Breaking DCA behavior

May 10th, 2023, 12:11 PM

Hi All,

I currently trade MNQ as I don't trust myself to trade NQ because of my DCA behavior that I seemingly can't break.

I started trading Jan 2020 and over the last 3 and a bit years have found myself in a situation where I can trade reasonably well hitting 15-20pts on average a day in MNQ however I simply cannot break the habit of averaging into a losing position, even after it has gone past my self imposed daily loss limits.

As I write this, I had a 35 contract position open with a drawdown of -$2200 that eventually turned into a winner, albeit only 8 points in profit compared to the ~40pts of DD I had. Before I put this trade on I was up $85 on the day (40pts) took a loser and was up $30 (15pts).

I have trained myself to continually average into a losing position to get out for at least break even or ~10pts and it works nearly all the time, except for the 1 time it doesn't and my account is blown.

I then start the process again of putting in $1000 into my account, building it back up 5x before the inevitable happens again. This is why I don't trade minis yet (even though I have sufficient capital to do it).

I have tried setting a SL and for a while I let it be hit, then the day comes where I move it or remove it - trade eventually ends up winning. I've read the books, I've watched the videos and I know this is a bad habit I have to break but I am struggling to do it.

Can anyone offer any advice on how I can take steps to break this habit and commit to those steps moving forward?

TIA!

May 10th, 2023, 02:17 PM

you are not scalng properly just like i do lots of times. i mean i scale improperly also at times. it is a very tuff way to trade but if you have the fortitude it will pay just as much if not more than most strategies but adhering to areal risk of loss get out point is important.

you gave us half of what you want ot do?
you want to stop doing something but then it needs to be replaced with something ..so you did not state what you want to replace it iwith?
once you have a new plan to replace your dca which might not fit your peronslaity of bank roll then you can stop doing dca.
or trade a bigger contract this will immediately stop dca. the micros are very very conducie to dca because
the contract is so small you do not realize eventually you are long 40 lots and the mkt is crushing you like a 4 lot MINI.

but you need a new stageid to replcae your dca . if you cannot just stop bad behavior then trading might not be for you

May 10th, 2023, 02:43 PM

HiLatencyTRDR HLT

you are not scalng properly just like i do lots of times. i mean i scale improperly also at times. it is a very tuff way to trade but if you have the fortitude it will pay just as much if not more than most strategies but adhering to areal risk of loss get out point is important.

you gave us half of what you want ot do?
you want to stop doing something but then it needs to be replaced with something ..so you did not state what you want to replace it iwith?
once you have a new plan to replace your dca which might not fit your peronslaity of bank roll then you can stop doing dca.
or trade a bigger contract this will immediately stop dca. the micros are very very conducie to dca because
the contract is so small you do not realize eventually you are long 40 lots and the mkt is crushing you like a 4 lot MINI.

but you need a new stageid to replcae your dca . if you cannot just stop bad behavior then trading might not be for you

Thanks for the reply. In the trade example I used, I started off at 1 lot and doubled down and down until it's at 35. I want to break this behavior and start to accept that when the chart says I'm wrong and/or my mental stop is hit I have the capacity to press the flatten button. At a logical level at the start of the trade I had a plan that I would go to 5 lots and then get out at -25pts but once I start adding it's a one way path to an all or nothing behavior.

Which makes me think you have a point about the size and bank roll. When I see -$2200 on my DD I don't really feel it as a significant loss as that amount of money is not a financial hit for me (not to sound like an ass, but hope that comes across as how I mean it). -$22k is another story and I think if I was trading minis I wouldn't be DCA'ing that much, but also don't want to run the risk of putting $50k into the account and this habit pops up again.

So ultimately with trading I want to trade large size (5-10 contracts) on NQ but do so with having the ability to stop DCA'ing and letting 'that 1 trade' become an account blow up. I feel my only course of action is to ask the broker to set hard limits but I've had too many instances of having 'bad' trades eventually turn and go in my favour and hit my original TPs.

May 10th, 2023, 02:58 PM

1. the fact that you look at it as money is a problem. i rarley if ever look at it and say im down 200 dollars or 3000 dollars, money means nothing to me in this game. its all points . sure ill throw a dollar sign in front of gains and losses but because of the way i trade i cannot be worreid about being in a big drawdown until it is almost catastrophic.

you cannot have it both ways.

trading smaller is better than bigger as far as total leverage you should have your fcm increase the margins a lot on you say double or triple that way you cannot get your self into too much trouble if you want to fool around because you are really just fooling yourself and fooling around with your money. if you were here to win then i doubt you would be having to ask for outside help unless you have alterior motives and no one but you knows that.

good luck

Breaking DCA behavior

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Breaking DCA behavior