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I've been trading for about 3 years. The first year was happy, with some luck and passion, I got some profit from the market. The second year was about paying the price for previous happiness, big $ losses, emotional pain. The third year, till now, I'm just saying that I'm starting to learn.
I've read many books about technical analysis: some about indicators, some about price charts, and some about algorithm trading and etc, but they are not suitable for me. The journey of searching a holy grail is doomed to be fruitless, I seldom feel at ease when making a trading decision: worry about potential loss before taking a position, worry about paper profit vanish when holding a position, regret about missing the rest of movement after closing a trade. Making money or not, it is not a pleasant experience.
After all these struggles, I stopped looking for solution in technical analysis, I read more books in psychology, religion, and some about trading experience. I found the idea that really changed my mindset at the beginning of 2017.
the homology of profit and loss.
The original word is in chinese, I cannot find any better translation. Actually, the idea was not new, every trader successfull or not is familiar with it. I heard that loss is part of the game, for sure, but I'm really beginning to understand it after all these 3 years of profits and losses.
I put a stop order when entering a trade, I got this habbit after some painful experience at the beginning of my trading journey. I use a stop order to limit potential loss of my trade, but I never truely accept it, even I have been forced to accept the financial result of it. I noticed a subtle thought that occurs everytime when I'm about to put a stop order. I feel reluctant to click the buttom when putting to order, it is just a split of second that I feel that way, then my mind tells me what could happen without a stop order, so I click. When the price was moving towards my stop, I get nervous, I hated that. That's why I used to move my stop.
If I fully accept that loss is a part of the game, and the loss defined by my stop order is the price needed to pay for a potential profit, why would I feel what I feel about trading? If the worst senario has been defined at the beginning of the game then why would emotional pain exists in my mind.
I realized that I haven't never really accepted a loss in my mind. That's why I used to take revengeous trade right after a losing trade. That's why I double my position after a losing trade. It sounds like a capricious kid, spoiled by parents, seems to accept the rule of game at first. If he wins, ok, a happy day, if he loses he throws away all his toys, shouts at other kids, accuses other of cheating. Yes, definately, that's the little boy who was trading my account.
I can't help to laugh at myself now...I trade live acount now, but really small position. The goal is not about making profit, but to change my bad habbits and remove bad emotional energy from those behavior pattern, put positive energy into good ones. In general, make the little boy grow up.
@tshunhu It is so recognizable. Yesterday I posted in my journal log my periodic review with a list of my LossTrap behaviour.
I am really convinced by be aware of your bad trade behaviour, you will be able to make other behaviour descision at the end.
You will, like me, keep repeating bad habits for a while. That is ok. Never make yourself bad.
Keep identify them and after a while we will be able to make other good trading choises unconsiously
Thank you @Hanneke! I've subscribed your journal, great stuff, I really like the emoji for what you did well and not in your analysis.
BTW, I noticed that you place the drawing tool vertically on the chart in Ninjatrader, how? I've searched all the options in Ninja, but nothing useful? Thank you!
? I've searched all the options in Ninja, but nothing useful? Thank you!