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I spent a lot time this past week going over trades and notes of previous trades. I felt like I was missing something. The trades I was taking were good trades but the comments and emotions I was feeling at the time of the trades were not always positive. Some of the trades felt forced.
Then I came across a note I scribbled back in August. It said "Man, I could do this all day long!". I went back and looked at the trades I took that day and discovered they were scalps. I had a perfect 5 for 5. The trades I took were basically a 3 to 4 tick scalp off the bounce of the support/ resistance and the break of trend lines.
Thursday of last week I did some sim trading using the scalp method and was a perfect 7 for 7. I pulled out 19 out of the possible 21 ticks. I felt very comfortable taking the trades. I like taking them!! I believe the reason for this I very confident in predicting where the price will bounce or breakout will occur. So, the odds are in my favor that I will win.
This week I will trading live focusing on scalping. I have already been practicing in Market Replay with good results. One note: The spread in Market Replay is up to 5 ticks where my MB trading spread is a 1/2 tick to a full tick on a regular basis. I focused more on my entry than anything else. I exit the trade when the trade went above the trend line. In live trading I will have a defined stop of 3 to 4 ticks based on proximity to the support /resistance / trend line
I have also been playing around with a multiple contract entry with a targets of 2, 3 & 4 with a 3 tick stop in market replay. I will be testing this live this week as well.
Should be interesting this week. Cant wait to start!
+9 ticks for the night. Tried out the multiple entry setup. Not sure how to count that; is it one trade or three?...will go with one.. so, 2 winners and 1 loser.
I missed at least 5 trades. hesitation on my part. Need to train my mind to take the entry when I see it. Anyways... good start to the week. Let see if I can keep it going.
Didnt execute on several trades tonight. By the time I stopped I really upset with myself for not taking the trades. Felt like I missed out..totally stressed out about it. Then I reminded myself this was only DAY 2 of my new strategy and I have already set my expectations set way too high!!! So I lowered the bar too a sustainable level: One or two good trades a day. Going to build off of this.
It is also my intention to enter the Top Step Trade combine. After reviewing the goals which must be met I have decided to go with a 3 contract scalp.
I figure I need a average of 40 ticks a day to meet the profit goal. This would cover losing days and give some cushion. By going with 3 contract scalp which would be worth 9 ticks, I would need 4 to 5 good trades a day to meet the goal. This is obtainable. Tonight I missed out on 3 trades. With practice over the next couple of months I should be able to make those trades and hit the goal.
ok.. there's my goal.. now the first hurdle.
There is a psychological barrier for me taking trades; the first trade is easy because I have neither won nor lost so it does not matter to me what happens. However, once I get some ticks under my belt I start thinking about "not losing them!!". This causes me to hesitate and second guess my entry. I have to overcome this. I dont ever look at how much money or ticks I have made or lost however, I have a mental count. I know how many trades I have taken and how many ticks I have accumulated. How do I reset the counter in my head to zero before every trade??
Maybe it is more than just the losing the ticks. With my prior method I would make 5 to 20 ticks on a trade with a bigger stop. I somehow feel more comfortable about taking the 2nd, 3rd trade especially when the first was a decent size winner. I know its all in my head. I must identify the emotion (fear) and acknowledge it and let it go.
Maybe I want to succeed to much... I want to obtain my goal quickly.. I am reminded of Stars Wars quote "If you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did, suffer the same fate you will" The fate I will suffer is a busted trading account. I don't want to go there...
I have never wanted to do something so badly in my life.. Trading is my dream job.. If I am not careful my enthusiasm will be my downfall. Patience.. control.. clear vision of my goal... step by step down the right path.. doing it the right way.. These are the steps I need to take...
Feeling better than when I started my post. I know the path I must take and some of the walls I must tear down..
I've tried various techniques to try to overcome this too. Here's a few for consideration:
Don't do any admin /accounting for trades during the day, do that after your trading session
Make a 'mental transfer' for the amount of money you are willing to lose in a month and keep that visible (I use sticky notes). That way the fear of losing the money is somewhat muted as you have accounted for it anyhow.
Sounds like you are eager to prove to yourself you are a winning trader. That's great, but make this judgment on a monthly time frame. There will be winning/losing days and weeks but monthly things should average out better and if you are winning it will be more apparent from a distance.
Keep a 'passes' sheet to show you which trades you didn't take. All my trades start of life on the passes sheet and if I can find no reason not to take them - I have to take them!
I re-read my trading plan regularly which states in bold why I desire to succeed. That helps me to get over 'pulling the trigger issues', (to paraphrase the film) 1st rule of trade club - you have to trade!
Really hard this one but try not to be in a rush. Performance anxiety is a real killer. Peel off the pressure by lightening your expectation. Sounds like you are getting comfortable with a new approach/strategy? It will take time, so reflect that with realistic expectations.
The 2 trades which worked best were the bounces off the support and resistance lines. The other 2 for the trend line breaks were iffy. I focused so much on taking the trade today that I missed a key support level which would have kept me out of my losing trade. I am ok with this.
What was the best thing that happened today:
I faced my fear and took the trades even though I was already ahead for the day. I had an adrenaline rush on the last trade. This was because I confronted my fear of placing the trade.
What was the worst thing that happened today:
I hesitated on two trades and did not take them. I got upset with myself for not taking them.
Hesitation is not a option with scalping.. just watched another 9 ticks slip through my fingers. I saw the setup.. I was making sure there was enough space below the entry point for the target to be hit then BAM! euro drops 6 ticks in less than 30 seconds..
On the positive side I am seeing the setup... On the negative side I am waiting (thinking) to long before I execute.
Looking at another trade setup and didnt want to take it because I was a bit emotional after missing the last one so I switched over to SIM. Then entered the trade without hesitation (no emotion) and the targets were hit....
I think @Big Mike mentioned this in another thread about trading better when it is not your own money. No way to test this of course unless someone wants to let me borrow their account for day.. Any Takers??
If I had an account with Top Step Traders, I wonder if my block of taking a trade would be lessened or just plain gone since technically it is not my money since they absorb losses.
I wonder the same thing sometimes. I have a buddy who wants to let me trade with his money because he knows its different(he doesn't care that I haven't had long term success with my money), but he's my best friend so I would feel kinda bad if I lost his money