Newbie seeking advice

January 30th, 2015, 01:43 PM

I am fairly new to trading (one year or so into trading) and I am seeking advice/comments from experienced and profitable traders.
This is what I am doing so far:

Trading Frequency: Daily for two or three ours after opening
Platform: Ninjatrader
Instruments: ES and CL with some occasional spot FOREX trades (different account).
Time frame: 5MIN (1MIN for fine tuning entries and 15/60MIN for determining the S/R framework)
Indicators:20EMA and Bar timer
System: Price Action/discretionary
Trading method: Scalps (min 1 or 2 points)...some Swings on ES but rarely
Preferred setups: Pullbacks, Trading Range reversals (within a channel), Major reversals at S/R areas and sometimes Breakouts

I can say that I am consistent profitable with above 70% accuracy on my trades.

Current trading issues:
-selecting only the high probability trades...temptation is high
-stop when daily goal was reached (e.g. if 2 or 3 points were achieved, it is OK to stop trading for the day)...this is no contest and it is about consistency
-move stops while in a trade...in other words let the bygones be bygones.
-how to gradually increase contracts...I currently trade small, but I am looking to trade 10/15 contracts eventually...what is the best approach for this transition?
-scale-in/out while in a trade
-use the two target approach as for the ATM strategy

Learned from the past:
-Don't trade the news (e.g. lost money during major announcements)
-Don't buy/sell at S/R areas...need to be very cautious on these areas
-Don't overtrade...I used to take 10/15 trades a day...I am currently down to 4/5 a day
-this is a psychological game...sometimes I deliberately do things that I know are not allowed (e.g. move stops, low probability trades, revenge trading)...how do you silence the inner demon?

Any advice/comment is highly appreciated

January 31st, 2015, 10:12 AM

Hi,
Regarding the last question, Brett Steenbargers's site, brettsteenbarger.com has lots of his archived trading psychology articles. I have read a few of those but have read his books. His current site is the TraderFeed blog. Andrew Menaker at andrewmenaker.com is also a trading psychologist and I am doing his Advanced Course which I can recommend as it has practical exercises to work on and incorporate in to your trading.
As for the first two paragraphs, everybody on here will have there own methods. IMO your best bet is to concentrate on finding a methodology that suits your personality, the time you have available to trade, and that you are happy with and then stick to it. Also try a few instruments, find one you like and stick with that. Then get to know what you have chosen really well so you can build up knowledge and intuitive feelings on how that market works. Don't go down the route of continuously changing, instrument, method, or indicators in the search for the perfect combination.
Just my two cents from somebody still learning.

Newbie seeking advice

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Newbie seeking advice