Archives of “losers” tag

rss

Three Keys to Trading Success

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

The successful trader is creative. I think it’s fair to say that his approach is a short-term trend-following method. His way of evaluating the market trend, however, is unique. He is definitely not just looking at the same old 14-period oscillator that comes pre-programmed in most charting applications. Similarly, he has clear stop points and price targets, but these are defined in a unique way, based upon the market conditions he’s observing. This “out-of-the-box” thinking style is common to successful traders, I’ve found. They look at markets in unique ways that help them capture shifts in supply and demand. to find a way of trading that you can make your own. You’re more likely to stick with a method that fits with how you think (and that fits with your skills) than if it’s something you’ve blindly copied from others. Our trader believes in his method, and that gives him the brass ones to hang in there during relatively lean periods.

2) The successful trader is always seeking improvement. If our trader is already successful, why does he need to talk with Henry? He knew that, by sharing his ideas, he would learn a great deal about the strengths and weaknesses of his trading. Sure enough, Henry found that the average size of the trader’s losers was larger than it needed to be. A simple modification of stop-loss rules improved the system’s performance meaningfully. Similarly, by putting a filter on the system–only taking trades if certain conditions were met–the average profit per trade went up significantly. That could aid position sizing. The trader knew he had something good, but good wasn’t good enough. He wanted better.

3) The successful trader is persistent. One thing I want to stress: the trader’s methods were very sound–and Henry found ways to make them better–but they were not perfect. Out of about sixty months analyzed, fourteen were losers. The drawdowns were not hellacious, but there were periods of flat performance and drawdown. What that means is that a successful trader needs to have the confidence to ride out these periods of poorer performance to get to the periods of success. That is one reason why it’s so important

7 Deadly Sins of Trading

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

Perfectionism: There is no perfection in trading as far as making money on every trade or having a perfect system. All you can hope to be perfect at, is following your system, rules, and trading plan. A winning trade should be measured as one in which you followed all your preset guidelines. Even the best traders only average about a 50%-60% win rate at best over long periods of time. The key is having bigger winners than losers, not being perfect. Like in baseball where a .300 hitter can get into the hall of fame. A .500 trader in the market can become wealthy if his wins are much bigger than his losses.

Fear:  Faith in your system is the only way to overcome your fear of trading. You must complete enough back testing on your system until you know that you have a valid edge over the market in the long term. You must see opportunity in trading and just accept that there will be possible losses. You must take your systems trade signals each time and if you can’t overcome your fear of loss and failure then perhaps trading is just not for you. Traders are entrepreneurs not employes they get paid only when successful there is no guaranteed paycheck.

Pride:  We are not our trading account and staring at our profit and loss too much is a major detriment in one’s trading. Traders must cut losses at their predetermined stop, not pridefully hang on trying to prove they are right. We must separate ourselves from the trading. A person’s value is not tied to a trade or performance record. If we followed our system then we can’t view that as a personal loss. The market was just not conducive to our system that we followed with discipline. (more…)

Loss Aversion

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

Changing behavior is one of the hardest things one can do, but as most successful marketers will tell you, it can be done in almost any circumstance. There are apps for the iPhone (I can’t speak for Android) which have succeeded in getting people to exercise or lose weight. Perhaps you might adapt one of them to suit your need.

Yes. If loss aversion is pervasive, then it should show up in regularities relating to price moves. The situation is complicated in futures where one person’s long profit when price goes up is the short’s loss. The endowment effect which is caused by loss aversion or the tendency to connect with what you own, could lead to holding something too long. The reference point effect, which is that people base their decisions on where they are, a variant of holding onto the status quo is also a factor. When there is a profit, a different type of endowment effect plays then when there is a loss. Especially when there has been a big loss and it turns into a profit, the loss aversion effect is greatest I believe. (more…)

The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Douglas

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

TRADINGINZONE

“I know it may sound strange to many readers, but there is an inverse relationship between analysis and trading results. More analysis or being able to make distinctions in the market’s behavior will not produce better trading results. There are many traders who find themselves caught in this exasperating loop, thinking that more or better analysis is going to give them the confidence they need to do what needs to be done to achieve success. It’s what I call a trading paradox that most traders find difficult, if not impossible to reconcile, until they realise you can’t use analysis to overcome fear of being wrong or losing money. It just doesn’t work!”

