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This one thing helped my trading


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This one thing helped my trading

  #1 (permalink)
 
masterchanger's Avatar
 masterchanger 
Chicago, IL
 
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I've been trading part-time for several years and have been working at learning trading more or less full-time since 2009.

I'm looking to start a thread where we can all share what one (or more) observation or insight positively impacted your trading.

For me, I've always had a goal to grow my trading account. I figured that I would need a large account to support my goal of financial independence and trading full/part-time.

I would make profits and refuse to remove them all in the name of growing my account. Since I didn't need the money to live(I had a full-time job which would often allow me to work on learning trading too).

I almost treated the profits as "not real money". I looked at my trading account as my "seed corn" and refused to remove even a dollar of profit.

I also observed that keeping profits in the account made me feel like I could afford to take bigger risks since the point of trading for me was building the big account. Predictably I would give back the profits and sometimes generate a loss. I would also with out fail never hesitate to add to my depleted account, all with the thought of my end goal.

I was looking to make a transition to trading full-time sooner than later.

My personal approach to trading has gravitated to primarily price action based after having gone through the if one indicator is good then more will be better stage.

What helped me were two things:
1. using some method to protect profits, I settled on a simple moving average, I used the moving average to trail my stop on the DOM.
2. I request all profits for the day be sent to me via check. This creates a "clean slate" in my mind and I refrain from trading after I have sent my email request for withdrawal to my broker.

I still have the same goal of growing the account and add back at the end of the month an amount I consciously choose to add.

This also satisfies my desire to treat trading as a business, by paying myself first.

This mindset is part of the behavior of a professional trader.

Now is the Time!
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  #3 (permalink)
 kevinkdog   is a Vendor
 
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masterchanger View Post
I've been trading part-time for several years and have been working at learning trading more or less full-time since 2009.

I'm looking to start a thread where we can all share what one (or more) observation or insight positively impacted your trading.

For me, I've always had a goal to grow my trading account. I figured that I would need a large account to support my goal of financial independence and trading full/part-time.

I would make profits and refuse to remove them all in the name of growing my account. Since I didn't need the money to live(I had a full-time job which would often allow me to work on learning trading too).

I almost treated the profits as "not real money". I looked at my trading account as my "seed corn" and refused to remove even a dollar of profit.

I also observed that keeping profits in the account made me feel like I could afford to take bigger risks since the point of trading for me was building the big account. Predictably I would give back the profits and sometimes generate a loss. I would also with out fail never hesitate to add to my depleted account, all with the thought of my end goal.

I was looking to make a transition to trading full-time sooner than later.

My personal approach to trading has gravitated to primarily price action based after having gone through the if one indicator is good then more will be better stage.

What helped me were two things:
1. using some method to protect profits, I settled on a simple moving average, I used the moving average to trail my stop on the DOM.
2. I request all profits for the day be sent to me via check. This creates a "clean slate" in my mind and I refrain from trading after I have sent my email request for withdrawal to my broker.

I still have the same goal of growing the account and add back at the end of the month an amount I consciously choose to add.

This also satisfies my desire to treat trading as a business, by paying myself first.

This mindset is part of the behavior of a professional trader.


Pretty cool approach. What do you do on days that you lose? Are you writing checks to your broker?

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  #4 (permalink)
 
masterchanger's Avatar
 masterchanger 
Chicago, IL
 
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Hi Kevin,

I keep a level amount in my reading account at all times for the month.

I will add funds back to keep that amount level(+-10%) of a that months base value. I find that within 1 or 2 days I will have recouped the amount added and pull out the excess. I typically have to do that once or twice in a monthly 20 day trading period.

I think this works for me mainly by halting my trading after a significant gain (>5%) I don't limit the gain while in a trade but definitely quit so that I have ended with some profit and avoid greed factor trying to maximize profit at the expense of the days profit and my trading account.

I'm not saying I'm some super trader, just a guy who has found out something very important about my trading that has made a huge difference.

Now is the Time!
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  #5 (permalink)
 
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 Traderwolf 
Raleigh,NC
 
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masterchanger View Post

I'm looking to start a thread where we can all share what one (or more) observation or insight positively impacted your trading.

Good idea for a thread!.. I am a work in progress and by no means have arrived. I would have to say the one thing that has helped me the most in my trading is GETTING THE MARKET CONTEXT RIGHT. I am a price action trader also and I found myself often times looking too much for setups irrespective of market context. I would take a valid setup when it appeared but at times would take a short when I should be long or vice versa. AFter the day was done, I would review my trades and say "Why was I thinking about going short there?"

I developed a simple strategy where all during the day at about 10-15 minute intervals I ask myself 3 questions:
1. Should I be looking to initiate a position long?
2. SHould I be looking to initiate a position short?
3. Should I be looking at doing nothing and remaining flat?

