worked well in different types of market environment
d) Thought long and hard about the probable emotional and psychological effects on myself of trading with money and realised I just had to ignore my feelings and trade on the facts, not what I felt.
e) Developed a trading plan with specific targets, starting with small numbers of shares, then worked up gradually.

So there wasn't really a last thing as such, it was more of a process.

Hope that helps someone think about what they need to do,
Richard

Also-its a good thread you have going over at " How To Make Money Trading The Markets." Haven't come across it before.Will look over it further today.First 2 pages are very thorough and concise.

Cheers,

 

[aag100]

I'm using stop loss after lost a lot due to margin call. I was at that time trading 5-6 instruments at a time and unfortunately lost the lot.
So i'm now being cautious trade no more than 2 lines/instruments at a time with a stop loss.
also bet size only £1/point or even lower with limit at +10 and loss at -50.
trading only indices and fx.

you might want to tighten that stop a little.

 

[chetalien]

Thanks aag100- actually i've and reduced it significantly.

 

[Jason101]

Discipline.

 

[aag100]

Thanks aag100- actually i've and reduced it significantly.

dont be cursing me if tighter stops are hit and wider ones wouldnt have been.

 

[forker]

dont be cursing me if tighter stops are hit and wider ones wouldnt have been.

just my opinion...

wider stops can be avoided. If you recognise market structure then there is no need to widen stops. Occasionally volatility does take it out but overall you will be double digit percentate points better off in terms of RR

 

[chetalien]

Quote:
Originally Posted by chetalien View Post
Thanks aag100- actually i've and reduced it significantly.
dont be cursing me if tighter stops are hit and wider ones wouldnt have been.

Dont worry if anybody is to curse it will be my greed