Thursday, August 14, 2008

Just when my confidence was improving...

I had three above average days and was beginning to gain some confidence. I thought I am finally getting the consistency I want in my trading. I was dreaming of taking bigger size so I can get those $1k days. Everything was was looking good until the market gave me a blow and knocked me back down to the ground.

I was negative the entire day and more losses just kept getting larger. I just couldn't find anything today. Since there was a big crack in my discipline from being overconfident, I took trades without careful planning. I thought my trades would work out like the other days. I could have stopped myself when I was down $180, $250, $300, $400, or $500 but I kept going. I thought I could catch that one trade that would bring me back or cut my loss down. I began to take trades which I classify as low probability or bad trades. On some trades I knew I don't have a good chance but I took them anyway. Like all my other bad days my day ended in capitulation. I gave up at 2:30 when I lost another $60 bringing my losses to $700 for the day. I worked hard for my gains this month and I gave away a big chunk today.

4 comments:

Denarii said...

I did not do it as bad but I had a $300 loss minutes into trading today. I got it down to being only -20 with about 30 minutes to go and then decided to lose my mind and ended down $220. This took about 20% of my monthly profits. Stupid stupid stupid. Also most of that was commissions.

Anonymous said...

you are not alone. I had a good run last week and I was in heaven and confidence was high. But this week, I am in hell. Go figure. Trading sucks sometimes.

Tomer said...

OMG man we are totally in the same boat, just when I build my confidence I take a hit, and it reminds me that the trading rules we set (and I set to quit the day after 3 consecutive losses or if I'm -3R (150$) and I didn't)
lately I've been practicing only obeying rules, not acually "trying to make money", rather just keep up my rules, I'm sure that if I'll be able to do that, it will improve stopping me in days like you just had :(
sorry to hear about it man, but I guess trading do suck sometimes..
Tomer

OBAT said...

Every time I start thinking about the money I can make if I start getting more aggressive, I usually get a big hit.

Tomer,

You are right on. We must follow our rules, focus on taking the setups and obeying our stops.

About Me

I have been trading for 5 years. It took close to a year before I became profitable. I find that I am improving gradually each year. My method of choice is scalping. My edge lies in tape reading NYSE stocks and staying on the side of the specialist. That is the method I learned when I started. As I build up my capital I will try new styles and trade new markets. In late 2006 my trading hit a rough patch after the introduction of the NYSE Hybrid system. For most of 2007, I have been on a search for new strategies that would help me adapt to the market.