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CogAlpha's Journey to Fulltime Trading

  • #101
  • May 12, 2025 11:52am May 12, 2025 11:52am
No trading for me today... shitty Price Action.
  • #102
  • May 12, 2025 12:12pm May 12, 2025 12:12pm
Quoting CogAlpha
{quote} certainly Vidvad! Trading is super simple.. but certainly not easy..
I like that!

"Trading is simple, but certainly not easy."

Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest is a choice
  • #103
  • May 13, 2025 8:27am May 13, 2025 8:27am
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  • #104
  • May 13, 2025 8:48am May 13, 2025 8:48am
Slow New York open... again..

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  • #105
  • May 13, 2025 9:35am May 13, 2025 9:35am
I "missed" my Long Entry.

It was a good Setup to take, but I am mentally struggling to buy something that already went up so far.
I am not trading Forex. I am trading Indices. There is no "too high" or "too low".

Part of the Reason why I have done well the couple of Months/Weeks is because we have been in a bear Market (it feels easier to take shorts for me)
I need to mentally better before the Trading sessions starts to "accept" taking longs.

Else Trading a Market which goes more up than down will make this a lot harder than it should.

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Valuable Lesson.. I am still pissed that I havent taken the Setup.
  • #106
  • May 13, 2025 10:13am May 13, 2025 10:13am
Quoting CogAlpha
Sum up of the Week. {image} Worst Week I have had since I started Trading this Account. Not bad to be in Green on the Worst Week.
Hi Cog, just saw this post from you. Regarding the CDFs, when trading the us100, you are currently using the lowest contract size, right, in this case 0.01.
In the case of your Gold trades, which contract size are you using?
Tks as always.
  • #107
  • May 13, 2025 10:17am May 13, 2025 10:17am
Quoting CogAlpha
Valuable Lesson.. I am still pissed that I havent taken the Setup.
Don't be angry with yourself. Be disappointed in yourself. It is much more constructive, and in my experience, it was once I started to feel disappointed in myself for not trusting my edge and my method, and for not taking all (and only) the set ups it gives me that I was able to begin the process of becoming more mindful of myself and my emotions as a trader.

One quote (from Carl Jung?) that stuck with me is that "I am not the emotion. I am the awareness behind the emotion." Something to that effect.

Don't be pissed. Be disappointed. Be embarrassed. But anger will not help you eliminate the disappointing behavior, imo.

And I say this not from some perch above it all thinking myself a perfect trader. In spite of my progress, especially since last November, I am flawed as a trader, and I continue to disappoint myself from time to time. Becoming a consistently profitable trader is a process. Being a consistently profitable trader is a chimera. We are always, as traders, becoming, imo.
Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest is a choice
  • #108
  • May 13, 2025 10:36am May 13, 2025 10:36am
Quoting csierravh
{quote} Hi Cog, just saw this post from you. Regarding the CDFs, when trading the us100, you are currently using the lowest contract size, right, in this case 0.01. In the case of your Gold trades, which contract size are you using? Tks as always.
Hey casierravh I always try to be around 10€ stoploss.

Depending on the "Point Value" I change the lot sizes accordingly.
  • #109
  • May 13, 2025 10:48am May 13, 2025 10:48am
Quoting vidvad
{quote} Don't be angry with yourself. Be disappointed in yourself. It is much more constructive, and in my experience, it was once I started to feel disappointed in myself for not trusting my edge and my method, and for not taking all (and only) the set ups it gives me that I was able to begin the process of becoming more mindful of myself and my emotions as a trader. One quote (from Carl Jung?) that stuck with me is that "I am not the emotion. I am the awareness behind the emotion." Something to that effect. Don't be pissed. Be disappointed. Be...
replacing anger with disappointment makes a lot of sense. When we're angry, we often get stuck in that emotion, but disappointment can actually motivate change without the destructive element.


Another great Quote from Jung is: "I am not the emotion. I am the awareness behind the emotion." Creating that space between yourself and your feelings is seriously powerful, especially in something as emotionally challenging as trading.

