Friends,
I am new to futures.io (formerly BMT). However, in this short period I am highly inspired after reading articles and threads in this forum. It has given me the courage to start one of my own in order in know my weaknesses and strength.
I will start with writing this journal to know myself better, so that I can take one step ahead in the world of trading.
Something about myself. I am an Indian national and trade in National Stock Exchange Of India. My trading stint started about 4 years ago after getting fascinated by colorful charts and up/ down bars. I thought trading is easy -Just buy at the low of the graph and sell at the highest point. Initial days of my trading was limited to one bar charts crammed with hundreds of indicators, each pointing in different directions. I did not understand anything and wondered how can few curly lines tell you when to buy or sell or predict prices 10 days from today. I traded anyways and lost money. Then I started betting on calls from brokerage firms and paid services. Lost even more money. I wondered why couldn't these firms take positions on their calls and make millions instead of earning few thousand Rupees by selling their predictions. Then I read about back testing and strategy making. I created a strategy, back tested it and was excited to get a profit of 80 pct annualized on paper, of course. I bought shares on every trigger. Few of them gave me little profit and majority moved against me. I dishonoured my stop loss target and cut loose of the positions only after pain became unbearable.
Later I read few books that changed my whole idea about trading. 1. Van k Tharp books on risk and money management- prior to this, RISK was just a word in dictionary for me. 2. Reminiscence Of A Stock Operator by Leevre- After reading this I thought traders are born and not made, like any other professional athlete. 3. Two books by Dr. Brett Steenbarger's convinced me that even if you are not a born trader, you can train your mind to become one. Prior reading this, psychology for me was meant for people suffering from mental disorder. 4. Finally I got hold of two very popular books by Jim Dalton ( Mind over market And Markets in profile). This cleared the fog and I saw markets with different perspective and I somewhat understood the auction process.
Although now I understand little about markets, I am still far away from becoming a decent trader. My short comings are:
1. I don't have a written plan.
2. I don't have any strategy.
3. Even if I make a plan- I freeze when time comes to pull the trigger.
4. I procrastinate when it comes to writing a journal
5. I don't do proper homework prior market open.
6. I get distracted very easily.
7. I feel that the market is always out to get me
8. I give up very easily
9. I always have second thought about every thing.
Good things about me are:
1. I always honour my stop loss target.
2. I am persistent and determined, with some guidance I will succeed.
3. I strongly believe that every thing is going to be alright in the end. If things are not alright then it is NOT THE END
I have decided to formulate a simple trading plan and modify or make additions as required. I shall post my plan in this journal. I shall also post my daily trading activities and trade logs.
I am sure this will help me in becoming a better trader and most importantly a better person.