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Intuitive function affords you a glimpse into the market state as your hard work peels off layer after layer of deceit and finally you stare wonder-eyed at singular the universal truth that was earlier so warped and distorted by your ego and internal conflicts.
Acting on this marvellous sight is what "knowing your place in the market" is all about.
I do not act at all times.
I act at a specific volatility, within the confines of a specific pre-defined time, the feel I have of if everything is aligning (or taking the opposite side of a setup, because the market is throwing such a perfect setup that it feels too good to be true and probably is).
And scalping is where only the fleet footed buck gets the mate of choice, if I may use such an analogy.
Hence, hesitation is an enemy when the plan shouts 'ENTER' or 'EXIT'.
The advantage of 'taking refuge' in the plan saves precious moments that otherwise make decision making a long drawn out process, and by the time the decision is made the moment has moved on.
Edit: To be complete, the analogy must also include that sometimes the fleet footed get slain instantly than the hesitant interlopers who tread with caution. The value here is that one must be consistent in ones approach.
BTW 1 tick in 6E is $12.50.... 15 tick loss is $187.5 loss plus $5(round trip) fees & commission per lot. 3 losses in a row will be ($562.50+15) $577.5 you will cross you daily loss limit for $30k account which is set at $500.
My intuitive function recognizes three types pf fear:
1. A 'Numbing' kind of fear
These are all the losers in me trying to even their score and increase their tribe. This happens at moments when the intuition realizes that price is going to take off and not look back, but the losers are trying to look and sound casual and trying to pretend that they are smart-alecs and if the intuition is diverted to their siren calls, the trade is MISSED (...and, usually, its "what a trade it was!"). But these smarty pants are usually the losers of life, voices propelled by peer pressure, conformist attitudes to be a 'part of society' etc. and it takes a twisted effort to KILL these voices and take the trade. If you hear laughter, ridiculing voices - make no mistake, ITS FEAR in disguise. Kill it and take that trade if the intuition is trustworthy. This fear is mainly visible as 'being wrong'.
2. The 'Nothing really works' fear
This might just be a technical trader's worst of fears. Pinbars work, when they fail then take the trade in the opposite direction. Hey wait that trade now seems to be dying out and its a signal again. Wait - that ain't no stinkin signal that's a trap! That trap - oooh, THAT was the signal I've been waiting for... enter! hey what the... my stop has been taken out before I blinked. And so forth.
This fear can ONLY be killed by one single word:
T R U S T.
Trust yourself to such an extent that everything becomes powerless.
3. The 'Real' Fear
This isn't a foe, its a friend! Its the warning part of my intuition that tells me in capital letters - DON'T TAKE THIS TRADE. Even if every star and planet align, even if the melody is harmonious, something amiss has been detected. This might be classified as voodoo and clairvoyance, but it works! Now again this is different from the 'Setup is valid but I am afraid to trade' variety. Its subtlety different! Vipassana meditation has been helping me go deeper and observe the exact sensations - these I can't put on paper but still is a universal primitive communication signal my body can let me know.
There is a fourth fear unique to me and I am glad that I could identify it because now I am going to be able to do something about it.
The fourth fear is a 'Depressionist' inside part or a proverbial 'Plato's Ghost'. This is a forever haunting part of me saying 'now I made money, so what.....? My life has not become better... What is the use of the materialistic world anyway? Why are you working so hard? Relax! Life will do no one any good! Why not just eat junk and become a TV slob?"
There have been times when I fell into this trap and made myself so miserable, unhelping, cowardly, deceitful and a umpteen things I would not like to even say - but this can ALL be conquered not by smiling and artificially pumping 'Positive Thoughts' but by actually doing something for someone other than you, living for others - that works!
So I rechecked my backtests.... I am placing a 10-pip stop. The other part is still the same - Once price moves up +50 ticks the stop moves up to +30 ticks making the reward average 3 times the risk.
One of the best things I have done for my trading, was a mechanical definition of market state. For me this is a evaluation of direction, volatility, and follow through.
3. The market alternates between volatility contraction and volatility expansion.
4. If the market does something twice and fails it usually tries to do the opposite.
Some examples of 'me' beliefs (identifying these helps me forsee their effects on my trading):
1. I detest putting data in Excel and crunching it. This belief (which sometimes turns out ill-founded because I do enjoy it when the graphs throw out some 'revealing' moments.
2. I am a slow learner. Perhaps because I have no faith - I do not believe something till I turn it over and over and study it to shreds and even then I have my doubts.
3. I love perfection. It makes me want to be right all the time.
4. I love and embrace risk - I'd rather enter without confirmation at a nicer price than wait for confirmation and get in when 'confirmed'. I consistently have decided the former in place of the latter because it fits my personality. This approach is inherently risky hence only with-trend entries for me!