The good thing about not having to plan for pre-market trades is that I have plenty of time to read and write. LOL!
Am responding to Emini Player, JE and Cory's comments here.
EP:
I do track my winning vs losing trades. But I do that only on a half-yearly basis. For 2008, the review can be found on one of the links on the left.
Regarding the way that professionals play -
I agree that their way is much easier on the heart. Michael (the pioneer in basic trading courses here) trades this way, and teases me all the time about my scurrying in and out of the market :-) But Michael is financed by pure trading profits. His psychological barrier is not even a tenth of mine. I am financed mostly by my own savings (although it's not an emergency fund or money that I need to put food on the table), and it hurts A LOT when it's taken from me. I can't stand it when I get stopped out. It's slow bleeding, but I can still die from it.
Most importantly, I'm just NOT the type that can sit still and wait for price to hit target. I am very hyper, and I'm a control freak. Getting in and out is not half as stressful as sitting and waiting to be stopped out or for target to be hit. It drives me nuts. I don't think I'll ever trade that way. Yes, my current profit is small, but the dollar amount per day is not what I'm focusing on. I'm counting points and tracking consistency. Once I get both right, I'm trading more contracts. Am still working on the stops still. Before I read your comment, I was thinking about setting a 6-tick fixed stop and entering only when the setup is right for such a stop. That's for now. In the long run, I'm still much more comfortable with a mental stop that takes into account the prevailing market volatility. But that will come only after I've learned how to handle the emotional bit.
Thanks so much for telling me about your broker. I will ask D. He handles my account and everything related to form filling. I just trade. LOL! So you have mentors? Good for you! I've never had one, and wonder what it's like to have someone kick my ass.
JE:
Thanks for your note. It's so kind!! Warms my heart :-) So sorry about what you went through. Good that you've recovered (you have, I gather) and are trading again (I'm assuming you are, since you're watching the market). I've heard too many sob stories from traders who are doing well now, and am convinced that it will take years and years of practice to master the art of trading. Ray Barros' is legendary. On the other hand, I know also those who hadn't been burnt ever, in their decades of trading. Michael Woo, a well-known trading coach here, and someone I really look up to and love chatting with, is a rare breed. He's traded for more than 20 years. When I teased him that he has no sob stories to tell (here, sob stories SELL!), he protested and said he lost money on gold when he first started out. I asked him how big the damage was, he replied that it was HUGE. Then I asked if it wiped out his account, he replied that it was nowhere near that. My conclusion to that is that he indeed has NIL sob story to tell. LOL!! I don't know how many out there are as brilliant as him. I believe that most have gone through rough rides in their trading journey. Except for those with really great mentors, and the mentees are NOT doctors or lawyers by training LOL!
Thank you for liking my writing. I tend to communicate better with animals, so it's really comforting whenever I come across a human that actually understands my gibberish :-)
Cory:
Gosh, you are good! I'm going to be using that list as my beacon and roadmap. I'm serious.
Do you have a blog, Cory? Think I asked that once months back. Are you a member on EliteTrader forum? We seem to have a lot in common as far as trading goes. Would really love to read about your experiences if you're sharing them via your blog or a forum.
Am responding to Emini Player, JE and Cory's comments here.
EP:
I do track my winning vs losing trades. But I do that only on a half-yearly basis. For 2008, the review can be found on one of the links on the left.
Regarding the way that professionals play -
I agree that their way is much easier on the heart. Michael (the pioneer in basic trading courses here) trades this way, and teases me all the time about my scurrying in and out of the market :-) But Michael is financed by pure trading profits. His psychological barrier is not even a tenth of mine. I am financed mostly by my own savings (although it's not an emergency fund or money that I need to put food on the table), and it hurts A LOT when it's taken from me. I can't stand it when I get stopped out. It's slow bleeding, but I can still die from it.
Most importantly, I'm just NOT the type that can sit still and wait for price to hit target. I am very hyper, and I'm a control freak. Getting in and out is not half as stressful as sitting and waiting to be stopped out or for target to be hit. It drives me nuts. I don't think I'll ever trade that way. Yes, my current profit is small, but the dollar amount per day is not what I'm focusing on. I'm counting points and tracking consistency. Once I get both right, I'm trading more contracts. Am still working on the stops still. Before I read your comment, I was thinking about setting a 6-tick fixed stop and entering only when the setup is right for such a stop. That's for now. In the long run, I'm still much more comfortable with a mental stop that takes into account the prevailing market volatility. But that will come only after I've learned how to handle the emotional bit.
