Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
My screen resolution is not so great. I have a high def 30 inch monitor connected to a 5 year old dell laptop whose output is to low to support the amazing graphics this monitor can display. So when I do screen captures, it's less than wonderful but its fine for trading.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
I've discovered something this week. Being one and done, or basically hitting for average, taking my winners, closing out the losers, and not trading all day is actually more profitable for me than sitting here all day, trying to nail all the swings, or capture the big runs. And I have proof.
Whats weird is that I've felt less in tune with the markets, more anxious to trade longer than I physically have time for and in general less "professional" than I would expect considering the stats shown above. My win rate is below 50% but my profit factor is above 1 which is good, yes it could be better but, still, its better than at any previous time.
Something is working at the moment and I think I know what it is. Its knowing where I want to be in and a reasonable expectation of where I want to exit. I don't always execute these two things perfectly and I doubt I ever will. I'm finally ok with that. This is not about being perfect or nailing the entries or not having draw down. Its about being ok with uncertainty, ok with draw down, ok with exiting 100 ticks to soon IF the plan called for an exit long before that based on current market structure. Its being ok with knowing at the end of the day for 100% certainty that I could have done it better and still being comfortable with that knowledge.
Ditching the indicators has forced me to know what I'm looking for in the actual price action. And I do. Most of the time anyway. Enough to be able to scratch out wins most every day now. I come to the screen every day expecting to win. I know what it feels like to win now and I know with certainty that most days I can win.
I am listening to that inner voice more and more. I find sometimes I cannot explain how I knew it was ok to hold a trade going against me that eventually turned profitable and how other times the same kind of trade I cut short really fast that eventually turns out to be a full on loser. In both cases, the premise of the trade may not have been over but something inside said to hold or fold.....I'm trusting that voice more and more. Its this part of trading that is near impossible to impart to new traders, especially when they compare the two trades and ask the obvious question, why did you hold one time and not the next when the trades looked the same? Not easy to quantify but still a valid part of trading nonetheless.
I still struggle with range days. I really need to learn how to work in this environment. However, I now recognize when I'm struggling and usually the reason why. This means I can usually adjust my targets, wait a little longer, or not trade at all....
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
According to the trades you've posted here for Feb, you have had 27 winners and 13ish losers which would put your win % at 67.5%. I say this to let you know to be weary of Ninja's stats... it's the reason I keep my own. If you're ever trading more than 1 lots, your stats will be screwed up on Ninja.
You're probably already aware of this fact, and just have some trades that you didn't post... but just in case, maybe it helps!