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Very curious to know how you handled the NQ today. After the initial uptrend, it was mainly in a range till close. How do you do on days like this? Are there any trading opportunities in your system during a range day?
I really don't like days like today. My feeling is that the market has been subdued, as far as volatility the last two days because of Easter this weekend. I took two trades only. Just waited until it looked like price would move down and did some small 25 tick scalps when it bounced up off of some small support areas.
So, basically, just wanted to only take longs and wait for support breakout fails.
Two emotions that have plagued me for years and often made my trading experience very unpleasant and unhealthy were Fear and Anger. Due to the psychological “damage” that resulted from years of failure and lost money, there has often been an inner fear that has gripped me not only when I put on a trade, but even was I about to place one. This would manifest in a large surge of adrenaline and I could literally feel my heart start to pound. My shirts would be soaked in the underarm area. I would see some perfect setups and simply could not pull the trigger. Then as I saw that these setups would have been easy winners, I felt frustration along with anger that I was missing the moves. Then finally, when price was no longer in that high probability area, I would go in..way late. Then, when the trade would lose, I would get upset. This would then trigger a wave of negative thoughts such as, “Here we go again”..”Why do I keep doing this stupid trading”..”I’m never going to really make it.”
Even when I started to be mostly profitable, I couldn’t shake the fear and anger. It finally dawned on me that when I’m on SIM, none of these things occur. I just take the trade and see what happens..No fear or anger flooding through me. Why? Because I don’t care that much if the SIM wins or loses and I know I generally will win more than I lose. Then it dawned on me…How much better would I be and how much more pleasant an experience would it be if I just divorced myself from the outcome of these trades while live? Of course, follow my drawdown rules etc..but just trade with no fear and if the trades lose..or if I lose the day..so what? If I don’t care that much, why will I get angry or fearful? I know I’m good enough to come out ahead in the long run. I know when conditions are lousy and when they are good. I know when to stay out and when to take several trades in a session.
So every morning I read a little essay I wrote about how I will have no fear of losing and no anger when losing..just acceptance. If it’s a losing day, no more being depressed for several hours afterwards. I’m not there yet 100%, but I am way better. Slowly the fear and anger is getting less and less. I treat it like a game, and I am getting better at it.
I wonder if this is a condition that plagues people who are perfectionists or OCD? The tendency to protect every last cent of their account. I can completely agree and relate to your struggle/journey.
I have had to also reprogram my own mind in a similar fashion. For 38 years I bought construction tools for my work and lots of them. The amount of money spent on those tools would build a new house and buy a new car. Those tools were used to construct buildings. I never went to work with fear. I just went to work and used those tools.
And yet, our trading accounts are nothing other than a tool. Yet, we have a tendency to not want to get them dirty etc.
Putting drawdown, loss or my relationship to leverage into perspective of the big picture is a necessity. Telling myself that I am not going to go bankrupt by taking a calculated trade is what I have to and must do.
I have to force myself to look at the account as a tool and just go ahead and use that tool.
Thanks for highlighting this issue. You explained this challenge so well!
For me this describes exactly the psychological issues I'm still dealing with today, and in addition there is the fear of giving anything back after I had a good trade with my 'standard' profit objective....so I feel that I'm still not really ready for the game yet.
And being a perma bear who only wants to take short trades, I'm doing even harder in these times....
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." - Jim Rohn
I'm glad that I am not the only one who is drawn to short trades.
I love short trades. Going long is a struggle. I don't mind long trades when there has been a severe quick sell off and price is way far from where I believe it should be. But even then, I don't seem to stay in the trade long enough. But then, if I bank some green, then so what?
I was encouraged when Tom H. of Trader Tom said that he has an overwhelming tendency to be a short trader.
As you wrote this post, the NQ was at a point for a good short. A nice 17 point drop of the high on my pitchfork, but I wasn't looking at the screen. But that's ok, as I enjoyed reading these recent posts.
Cheers!
I hear you..On NQ at least, I seem to do better on the days where it is moving down. When it goes up, often it just stays up and bounces around a little.
Absolutely! I missed that move as well because price action was slow and boring during the first hour and therefore my attention went to futures.io following this great thread....
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." - Jim Rohn