If I cannot answer this question quickly and clearly, I should not trade and should wait for clarity. I used this process in fast speed replay to hone my skills as to market bias and context. This exercise also helped me refine my trading rules for market bias as well..

I know this sounds so obvious and simple, but it is the obvious things I have found I take for granted that have cost me the most pain(Like counter trend trading in a strong trend).

Wolf

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  #6 (permalink)
 TrendTraderBH 
Detroit, Michigan
 
Experience: Beginner
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This is a nice simple exercise you outline - kinda of like thinking out loud for clarity.

Market condition (what I call market context) has been the most important element of successful trading for me. The only other more important thing is stop risk - where defining stop risk of where I would be wrong and not taking a trade where the stop risk is more than I can handle as the stop could be hit and the trade could still not be wrong.....I let a lot of trades go by.

But market condition is so crucial as it potentially causes me a string of losses that when viewed in hindsight I had no business taking "valid" signals because market condition showed choppy (and I traded trend following signals) or strongly trending (and I tried to fade).



Traderwolf View Post
Good idea for a thread!.. I am a work in progress and by no means have arrived. I would have to say the one thing that has helped me the most in my trading is GETTING THE MARKET CONTEXT RIGHT. I am a price action trader also and I found myself often times looking too much for setups irrespective of market context. I would take a valid setup when it appeared but at times would take a short when I should be long or vice versa. AFter the day was done, I would review my trades and say "Why was I thinking about going short there?"

I developed a simple strategy where all during the day at about 10-15 minute intervals I ask myself 3 questions:
1. Should I be looking to initiate a position long?
2. SHould I be looking to initiate a position short?
3. Should I be looking at doing nothing and remaining flat?

If I cannot answer this question quickly and clearly, I should not trade and should wait for clarity. I used this process in fast speed replay to hone my skills as to market bias and context. This exercise also helped me refine my trading rules for market bias as well..

I know this sounds so obvious and simple, but it is the obvious things I have found I take for granted that have cost me the most pain(Like counter trend trading in a strong trend).

Wolf


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  #7 (permalink)
 
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 rubyslippage 
Phoenix, AZ
 
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The two things that had the most positive impact on my trading:

1. Learning how to trade price action, instead of indicators or bias (what I believed price should do next).

2. Developing a trading plan based on positive expectancy and accepting that losses are a regular part of being a consistently profitable trader, just like getting punched is a regular part of being a world class boxer

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  #8 (permalink)
 
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rubyslippage View Post
The two things that had the most positive impact on my trading:

1. Learning how to trade price action, instead of indicators or bias (what I believed price should do next).

2. Developing a trading plan based on positive expectancy and accepting that losses are a regular part of being a consistently profitable trader, just like getting punched is a regular part of being a world class boxer

Good points.

There were several reasons why I decided to make the move away from indicators and focus on price action. Without going into them all, one of the aha moments was when I was trying to think about what professional traders do. The likes of traders at prop firms, Goldman, locals on the floor etc. They obviously all have different styles, but one thing that really hit me like a ton of bricks was, do I honestly think that any of them care about what the MACD is doing? Do they really give two hoots about where the RSI is? Do I really think that a professional prop trader is sitting there waiting for an indicator to cross before he makes a move. That was it for me,...done with traditional lagging indicators. It was time to start learning about market structure, context, and how the market really moves. Never looked back.

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  #9 (permalink)
 
masterchanger's Avatar
 masterchanger 
Chicago, IL
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: TradeStation,Multicharts
Broker: TradeStation, CQG,Binance.us
Trading: ES,NQ,6E,6J,6B,GC,S,HG,W,CL,NG
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Thanks to everyone who contributes to this thread. !!!
I think important as a trader to make and share these individual distinctions.
maybe someone reading this thread will have a light bulb experience.

Now is the Time!
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  #10 (permalink)
 djarum11 
Boston, MA
 
Experience: Intermediate
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one thing that has pushed my learning forward in terms of technicals is learning volume-spread analysis, what i consider the ultimate form of price action chart reading. i still refine my technique after years of learning to read the markets this way. initially it requires a 180-degree mental shift to chart reading. later, more and more subtleties come out as you achieve a mindset of reading markets based on empirical supply and demand without the derivatives of any kind of indicator or concepts whatsoever. in that sense it is a longer road toward freedom.

in terms of mental shift there are several particular influences that have helped develop the mindset. having a supportive partner with whom i can talk things out in detail. and actually taking this 2day seminar that helped reveal to me my strengths vs others and also how much broader trading as a business is than the numerous naive gambling approaches to it.

but more than anything, forums like this and reading tons of books is what works for my independent-study personality type.

thanks.

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Last Updated on May 31, 2013


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