Thanks so much for telling me about your broker. I will ask D. He handles my account and everything related to form filling. I just trade. LOL! So you have mentors? Good for you! I've never had one, and wonder what it's like to have someone kick my ass.
JE:
Thanks for your note. It's so kind!! Warms my heart :-) So sorry about what you went through. Good that you've recovered (you have, I gather) and are trading again (I'm assuming you are, since you're watching the market). I've heard too many sob stories from traders who are doing well now, and am convinced that it will take years and years of practice to master the art of trading. Ray Barros' is legendary. On the other hand, I know also those who hadn't been burnt ever, in their decades of trading. Michael Woo, a well-known trading coach here, and someone I really look up to and love chatting with, is a rare breed. He's traded for more than 20 years. When I teased him that he has no sob stories to tell (here, sob stories SELL!), he protested and said he lost money on gold when he first started out. I asked him how big the damage was, he replied that it was HUGE. Then I asked if it wiped out his account, he replied that it was nowhere near that. My conclusion to that is that he indeed has NIL sob story to tell. LOL!! I don't know how many out there are as brilliant as him. I believe that most have gone through rough rides in their trading journey. Except for those with really great mentors, and the mentees are NOT doctors or lawyers by training LOL!
Thank you for liking my writing. I tend to communicate better with animals, so it's really comforting whenever I come across a human that actually understands my gibberish :-)
Cory:
Gosh, you are good! I'm going to be using that list as my beacon and roadmap. I'm serious.
Do you have a blog, Cory? Think I asked that once months back. Are you a member on EliteTrader forum? We seem to have a lot in common as far as trading goes. Would really love to read about your experiences if you're sharing them via your blog or a forum.
4 comments:
if I had a blog, I would cut & paste your stuff in there anyway. Yes I read ET(EliteTrader) daily.
[i]The good thing about not having to plan for pre-market trades is that I have plenty of time to read and write. [/i]
The Paltalk room I am in the head trader motto is '2 charts, no indicator, no home work'. If you like to listen in drop by, search for room 'ONE Tick at a time'. This is for the computer guy, go to paltalk.com to install paltalk, remember to uncheck option 'do you want to install Ask toolbar'
Ask toolbar will spam you with ads. After installing paltalk it's importance to add "*.paltalk.com" to IE restricted site to prevent its popup ads.
Hi Jules,
We all have our niche, not everyone's cut out to be a scalper or a swing trader. I've tried holding a futures trade a little longer to grab a bigger profit but it just doesn't work for me, I'm better off sticking to 2-4 point targets. I just looked at your performance in '08, that's AWESOME! I knew you had mostly profitable days, but had no idea they added up so well. What ever your style was during that period, I'd say that's your niche, stick to it.
Your a good trader, you know what works for you.
No problem on the broker. Regarding mentors; I'm in the live trading room run by www.tradepilotpro.com. Again, not pitching a service since I gain nothing; just letting you know of the service I personally use (after years on Elite Trader, I have to throw that disclaimer in there lol). Email me if you want to try it out for a couple of weeks and I can send you the password. Try it out; if it helps, stick with it; if not, no harm done and no cost. Good luck!
Cory:
Thank you!! Yes I remember the 1-tick per day guy you told me about some time back. Paltalk sounds so familiar. Think I saw quite a bit of traffic from there months back. Am checking out! :-)
Michael:
Thanks for your note. Am going to go over my trades from 08 and see what I did. If I'm better at not holding, then I'm not holding. Been looking at your trades too and know you use a tick chart and BB, and that you've been making some changes...actually was going to ask you how long you've been using the previous setup. Maybe you need to give it more time? Anyway, thanks so much for dropping by to leave such an encouraging note :-)
EP:
Would love to take a look at your live trading room. Will email you after I get my beauty sleep :-) Really appreciate the gesture and for having been here these 2 days. Thank you :-)
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