Of course not. I've seen strategies that required the computer to have eyes to read the chart.....LOL !
No problem....as long as:
1) the rules are well defined IN DETAIL
2) the rules are documented in writing
3) there are no "gray areas" in the rule definitions
4) all exceptions are defined and identified
5) the rule hierarchy is well defined
The following user says Thank You to syswizard for this post:
You need to confront your problem head-on. I would begin by getting the monkey off your back. You placed way too much pressure on yourself when you decided trading was going to be your sole source of income. Second, you should turn off your p&l when you trade, so you can take the monetary aspect out of the equation and concentrate on the process of trading. Thirdly, you are not an 80% trader for obvious reasons. You really don't know if your methodology is sound, because you have never held onto your trades. The only way to find out is by actually trading and creating a sample of trades over an extended period of time. Most traders who boast of an 80% win rate trade for average. They take little risk, hold their trades for little time, and make little money. There's so much more that you need to do, but this is a start.
Dr. Brett talks about the difference between fear and anxiety. Fear can serve a positive purpose i.e., it can keep you from taking big losses or uncalculated risks. But anxiety can be debilitating. In your case, both losing and winning is emotionally destabilizing. In my case, big winners will knock me off my game much quicker than losses. Losses give me feedback about the market, and about myself. I keep my losses small and use them to gain information. Outsized winners tend to make me overconfident and greedy. I'll find myself over-trading and forcing trades. So one of the most important components required to be a successful trader is the ability to control one's own incomplete intellect and emotions.
Quite a while back, I was talking to an old friend of mine. He was a floor broker for Lehman Bros in the bond pit. When he first left the floor, he attempted to trade electronically, and within a relatively short period of time he went through all of …
The following 10 users say Thank You to tigertrader for this post:
First, everyone has some degree of this problem at some point. Sometimes to this extent. So you are not alone.
Second, the issue is personal and emotional and not a matter simply of something that can be solved by some change of method, such as going fully algorithmic. Maybe automating trading would work. Might it be worth a try? Of course, anything might. Would a person still hesitate before running the algo? Perhaps. But nothing is actually easy in trading. If it were, every trader would be rich. According to the OP, the method is not the issue, the execution is.
Third, sometimes trading is not the answer. This is not meant to sound harsh. but trading may not be for you. Believe me that I am not being unsupportive, but this has to be something to think about. The way you currently are going about it is not working too well. If you can't pull the trigger, you can't trade. So one way to look at it is, start to pull the trigger or forget about trading. Yes, this sounds harsh, and is not meant to be, but this is the actual reality -- if you don't learn to take the trades, you are not trading.
Is the possibility of losing money an issue? (Believe me, it is for everyone.) Then get the loss down to something bearable. Can you trade in pure sim, for example, where there is no money to lose? Good, then do that. It's something. If not, start sim trading as a step. If you can sim trade, try a next step of keeping the money in live trading so low that it is bearable. Trade the micro contracts, one contract per trade. Escalate very gradually, until you are OK with actually pulling that trigger.
If you can keep the possible losses within your personal tolerance level, then you are in the game and can improve.
If you've tried all this and it doesn't work, well, try something else that will make the confrontation with possible loss more bearable. Find a way to make any step you take a small step. But take a step, then another one, and so on.
I am certain that everyone has had, and may still have to some degree, fear of pulling that trigger. If it is not something you can handle on your own, there is the possibility of seeking professional help. Probably no one wants to hear about that, and it is not free, but there may be some help in that direction.
----------------------
Update:
I just reread the thread and saw this again:
So, aside from anything I have said, this changes everything. You have set yourself up with a challenge that is not likely to work out well. You don't have a job, and you don't have a plan B, so naturally you are afraid of running out of funds.
In the very early days, I was in exactly this position. I thought I could trade, but I didn't have a source of funds, I had burned my bridges (left my job) and I was feeling squeezed and was afraid of going broke. So what happened? Naturally, I went broke, and then I got a Plan B (got a job.) Things worked out better, and I eventually could go back to trading, on the side, with small money, not "full time." It has worked out.
So regardless of anything else I or anyone else wrote, here's my suggestion: you are afraid of blowing it because this is a realistic fear, given your situation. So change the situation. Knowing you have money that will come in if you just do something simple that you know how to do (the definition of having a job) is a wonderful steadier of nerves. Then you can try any other suggestions that seem good to you. But this will remove a huge part of your issue, maybe all of it.
Good luck. Do this.
Your nerves will thank you.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
The following 4 users say Thank You to bobwest for this post:
Take the "pressure on yourself" part very seriously. You have to take that off if you expect to be able to even function.
I also agree with the mention of Dr. Brett Steenbarger, who @tigertrader has already linked to once in this thread, and whose writing has helped a great many:
Hey guys! First of all I wanted to say thank you for the exceptional advice provided in this thread. I am very thankful.
I am reading the traderfeed blog by Brett shared by TigerTrader and meditating on all the advice given by all users.
