I think that the trading method should be adjusted to your psychological profile. In other words: You adjust your method to fit your personality. It's all about knowing yourself.
For example I know I can be "trigger happy" at times...see opportunities everywhere. At the same time in the back of my head I know the opportunity at that moment is not the best. I know I have to hedge that tendency.....So I trade extremely ridiculusly small...just for the fun and to see if it works out. I lose nothing, gain nothing, just practice.
I take 1/2 profits of the table pretty quickly and/or move my stop to breakeven so you have the feeling you're in a "free trade"... gives peace of mind.
I cut off losers immediately so the loss will always be small. (even if there are many). Having no position is for me from a psychological point of view the best position to analyse the market, your mind is free for new opportunities. Some of the best moves occur right after a setup completely fails....got to be ready for that.
Other factor that have to match your profile: timeframe you trade. How patient are you and how quicly can you analyse? The size you trade is very important. It should not be so little that you don't care, it should not be too big so you get paralyzed of fear... Sounds weird but if you know you can get over-confident aim for modest gains, don't trade too big and don't let your account grow too fast.
It's all a matter of tweaking the method until it fits your personality.
regards,
Ivo
For example I know I can be "trigger happy" at times...see opportunities everywhere. At the same time in the back of my head I know the opportunity at that moment is not the best. I know I have to hedge that tendency.....So I trade extremely ridiculusly small...just for the fun and to see if it works out. I lose nothing, gain nothing, just practice.
I take 1/2 profits of the table pretty quickly and/or move my stop to breakeven so you have the feeling you're in a "free trade"... gives peace of mind.
I cut off losers immediately so the loss will always be small. (even if there are many). Having no position is for me from a psychological point of view the best position to analyse the market, your mind is free for new opportunities. Some of the best moves occur right after a setup completely fails....got to be ready for that.
Other factor that have to match your profile: timeframe you trade. How patient are you and how quicly can you analyse? The size you trade is very important. It should not be so little that you don't care, it should not be too big so you get paralyzed of fear... Sounds weird but if you know you can get over-confident aim for modest gains, don't trade too big and don't let your account grow too fast.
It's all a matter of tweaking the method until it fits your personality.
regards,
Ivo
Trouble lies in what we believe to know for sure that just ain't so.