It would be good if I know the reason for being in a slump lately. I may have a few guesses on why this is happening.
Looking back at my pnl from 2003-present there are one or two months each year when I struggled in my trading. Usually I have around 3 losing days/month but during those tough times I would have over 6 losing days. I think I am down 5 days or more this month.
I could be burnt out. I haven't taken a break since March. I am not doing my daily scans. Usually I would look at the charts of each stock on my scans and find potential movers for the following day.
My wife gave birth in May and since then I spent a lot of time helping out with the baby.
I trade NYSE stocks and rely on tape reading. There have been some big changes in the NYSE in the past 2 years or so. The changes include the banning of bullets, SHO stocks, and now the implementation of the hybrid. The market may have changed too quickly for me to adapt.
I guess what I mentioned are just some of my suspicions. As a trader I see those as excuses. In order to be successful I have to adapt to the market. I need to find a balance between family life and trading. I think my past experiences serve a good motivator. I have struggled to learn the markets when I began trading. I traded through quite a few slow periods. My trading profits have increased yearly by around 30% a year. Even though this month could turn out to be my slowest month in years, I believe I will come out ahead and set some new records.
1 comment:
OneBadTrade,
I feel your pain. You trading style is similar to mine and I too have been struggling for the last couple of months (starting in June) and I too felt as though I didn't know what it was that had my profits falling.
I think the statement that hit home was "In order to be successful I have to adapt to the market". For a few months, I just went in and did the same-old, same-old and I found I was doing less and less with regards to my trading (amid all the changes at the NYSE, summer doldrums, increased choppiness, etc).
For me, I think it was because I wasn't doing enough to improve my trading during the "dark" months that had my profits turn south...but lately I've been sort of "forced" to do something about my trading.
Your post is a good first step - at least you are acknowledging the situation...you'll find that this is a good springboard to getting things in gear.
It's also great that you are still maintaining a positive attitude and keeping your head high - probably one of the more important things us traders need to have.
I want to wish you the best of luck and just remember that it's only a matter of time...soon you'll get back in the groove!
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