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My trading has improved dramatically this year. Here is a list of improvements:
1. I finally keep real stats every day. I've played around with it several times but the numbers don't lie. Keeping stats is probably the most important thing I do.
2. I finally stopped worrying about making money every day. Now I keep score weekly. My trading improved immediately.
3. I finally figured out what expectancy means to me....and that gave me significant confidence in my next trade.
4. I finally decided to stop scalping....in the sense of only trying for small targets 100% of the time. I know day trading is inherently a scalping proposition but for me, scalping is lots of small targets. My PnL improved instantly.
4. I finally understand that win rate is HIGHLY overrated. In fact, win rate might be the least important metric in trading. The most important metric might be; How big are my winners vs losers, both in ticks and lot size.
5. I finally developed some patience. This is a work in progress and probably always will be.
6. I finally consented to teach others. I found I love this and makes me a better trader. I now believe everyone should have a mentor plus be a mentor to others. There is accountability on both sides.
7. I've finally developed a real love for trading. Prior I had a love hate relationship. Now while I don't live for trading, I have fun while trading and I have fun talking about it. Its become more of a game of sorts. A challenge to find the set ups, to execute them and to spend the 15 seconds it takes to enter the data into my spreadsheet to produce my numbers. At the end of the day, I like seeing the net change in my expectancy numbers, my average win increasing and my average loser decreasing. These are "exciting" to me.
8. I finally understand why my original mentor was so brutal toward me when I asked him to "just explain to me where to enter" when he was trying to get me to get my mind right first.
9. I'm finally ready to listen (I think) to far more experienced traders and their advice. I'm still stubborn but working on it.
10. And finally, I went from 2 years of basically break even trading to profitability. I consider break even a success. After all, anything that doesn't lose money is successful...to a degree but it also lays the foundation for profitability.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Thanks a lot @PandaWarrior for this very insightful post.
Perhaps we can add another category to the contest and call it 'Post of the year', so that post would be worth a nomination...
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." - Jim Rohn
for a survey/poll question. I'm excited to read what others have to contribute here. @PandaWarrior this deeply experienced trader may look to learn a thing or two from you.
If Friday was year end, I'd be + just over $8,000 for the year. That is "significantly worse". Typically I'd describe plus $8,000 as a pretty good week since leaving professional trading for retail. I generally trade 1-3 lots, mostly ES and 6E, so I'm not what I would call high volume by any means, nor am I high intensity anymore. Maybe that is part of the problem. When I think about it, I feel safe in the generalization that any ES trader worth his salt should have killed it this year.
Thanks @Big Mike for this poll question. I will be very interested in what gets recorded here. Dan
Even my trading has improved dramatically this year, in the following ways:
1. I have stopped caring about money, and simply focus on the craft of trading - because of this my anxiety and stress have vanished
2. I have understood the factors that drive my mistakes and my shortcoming, I have uncovered the core of my problems. This is very personal and I fight everyday.
3. I decided that my needs are best served by scalping.
4. I now consistently keep my winners bigger than losers. There is no 'one time', no hesitation in cutting a loser after the premise become invalid, no regrets even if I see price at target after taking out the stop.
5. I keep trying to be patient with entries.
6. I allow myself to make lots of mistakes - I do not let my ego interfere with my craft.
7. I've finally discovered that there is no point in having this hobbist mindset about trading. Trading is no longer my passion but simply my profession. It is not what I am but simply what I do.
8. I have started seeing the world as it really is and am never afraid of reality.
9. Without my ego I can learn new things faster and can apply them. I keep on learning to keep my edges razor sharp, I learn range trading, I learn trend trading, I learn breakout trading, I learn swing trading, I learn strategies on various timeframes, I learn about market microstructure, I learn about overcoming adversity, I grow tough with every learning and yet stay soft an pliable and my best keeps becoming better. I REFUSE TO GIVE UP.
10. I am still a breakeven trader, but I have the core confidence and am at peace that I will make money in any market condition.
My real concern over the poll is that good news is good, bad news is good, and there has not been a 10% correction. My point is that people look like geniuses in bubble markets and that's what we have. So have people improved, or is the market just being more forgiving?
Btw I'm a commodities trader and have done very well this year.....even though I almost always trade long. This being my first post, hello to all and love the forum
1.) Using arbitrage
2.) Some Macro
3.) Continue trend following.
4.) Spread out risk.
5.) Less emotional (which i attribute to running automated trading strategies if they have taught me 1 thing its discipline which has helped with some other trading i am doing.)
Which has:
Lowered volatility by 50%.
Reduced drawdown by 30% (could still do with way further judging by topsteptrader program). (Could be market performance related also).
Added my performance metrics to rapa which was interesting too see how far i should go to get up the ladder!
Better focus on monthly period and in fact have yet to have 3 profitable months in a row which is something i need to look at.
Eventually added CFD's trading so i integrated Ninja with python as a workaround to the platform.
So things i am dissatisfied on.
1.) My largest losing month this year was greater than my largest winning month. Due to an arbitrage that is not exactly following the norm pattern and is now sitting around 7K in RED on the balance sheet sucking up resources.
2.) Not buying bitcoin at 50-100 dollars.
For 2.) as we all know there is always another trade around the corner so i wont dwell on it! For 1.) ill sit it out and assume im right and liquid enough to prove the market wrong (its neutral before anyone asks).