The idea I want to give a try, which was something I had on my mind after a friend told me how big institutions have trading tables where there is not "one" who trades but several people, is to have someone execute for me.
I tried this with a friend of mine, but he had zero idea about the markets and provided not much value, he didnt even know how to click on the DOM to place an order, and even tough I tried teaching him the basics I noticed his mind was somewhere else and had zero passion for the venture. I could teach him the basics, and I obviously did, but that didnt go too far as he couldnt sit himself on his own to carry out his own observations.
So what I am looking is someone with passion for the markets, who maybe even trades his account and knows price action at least on an intermediate level. What I offer is a % of the profits and the possibility to copy what I see and take my signals. I have been an observer and student of the market for several years and I have a huge passion for what I do, I know how to trade. I can teach you everything I know as well. My offer is for someone interested in doing this, he/she can join me over a trading room I have with several other brooks PA traders and see how my calls act in real time. I keep on making calls YET I cant take them myself.
PA DAX doesnt know me, but I noticed he is an Al Brooks advocate. I will post a chart of what I do below. I use mainly price action, with HLC pivots from prior days, today's open, opening range and its high and low and measurements taken from all this. I know what to do. I know where to place the stop and what algos are mostly targeting at least for their first target (I mostly do 2 times risk). I also mix this with higher time frame analysis on a globex chart (M15, M60 and daily) analyzed with the same concepts to provide me with a general idea on how the open will act (where and how it will open based off this)
Below I will include a chart for yesterday's action (On the next post, I cant seem to post images yet)
Again, I am looking for someone who is willing to trade my ideas. I will pay a % of each profit as well as teaching you ALL I know and allowing you to copy what I see.
If anyone is interested, or likes what I am doing and just wants to learn for free (even if not interested in being the one who executes my ideas) and is passionate about trading please PM me here. Also, if someone wants to help me directly without doing the trading stuff please also do PM me. I am in so much need of help, it feels I did all the technical analysis mastering, I am there, and I cant take action on it.
Again,
Thanks a lot for reading and for helping me out. I highly appreciate it all and I hope someday I can beat my lower emotions and my subconscious fears.
That's why the auto algo approach is best here. After all, the OP said his strategy is sound. The algo will confirm this in both backtesting and forward testing.
The algo can keep your losses manageable and even impose daily loss limits....and close out all positions when the limit is reached.
Sorry, @bobwest. Time to take the gloves off and hit @nenuser with the blunt instrument. @nenuser, you are obviously not looking for help. You are looking for affirmation! I got news for you. There is nothing novel about your ideas. You haven't re-invented the wheel. In fact it's the same old regurgitated retail pablum, that's been recited on these pages ad nauseum. Believe me when I tell you that you are grossly overestimating your ability and your knowledge. It's a very common cognitive bias among newbies on this forum. What you need to do is grow some balls and trade, not get someone to do it for you. It's that simple!
The following 9 users say Thank You to tigertrader for this post:
just finished a lecture yesterday on yt: "Brett Steenbarger Traders Guide to Self Discipline" and he goes over a few techniques on how to reprocess certain triggers we may have. i'm on my way to implementing them and maybe it could also help you - he specifically talks about your issue around 35:32
The following 2 users say Thank You to an08 for this post:
Well, that is taking the gloves off. I don't think it is too rough, though.
@nenuser, there's the simple fact that if you can't make yourself click the mouse, you've got to either find a way to do it or give up the idea of trading. Otherwise, you're stuck in a limbo forever. Trading pays you (or not) for taking risk. Not foolish risk, not gambler's risk, not uncontrolled risk. But if you don't take on risk -- the risk of having a position in a market, that could easily go against you -- then there will never be a profit, either.
The best advice I could give is to take care of your financial situation, as I suggested before, by securing an income so you aren't up against the wall 100% of the time and you are willing and able to risk a loss. Then, in graduated steps, do so. If you can't take a loss, you can't trade. And if you don't take losses, you don't know how good a trader you actually are.
You have a chart that's annotated with the trades you would have made, if you only traded. But you didn't. This just is not trading. It surprised me to read when you said that you would offer to share your profits with someone who is willing to follow your ideas and do the mouse clicking for you.
Why would someone think your ideas are so valuable, when you don't trade them? Until you have something in the game, and do so over and over again, you don't know anything about trading.
We have traders here who work full jobs, then come home and trade the after-hours market, or get up early and trade during the European hours, or have arrangements about their working hours that let them trade. Or do anything else it takes to both pay the bills and trade.
I don't mean to be rough about it, but trading is almost the ultimate in personal responsibility. It's accepting risk. So start there. Reduce how hard a loss will hit you, increase your personal and financial resilience -- get a job, so you don't depend on the trading profits you hope for but don't have -- and then take it on yourself to trade. People will try to help, but it takes some realism on your part.
Good luck. And do it.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
The following 5 users say Thank You to bobwest for this post:
