I have done some posting on nexusfi.com (formerly BMT), but this is my first journal.
I hesitated a long while before deciding to start it. Basically, I understand the value that Big Mike suggests a journal can have:
- The accountability of going public, and of recording exactly what you have done, can give you the perspective and objectivity to see where you can change.
- So can any feedback you get from the community.
- Plus, you have a chance to contribute in some way, which is rewarding from a simple human perspective. As I'm writing this, I also see the guidelines Big Mike has just above the text box, and one says: "Pay it forward: Helping others will help yourself." Or, contributing is good for you. :becky:
On the other hand:
- I have seen others have to cut back or stop their journal posting because it became a distraction from trading.
- You can get very self-involved.
- There is a very real chance of looking like an idiot.
These "other hand" issues have kept me from going public in this way for a while now. I have decided to take the step, and risk the self-exposure, because I have a specific problem to solve, and I think a journal may be helpful for me. Some very brief background will help explain:
I am no stranger to live trading, and have gone in and out of trading over the years, while working for a living. Initially it was stock options, then index options and ETF options as they became available (we're talking a fairly long number of years here :becky: ), and some stock investing. I am generally happy with the long-term results, although I always thought that I would do more and better when I had the time available. Well, now I have the time, and income is not an issue, and I developed an interest in the futures markets, so it looked like now would be it.
I am very happy with futures trading, and I think I am getting the hang of it, but transitioning from the timeframe of stocks (weeks and months, or years) and options (days and weeks) to futures (minutes and hours) has been challenging. I would have said, before, that trading is just trading, what's the difference? Well, the quickness of loss and reward is a big difference, at least it has been for me. The issues are psychological, not technical, but that is true of most trading issues, I am convinced.
So, getting around to my issue:
I was interested in the structured environment of the TsT Combine, and did my first Combine a while ago. It was very good for increasing awareness of risk and loss control, and I did well enough to qualify for a rollover or refund, but was way short of the profit target. I received advice from John Hoagland of TsT Hoag), to the effect that I had managed one of the main hurdles of trading, which he called "recovering your costs" (not losing :becky:). He said that he suspected I was not letting my good trades run, but was closing them out too soon out of caution (fear of loss), and if I worked on that I would take my next step.
I thought "what does he know?", and played with changing around my "system", took bigger risks and threw the loss control out the window. In other words, I decided to do everything wrong. :crazy_pilot:
Well, that didn't work. :sarcastic:
After some sobering experiences, I recently finished another Combine and got a rollover again. It's good to be back in the world of sanity, after wandering around lost for a while, and frankly, I'm pretty sure that I could stay consistently profitable at a fairly modest level, just by controlling risk again (while it is a fairly idiotic thing to say, and is probably a little premature, I think that's about right....)
But Hoag's point is still valid. Assuming I can manage the losses and keep them under control -- which may not be a done deal, but at least I understand it better now -- killing those winning trades too early is a big obstacle to trading progress, for me. There may also be issues with trade location. I have noticed I also tend to get in a move …