I love what you said about always "becoming" rather than reaching some perfect state as a trader. That's honestly true for most things in life - we're always works in progress, and that's perfectly okay.
  • #110
  • May 13, 2025 7:19pm May 13, 2025 7:19pm
Quoting CogAlpha
I "missed" my Long Entry. It was a good Setup to take, but I am mentally struggling to buy something that already went up so far. I am not trading Forex. I am trading Indices. There is no "too high" or "too low". Part of the Reason why I have done well the couple of Months/Weeks is because we have been in a bear Market (it feels easier to take shorts for me) I need to mentally better before the Trading sessions starts to "accept" taking longs. Else Trading a Market which goes more up than down will make this a lot harder than it should. {image}...
Just my 2cents ...

In this business what kills you is losses... What doesn't kill you is missing a trade. There is always another bus.

It takes a 100% gain to recover a 50% loss...

Speaking from my own experience... I have missed so many trades...some absolutely huge trades... But I'd rather be out of a trade wishing that I was in...than in a trade wishing I was out...

And another thing with the indices...they are designed to go up... Money pours into the markets every single month from pensions etc etc..

For the long run yes...one should be in tune with taking longs .. alot of us are short biased...

Another tidbit to think of is over 30 yrs the Dow for ex..is an even distribution of daily wins and losses.. 50/50 but what was the price of the Dow 30 yrs ago ??? That should be a clue. (Hint :not negative)


As you mentioned indices can always go higher...and they historically do... So don't beat yourself up over it. We all miss trades... And you will continue to miss trades..as we all do..


You will get the longs just keep honing your execution its a lifelong journey.

Cheers
Blue
Markets are Mirrors,,Mastery of craft is mastery of self
  • #111
  • May 13, 2025 9:02pm May 13, 2025 9:02pm
Quoting CogAlpha
I "missed" my Long Entry. It was a good Setup to take, but I am mentally struggling to buy something that already went up so far. I am not trading Forex. I am trading Indices. There is no "too high" or "too low". Part of the Reason why I have done well the couple of Months/Weeks is because we have been in a bear Market (it feels easier to take shorts for me) I need to mentally better before the Trading sessions starts to "accept" taking longs. Else Trading a Market which goes more up than down will make this a lot harder than it should. {image}...
You can always invert your chart . I did this for a while as I had a strong addiction to the bear/short trade. Just remember to click Buy
Be Zen about the experience. Process it. Learn from the experience. Remove any negative connotation/emotion. Move on. Your system got the setup, you'll get it next time
  • #112
  • May 14, 2025 8:19am May 14, 2025 8:19am
New York about to open.

Lets do this!

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  • #113
  • May 15, 2025 8:12am May 15, 2025 8:12am
Havent Traded yesterday.. there was no Setup.

Market looks rangey this week.

Lets see what New York open gives us.

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  • #114
  • May 15, 2025 8:16am May 15, 2025 8:16am
Yesterday was the most loucy day for centuries.
MetaTrader 4 - so many advantages.
  • #115
  • May 15, 2025 10:00am May 15, 2025 10:00am
Well.... that wasnt too exciting was it?

We barely moved away from the 1Minute open range.

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  • #116
  • May 16, 2025 9:39am May 16, 2025 9:39am
=========
NASDAQ Trade
=========
Trade direction: Short
Outcome: +1R

Very slow Market, but got my Trade.

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  • #117
  • May 19, 2025 1:34am May 19, 2025 1:34am
Good morning Lads.

Its chaotic Monday. Be careful out there.

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  • #118
  • May 19, 2025 2:29am May 19, 2025 2:29am
=========
NASDAQ Trade
=========
Trade direction: Short
Outcome: -1R

Did I mention that Mondays are often chaotic...

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  • #119
  • May 20, 2025 2:42am May 20, 2025 2:42am
Good morning all!

This Market has been very tough.

=========
Gold Trade
=========
Trade direction: Long
Outcome: +2R

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  • #120
  • May 21, 2025 1:52am May 21, 2025 1:52am
London opens in 7Minutes.

Market looking again kind of... meh.

Be careful out there.

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