Justin
05-01-2009, 03:40 PM
The past two months have been relatively brutal for me in my trading, suffering several losing trades. After a detailed review (which I will keep to myself) of all of my trades for March & April, I thought I'd post a summary of what I discovered from it, in the hope that it might be beneficial to those of you who have or are currently suffering through a string of losing trades as I have.
First & foremost thank you to Neal who graciously "talked me down" two weeks ago. The best advice he gave to me has stuck in my head since he said it, and that was, "Now you know you can survive it." Simple sentence but right on the money.
I've traded casually to semi-serious for years and have recently gotten more focused with it.
There are two types of education - proactive and reactive. Proactive is the education you get prior to an event or career (like courses from the FibMaster and learning from other peoples bonehead mistakes). Reactive education is the learning you receive as you are being handed your ass...painful but you never forget it. One wise lady I know calls this, "Bought Sense".
After a lot of proactive education from other sources and having consumed everything Neal has either written, recorded and live seminars, as well as having traded for years - you think I would know better than what I'm about to list as the results of my analysis.
Be cognizant of the false rallies...they are lurking out there to take you out! Like a lamb to slaughter, I took this journey several times recently and paid dearly for it. Switch to a higher timeframe chart if you start getting blown-up by these landmines.
Don't chase the trade...take what the market gives you and WAIT for the setup. I jumped on several trades after the move was already mature which is a rookie move. Unless you are The Flash or are clairvoyant - stay away from jumping in too late...Danger Will Robinson. Follow your plan, you can't move the market but it can certainly move you - right out the proverbial door!
Don't exit too early...If you have had a string of losing trades it can mess with your head and make you quick to pull the trigger when you have a winner. If I had only trusted the Fiblevels and the TRSI, I would have more than made up for my losses. I was exiting even when I didn't have confirmation I should get out - I was hungry for a winner and I settled for peanuts when I could have had a steak!
(This one ties to the previous one) Trust your Fiblevels & indicators/oscillators you use. Gotta trust 'em, if you don't then why are you using them? Even though they may not be perfect, they will certainly lead you home more times than not.
Trade smaller lots...If you are experiencing the results I have for the past few weeks, you can get too focused on how much it can go against you - without paying enough attention to the upside. To get through this I'm trading smaller lots to build my confidence back up, ensuring I'm focused on the right things before I scale back up.
Take a break...Step away and get your head back in the game before continuing to trade. It goes without saying, if you aren't thinking straight you can get clobbered. Find something else to take your mind off of what's happened and then come back to it later.
Never having experienced a run of losing trades like this before, a person can get stuck in a loop doing the same things and making the same bad decisions...even a veteran can make rookie mistakes. It's a heck of an experience - one that I don't recommend for anyone and that's why I figured I'd post this up here on the outside chance that someone may be able to learn from my "Adventures in Bungleland."
Stick with it, like Neal told me, you can survive it!
Good Trading!
First & foremost thank you to Neal who graciously "talked me down" two weeks ago. The best advice he gave to me has stuck in my head since he said it, and that was, "Now you know you can survive it." Simple sentence but right on the money.
I've traded casually to semi-serious for years and have recently gotten more focused with it.
There are two types of education - proactive and reactive. Proactive is the education you get prior to an event or career (like courses from the FibMaster and learning from other peoples bonehead mistakes). Reactive education is the learning you receive as you are being handed your ass...painful but you never forget it. One wise lady I know calls this, "Bought Sense".
After a lot of proactive education from other sources and having consumed everything Neal has either written, recorded and live seminars, as well as having traded for years - you think I would know better than what I'm about to list as the results of my analysis.
Be cognizant of the false rallies...they are lurking out there to take you out! Like a lamb to slaughter, I took this journey several times recently and paid dearly for it. Switch to a higher timeframe chart if you start getting blown-up by these landmines.
Don't chase the trade...take what the market gives you and WAIT for the setup. I jumped on several trades after the move was already mature which is a rookie move. Unless you are The Flash or are clairvoyant - stay away from jumping in too late...Danger Will Robinson. Follow your plan, you can't move the market but it can certainly move you - right out the proverbial door!
Don't exit too early...If you have had a string of losing trades it can mess with your head and make you quick to pull the trigger when you have a winner. If I had only trusted the Fiblevels and the TRSI, I would have more than made up for my losses. I was exiting even when I didn't have confirmation I should get out - I was hungry for a winner and I settled for peanuts when I could have had a steak!
(This one ties to the previous one) Trust your Fiblevels & indicators/oscillators you use. Gotta trust 'em, if you don't then why are you using them? Even though they may not be perfect, they will certainly lead you home more times than not.
Trade smaller lots...If you are experiencing the results I have for the past few weeks, you can get too focused on how much it can go against you - without paying enough attention to the upside. To get through this I'm trading smaller lots to build my confidence back up, ensuring I'm focused on the right things before I scale back up.
Take a break...Step away and get your head back in the game before continuing to trade. It goes without saying, if you aren't thinking straight you can get clobbered. Find something else to take your mind off of what's happened and then come back to it later.
Never having experienced a run of losing trades like this before, a person can get stuck in a loop doing the same things and making the same bad decisions...even a veteran can make rookie mistakes. It's a heck of an experience - one that I don't recommend for anyone and that's why I figured I'd post this up here on the outside chance that someone may be able to learn from my "Adventures in Bungleland."
Stick with it, like Neal told me, you can survive it!
Good Trading!