Ok, let's see. Forgot to hit the recorder after I paused it.

Took 4 trades. Broke my cardinal rule!

Trades:
1. -.6 points, This was not an area!

2. -.6 points, Yes, again.... But, it looked so darn short!

3. -.6 points, Just got knocked out and I thought this was a deep retrace.

4. +2.15 points, This was a good entry, but poor trade management. I could have easily made another .7 points average had I stayed to where it was telling me. I saw some strength in a retracement though and fear took me to exit.

I could have easily stayed in the short. Until I get comfortable again keeping those then I will still be making ticks instead of points. I was clearly seeing the trend today which is short! Good job!

Also, I am getting more comfortable knowing I can just make it back....


Video

Patience. I must work on my patience. Anyone have any recommendations?

I haven't been meditating, but I think EFT's could be in order.

bluemele 

Patience. I must work on my patience. Anyone have any recommendations? I haven't been meditating, but I think EFT's could be in order.

Hi Bluemele,
great to see your progress in positive way. Since yesterday I started to paper trade, but I overtraded little bit..how it happened to me? After so many weeks without trading I felt very happy and I had positive mindset expecting positive results.. beginning was fine, but then 1st loss, second, third, ....only chasing market without a clue. At the 3/3 of market session I finally realized, that I didnt read a market, but I wanted only see a signal no matter where, when. I guess that the ignorance of market mood is the worst behaving in trading, I dont meditate, or do something similiar to get in calm status. It helps me to realize in what mood the market is, then I could be very patient or prepared to act in a second. I hope that this will remain in my mind for longer time .

here are my hits from yesterday, I guess it is a better result than Charlie Sheen`s in hot shots 2

R.

bluemele 

Patience. I must work on my patience. Anyone have any recommendations? I haven't been meditating, but I think EFT's could be in order.

Name two or three specific examples of how your lack of patience has hurt your trading, and we'll go from there.

Mike

Big Mike 

Name two or three specific examples of how your lack of patience has hurt your trading, and we'll go from there. Mike

1. Exit too early on almost every trade. I convince myself that it was the proper area because quite a few are not as deep as possible.

2. Make all 3 trades within first 10 minutes of market open. Always having to be in on the trade, etc...

bluemele 

1. Exit too early on almost every trade. I convince myself that it was the proper area because quite a few are not as deep as possible. 2. Make all 3 trades within first 10 minutes of market open. Always having to be in on the trade, etc...

Some suggestions...

1) If you are trading more than 1 lot, put one on at regular spot, and then when you feel like you should exit with a small winner --- ADD at that point another lot. This will help your mind change habits. Another way to do this would be to simply prove to yourself that you are losing money by exiting prematurely, document at the moment you exit the trade the exact reasons you did so - and later review and confirm that that was the wrong thing to do.

You could set a concrete rule that every trade will either be a full stop or a full target, but such a rule should only be used for a few days or weeks to break this habit of exiting prematurely because ultimately you need to manage your trades after you've learned to overcome this.

2) Number two is easier. Just set a new rule that you cannot take another trade until at least 15 minutes or 30 minutes has passed. This will also help you to not prematurely exit, because you will know you are not allowed to get back in. Again, this is only to break the habit - but ultimately this rule cannot exist going forward. You need to simply have the willpower to do the right thing, and if you know that you are acting impulsively and overtrading at the open, then you have to simply think of that each time before you put the trade on, and ask yourself if you are repeating the mistake...

Mike

BTW, these are simple suggestions but they usually work best. Keep it simple. You can also use positive reinforcement like if you don't take all 3 trades at the open and later feel it was overtrading/impulsive trading, then reward yourself with something that you are not allowed to have unless you hit this accomplishment. Doesn't matter what the reward is, so long as it is something you enjoy.

Mike

bluemele 

Patience. I must work on my patience. Anyone have any recommendations? I haven't been meditating, but I think EFT's could be in order.

Well I'm no expert to be sure....but I have that same problem, but I am getting better. I think the thing that has helped me the most was to really realize that impatience was killing my trading career. Impatience to get in and once in, impatience to get out. Both must be managed.

So I started focusing on one single trade set up and forcing myself to just take that one, no matter how long it took to set up, then take it and then walk away from the screen. This is NOT a recommended long term strategy, but almost every time I came back, I would be up or the trade was over....I am using fixed targets btw. Then I realized it was only a few minutes at most that I had been gone and the trade was just fine. So now I am forcing myself to just sit on hands while waiting for a set up, some times I actually sit on my hands, and once in a trade, I force myself to take the loss or the target. Whichever comes first. Thats hard and sometimes the PA tells me to get out but I have simply been taking the hits to just make sure I really honor the demand for patience. Lately though, I've started cutting those losers short, when PA says its over, its over and just get out.....But those are PA driven decisions, not emotion driven decisions.

Hope that helps...cheers....

bluemele 

Patience. I must work on my patience. Anyone have any recommendations? I haven't been meditating, but I think EFT's could be in order.

Haven't read everything here. One thing I've done and still do is to use ETF's, to take smaller positions but at selective entry points -- support -- and then be willing to buy more on weakness, up to a point, being willing to be underwater on the position if you have to be, at first. No stops, since you're managing your risk via trading an index, with smaller position sizing and high selectivity. Hold overnight if warranted. Chip out smaller profits on strength, rinse and repeat often, via intraday trade. Never build up too big of an inventory as a % of your total capital, always assuming there could be the kind of overnight disaster that closes the markets down. Of course, you're not going to hit any home runs with this method and you need a fair amount of capital to trade this way but it could allow you to get a better feel for the always changing market and it helps you avoid all of the frustrating chippy stop losses right before your over-sized position rockets higher. Talking long only unless things really go in the crapper .... anyway, not really pure day trading but a lot easier.

For the entries, you could do something like run a 2 minute chart with a 50 period MA, only buying after heavier selling, with some basing (maybe), after price moves back above the 50 MA.

Let's face it, buying the dip and selling the rip usually works in the long run if you are selective and keep your positions not too large.

heywally 

Haven't read everything here. One thing I've done and still do is to use ETF's, to take smaller positions but at selective entry points -- support -- and then be willing to buy more on weakness, up to a point, being willing to be underwater on the position if you have to be, at first. No stops, since you're managing your risk via trading an index, with smaller position sizing and high selectivity. Hold overnight if warranted. Chip out smaller profits on strength, rinse and repeat often, via intraday trade. Never build up too big of an inventory as a % of your total capital, always assuming there could be the kind of overnight disaster that closes the markets down. Of course, you're not going to hit any home runs with this method and you need a fair amount of capital to trade this way but it could allow you to get a better feel for the always changing market and it helps you avoid all of the frustrating chippy stop losses right before your over-sized position rockets higher. Talking long only unless things really go in the crapper .... anyway, not really pure day trading but a lot easier. For the entries, you could do something like run a 2 minute chart with a 50 period MA, only buying after heavier selling, with some basing (maybe), after price moves back above the 50 MA. Let's face it, buying the dip and selling the rip usually works in the long run if you are selective and keep your positions not too large.

Well, this really isn't my deal actually. I used to trade EFT's and such, but focused on futures at the moment which makes that strategy a bit difficult. I am not going to change my strategy and stick with it. PERIOD. I see that as the #1 reason traders fail....

Thanks for the input though as I am sure you are right....