NexusFi: Find Your Edge


Home Menu

 





A TopStepTrader's Humble-Pie-Way: A TST Combine Journal of iqgod's "Take 2"


Discussion in Trading Journals

Updated
      Top Posters
    1. looks_one iqgod with 104 posts (109 thanks)
    2. looks_two rubyslippage with 5 posts (20 thanks)
    3. looks_3 Anagami with 4 posts (11 thanks)
    4. looks_4 Pedro40 with 3 posts (3 thanks)
      Best Posters
    1. looks_one rubyslippage with 4 thanks per post
    2. looks_two PandaWarrior with 3 thanks per post
    3. looks_3 Anagami with 2.8 thanks per post
    4. looks_4 iqgod with 1 thanks per post
    1. trending_up 20,683 views
    2. thumb_up 158 thanks given
    3. group 14 followers
    1. forum 130 posts
    2. attach_file 68 attachments




 
Search this Thread

A TopStepTrader's Humble-Pie-Way: A TST Combine Journal of iqgod's "Take 2"

  #61 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:

Can you help answer these questions
from other members on NexusFi?
NexusFi Journal Challenge - April 2024
Feedback and Announcements
Better Renko Gaps
The Elite Circle
Are there any eval firms that allow you to sink to your …
Traders Hideout
Futures True Range Report
The Elite Circle
Deepmoney LLM
Elite Quantitative GenAI/LLM
 
Best Threads (Most Thanked)
in the last 7 days on NexusFi
Get funded firms 2023/2024 - Any recommendations or word …
61 thanks
Funded Trader platforms
39 thanks
NexusFi site changelog and issues/problem reporting
26 thanks
The Program
18 thanks
GFIs1 1 DAX trade per day journal
18 thanks
  #62 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #63 (permalink)
 
rubyslippage's Avatar
 rubyslippage 
Phoenix, AZ
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Multiple
Trading: CL, ES
Posts: 76 since Jun 2012
Thanks Given: 26
Thanks Received: 509



iqgod View Post
Dear Journal,

The root cause of it all is: hold your breath (all journals have one!) is ENTERING TOO EARLY.

Entering without following rules.

I struggled with this again and again and again, to the point I wondered if I suffered from some mental defect.

I knew that not following the rules was the cause of poor trading results, but the root cause of not following the rules was something you nailed in your earlier post:

"...as I watched price gyrate upwards I was about to leave my stop alone as by that time it was clear that the big downmove was due anytime..."

I think it was second or third time through Trading in the Zone that I awakened to the root cause of all the other trading issues: It was an overpowering belief that I knew what price was going to do next. I realized that the only reason I would hesitate to trade a signal, or jump in too early, or chase a trade after the planned entry was left in the dust, or move a stop, was that I personally believed I knew what was going to happen next.

If you break a rule and have a positive result, it's dangerous because it reinforces a belief that you can psychically predict individual outcomes from a series of randomly distributed results.

If you break a rule and have a negative result, it's dangerous because you're prone to allow previous results to influence your subsequent trades.

So I think you're on target that breaking the rules is the root cause of negative overall $$ results, but the belief that you need to deactivate and replace before you can more comfortably follow your rules is the belief that you can predict the outcome of an individual trade, the belief that you know what's going to happen next.

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #64 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


rubyslippage View Post
I struggled with this again and again and again, to the point I wondered if I suffered from some mental defect.

I knew that not following the rules was the cause of poor trading results, but the root cause of not following the rules was something you nailed in your earlier post:

"...as I watched price gyrate upwards I was about to leave my stop alone as by that time it was clear that the big downmove was due anytime..."

I think it was second or third time through Trading in the Zone that I awakened to the root cause of all the other trading issues: It was an overpowering belief that I knew what price was going to do next. I realized that the only reason I would hesitate to trade a signal, or jump in too early, or chase a trade after the planned entry was left in the dust, or move a stop, was that I personally believed I knew what was going to happen next.

If you break a rule and have a positive result, it's dangerous because it reinforces a belief that you can psychically predict individual outcomes from a series of randomly distributed results.

If you break a rule and have a negative result, it's dangerous because you're prone to allow previous results to influence your subsequent trades.

So I think you're on target that breaking the rules is the root cause of negative overall $$ results, but the belief that you need to deactivate and replace before you can more comfortably follow your rules is the belief that you can predict the outcome of an individual trade, the belief that you know what's going to happen next.


What a wonderful piece of advice! Thanks @rubyslippage!