“If you really believe in an uncertain outcome, then you also have to expect that virtually anything can happen. Otherwise, the moment you let your mind hold onto the notion that you know, you stop taking all of the unknown variables into consideration. Your mind won’t let you have it both ways. If you believe you know something, the moment is no longer unique.”

“There is a random distribution between wins and losses for any given set of variables that defines an edge. In other words, based on the past performance of your edge, you may know that out of the next 20 trades, 12 will be winners and 8 will be losers. What you don’t know is the sequence of wins and losses or how much money the market is going to make available on the winning trades. This truth makes trading a probability or numbers game. When you really believe that trading is simply a probability game, concepts like “right” and “wrong” or “win” and “lose” no longer have the same significance. As a result, your expectations will be in harmony with the possibilities.” (more…)

Risk Management for Traders

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

RISK-MANAGEMENT

  • Your first loss is the best loss.
  • Let winning positions run and cut losing positions short. The market is always right.
  • I finally understand why Kirk always says risk management is the most important thing.
  • Always know your exit. Before any trade is made, you must always identify your stop beforehand and then follow it without hesitation if it triggers.
  • Patterns and trends matter more than I thought…paying attention to them can provide better entry/exit points.
  • Patterns and measured moves are key but you have to wait until a pattern is triggered and the trigger holds.
  • Being patient and waiting for confirmation instead of trying to anticipate market movements.
  • Risk is greatest when everyone who wants to buy has already done so – Apple is the latest example!
  • Position sizing is my first and last line of defense.
  • Leverage is for losers.

The Ten Trading Commandments

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

1) Trade for success not for money.

2) Strive for discipline.

3) Know yourself and how well you handle risk.

4) Lose your ego.

5) Know your risk level and when you hit your stop point exit the trade.

6) Know when to trade and when to wait.

7) Love your losers like you love your winners.

8) Losing trades will be your best teachers.

9) After three losing trades in a row, take a break.

10) Don’t break any of the above nin rules.

Win or Lose -It's Upto You

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

If you want to win then you must create your own trading plan and follow it, if you want to lose just trade whatever you want whenever you want based on your own opinion.

If you want to win then you must control your risk carefully with only 1% or 2% of your capital at stake in every individual trade, if you want to lose then just trade huge position sizes, put all your chips on the table.

If you want to win plan your entries and exits before you enter a trade then follow them, if you want to lose ask for everyone’s opinion and just make decisions based on other people.

If you want to win cut your losses short and let your winners run, if you want to lose hold your losers and hope that they come back and sell your winners quickly to lock in gains.

If you want to win trade only the best high quality stocks in the market, if you want to lose trade the junk and hope for a miracle come back.

If you want to win then build complete confidence for your system through chart studies and back testing, if you want to lose trade with no idea of if what you are doing even works.

If you want to win go with the current trend of the market, if you want to lose fight the trend and trade against it.

If you want to win then go long the hottest stocks in a bull market, if you want to lose short the hottest stocks in a bull market.

Do what makes money not what you feel like doing.

Great lines from :Ed Seykota

  
  Education
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

“In The Trading Tribe, Ed extends his paradoxical insights about trading and life. ‘We need to experience our feelings. If we resist them, we wind up creating dramas in our lives and in our trading so that we have to experience them.'”

“Everyone knows traders who violate their rules, second guess their systems, give up on winners, stick with losers, and swear they won’t do it again…. Rather than counseling strength, steely discipline, or automation, Ed again turns apparent common sense on its head,. He encourages traders to embrace and celebrate their feelings, especially the ones they are unwilling to feel.”“‘Win or lose, everybody gets what they want from the market. Some people like to lose, so they win by losing money….'”

Go to top