A member who has been a part of my trading service for a couple of weeks now had this to say:
Just wanted to say thanks for the service you provide I'm really learning a lot. I have not made many trades thus far but analyzing the trades nightly and stock picks has proved very beneficial. One thing I've noticed is that on losing trades and even losing days you remain positive. I don't think this is the case with most people. So, how do stay positive and do you think this plays a significant role in trading? Have a good weekend.
Jeremy.
Here's my response to his vitally important question:
hi jeremy. i am actually surprised that you are the only one to ever bring up this very important point. I sincerely believe that having a positive attitude about losing (and winning) is a key part of trading survival. I used to beat myself up all the time for missed trades or crappy performance but i found out that this negative attitude in a game where you will be losing a lot is NOT the right way to go about it. Trading is a game of streaks. You will go thru winning steaks and losing streaks. It is VITAL to be able to quickly recognize when those tides are shifting. When you are winning, you "see the ball" well and can almost see moves happening 2-3 plays ahead and you will have '3D vision' of the markets and trader behavior all around you and you will move in and out of plays with extreme confidence and professionalism. You are feeling it and you want to trade and the market is vibing with you and everything seems to be moving together in harmony.
However, when you are in a 'shaky funk' you will be slow to react/transition, a little stubborn and ironically your ego will make you break many golden rules of trading.
YOU NEED TO BE CONSTANTLY WATCHING YOURSELF, your body language, your tone of voice, your attitude and you need to quickly adjust any behavior that's hurting you(over trading, anger, revenge trading, trading with huge size etc). You need to be your own therapist, mental coach and motivator. You need to be hungry to win everyday even if winning means not trading. You need to be ALWAYS seeking to improve yourself, learning, adjusting your attitude, minimizing your ego and maximizing your drive to be better than the day before. Don't worry about the money, when you are trading well the money will find you, trust me. Take most care of your account when you are losing because the winning trades are waiting just around the corner but they are waiting for you to adjust yourself first.
You need have a system to trade, that´s crucial.
ReplyDeleteAll mentally related issues are gone after you have system or systems which you can rely on and follow.
(certainly good system wins over longterm.)
No-one else in the marketplace is able to do doing such a bad decision as humans.
hi anon: you bring up good points. But my personality does not trust a system. I feel much more comfortable and i trust myself much more than a system. I have been trading fulltime doing the same thing i am doing right now for over 6 years now and would feel like a fish out of water if i suddenly switched to a system. You should read the book "the ultimate trading guide" and you will see that no matter what system you use, there will be draw downs periods and profitable periods. it's the reality of trading, it's how you manage losing and winning streaks that determines the trading outcome. thanks again for your comment! it's a damn good one.
ReplyDeleteStewie,
ReplyDeletetechnically, trusting yourself and not a "system", is a system. It's just your own system. You do a great job. Keep it up.
Mr.G
I'm not sure what anom meant by a system, but maybe he meant a set of rules to stay consistent with. I know that if I follow some rules I at least have a foundation to work from, and it helps not to make stupid trades. On the other hand I need to be flexible enough to dynamically alter my rules as the markets change. The markets are dynamic and a trader needs to gel with the changes.
ReplyDeleteWell, in theory and practise human can be called a system (I suppose) and propably most often it is as each tends to follow same kind of trading setups.
ReplyDeleteI suppose for instance if you trade only head&shoulder pattern manually - it can be called system allready even entry/exit would not be done by code.
When scanning stocks & individual stocks based for certain technical criterias, perhaps that would be called then 50% system.