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #65 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
  #66 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
  #67 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097

Tip




Although the cheetah is the fastest animal in the world and can catch any animal on the plains, it will wait until it is absolutely sure it can catch it’s prey. It may hide in the bush for a week, waiting for just the right moment. It will wait for a baby antelope, and not just any baby antelope, but preferably also one that is sick or lame. Only then, when there is no chance it can lose its prey, does it attack. That, to me, is the epitome of professional trading.”- Mark Weinstein





cheetah . trader (\_/)
cheetah.:``";=-.,.-;-='
chee/,.'`,.'.'`.'.(='Y.)=
cheet //\.','.'./.'.,|`""`
cheetah // /)./`"""\.'./
cheet _// |/|| \.|\
cheetah-' \\ \\ \\\\
cheetah `" `" `"`"


A cheetah will sit and hide in a bush waiting patiently for its prey. It may see a strong juicy meal run by and be tempted to jump at it, but instead it waits for a weak, sick, or lame animal to pounce on and guaranteed to enjoy its long awaited meal. The cheetah understands probability innately and uses its instinct to guarantee a kill rather than chance, chasing after something that it may not enjoy the benefits of and expend energy that it cannot afford to lose since it is already hungry. It does not listen to its emotion of feeling hunger and lunging after the first piece of meat. Trading is no different. If you force yourself into the market because of the temptation of making a profit, at some point you will not be able to afford another loss, as you do not have a specific plan with rules that constitute a trading system, there will be more losses than wins eventually.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #68 (permalink)
 
xelaar's Avatar
 xelaar 
prague, czech republic
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NT7, MT4
Broker: LMAX
Trading: DAX, Gold, Euro
Posts: 1,505 since Feb 2013
Thanks Given: 1,740
Thanks Received: 2,568

Great analogy, Iqgod, but we shall remember that trading is about probabilities, we cannot be sure like cheetah, even if we wait patiently for the best of best setups. Losses will still happen, and they are price to pay, like business expenses.

Follow me on Twitter Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #69 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
  #70 (permalink)
 
iqgod's Avatar
 iqgod 
Mumbai, India
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: ChartNexus
Trading: Stocks, Commodities, Futures
Posts: 1,802 since Feb 2012
Thanks Given: 3,658
Thanks Received: 3,097


Jim Rogers in Market Wizards:

“I just wait until there is money lying in the comer, and all I have to do is go over there and pick it up.”

As a humble trader, I am trying to go the same path - until I am so sure of a trade being as easy as picking money off the floor I do nothing.

Now is this a:
Problem?
Plan?

You decide dear reader! For me it is a Plan.

The waiting part is now under control. Earlier I used to JUMP in within FIVE MINUTES of opening the platform! Juicy Trade! JUMP! Then tackle with managing it for the next two hours LOL and I would end up with a large loser held for a large period of time - both BAD for the combine, bad for me.


However there have been so MANY days I wish I had followed @PandaWarrior's advice to the book - set the target and stop and DON'T MESS WITH EITHER.

Still working on it, meanwhile some food for thought offered by my old mentor from sunny Florida - who else but Gary:



Quoting @GaryD


GaryD View Post
How do you stop moving your stop, or hitting "close" at a small profit? You just stop. No one forced your hand but you.

The psychology behind it I suspect is complex, survival instinct or "fight or flight". The base is fear. Fear of giving up what you have on the screen in the case of taking profits early.

You could try just setting a profit target and a stop loss and considering your job done. That was your best guess and roll with it. Pretend that is all you have control over. Trading will become a less active role and the pace will slow down considerably.

.
.
.


You could try meditation to calm your mind during trading. Or sound files that play certain wavelength sounds to put you in various brainwave states. (I have actually done both).

Ultimately it has to fit your beliefs, your risk tolerance, your psychology, your experience, your level of confidence in the trade, and the reason you put the trade on to start with.


Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread Reply With Quote
Thanked by:




Last Updated on June 24, 2013


© 2024 NexusFi™, s.a., All Rights Reserved.
Av Ricardo J. Alfaro, Century Tower, Panama City, Panama, Ph: +507 833-9432 (Panama and Intl), +1 888-312-3001 (USA and Canada)
All information is for educational use only and is not investment advice. There is a substantial risk of loss in trading commodity futures, stocks, options and foreign exchange products. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
About Us - Contact Us - Site Rules, Acceptable Use, and Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - Downloads - Top
no new posts