New here and trying to determine my expectations
Hi all,
I'm new here as poster. I've been demo trading for awhile and not doing to bad - about 30% gain over 2 1/2-3 months with tiny lots. Been doing a lot of reading at various forums, various .pdf files, various sites and learning a lot. I've determined how I want to trade going forward, which doesn't include much for indicators. I've tried a bunch of systems and the only ones I feel I can work with consist of candlestick patterns, SR lines, fib lines and the occasional slow stoch for ranging and ma's to keep an eye on trend - not used as triggers, just extra confirmation. Most of the indicators seem to be duplicating what the candlesticks say. I've pulled quite a bit of knowledge out of the systems I've learned about though.
So I'm waiting on a check to clear to fund my account, and while I wait, I'm trying to consider my real expectations and some good rules to follow.
There are two problems that plague me right now. Stop losses and possibly over trading. The money management on my live account will allow me between 25-50 pips of risk per trade at 1-2%. I usually trade between the 5-15 minute time frames (I would prefer to work off the hour time frame, but good entries and me being at the computer is a rare occasion on the 1 hour).
As far as my stop losses go, if I set them they will be breached regularily - 90% losers. If I don't set them, I'll win more trades, but the loser will wipe out the last 12 trades worth of profit and I end up trading more hours than I would like to to end with positive pips. Stop losses seem like a catch 22. I understand the safety aspect, I just can't seem to find a middle ground to be profitable while preserving my account.
I also seem to notice that the big losers come after making several trades in a row. I sometimes wonder if I would do better of completing a trade then coming back like after an hour to do another one. If only price would hold a good entry until I return...
I'm also trying to figure out expectations. I know I'm new to this and still have several years of learning before I could even say I've progressed from beginner stage. I look at rewards and see that at 10 pips a day I could afford a new car payment. 20 pips a day I could afford a car payment on a really nice new car. 200 pips a day I could quit my job. I know 200 pips a day is ridiculous over the long term. I know 20 pips a day is achievable, but a bad day can even make 20 pips hard to capture. 10 pips I could do, but then I'd be bored since 10 pips is 1 or 2 trades. Maybe I could set a 10 pip a day goal, then continue to trade with reduced lots or something.
Either way, trading is work and I would like to peg an hourly wage to the time I'm working. I'd also like to trade in a way that keeps the risk down, though, but think that is a matter of trading frequency, solid entry confirmation and sticking to 1-2% total equity per trade and practice.
And now for a straight forward question: What was the best thing you did to handle your emotions when trading? I had to first read about emotions in trading, but it wasn't long before I identified them in myself, and they can be all consuming at times.
I'm know this has all been discussed before in one way or another, but maybe it's a good first post for me and might draw out some new opinions. Thanks for any and all replies!
Hi all,
I'm new here as poster. I've been demo trading for awhile and not doing to bad - about 30% gain over 2 1/2-3 months with tiny lots. Been doing a lot of reading at various forums, various .pdf files, various sites and learning a lot. I've determined how I want to trade going forward, which doesn't include much for indicators. I've tried a bunch of systems and the only ones I feel I can work with consist of candlestick patterns, SR lines, fib lines and the occasional slow stoch for ranging and ma's to keep an eye on trend - not used as triggers, just extra confirmation. Most of the indicators seem to be duplicating what the candlesticks say. I've pulled quite a bit of knowledge out of the systems I've learned about though.
So I'm waiting on a check to clear to fund my account, and while I wait, I'm trying to consider my real expectations and some good rules to follow.
There are two problems that plague me right now. Stop losses and possibly over trading. The money management on my live account will allow me between 25-50 pips of risk per trade at 1-2%. I usually trade between the 5-15 minute time frames (I would prefer to work off the hour time frame, but good entries and me being at the computer is a rare occasion on the 1 hour).
As far as my stop losses go, if I set them they will be breached regularily - 90% losers. If I don't set them, I'll win more trades, but the loser will wipe out the last 12 trades worth of profit and I end up trading more hours than I would like to to end with positive pips. Stop losses seem like a catch 22. I understand the safety aspect, I just can't seem to find a middle ground to be profitable while preserving my account.
I also seem to notice that the big losers come after making several trades in a row. I sometimes wonder if I would do better of completing a trade then coming back like after an hour to do another one. If only price would hold a good entry until I return...
I'm also trying to figure out expectations. I know I'm new to this and still have several years of learning before I could even say I've progressed from beginner stage. I look at rewards and see that at 10 pips a day I could afford a new car payment. 20 pips a day I could afford a car payment on a really nice new car. 200 pips a day I could quit my job. I know 200 pips a day is ridiculous over the long term. I know 20 pips a day is achievable, but a bad day can even make 20 pips hard to capture. 10 pips I could do, but then I'd be bored since 10 pips is 1 or 2 trades. Maybe I could set a 10 pip a day goal, then continue to trade with reduced lots or something.
Either way, trading is work and I would like to peg an hourly wage to the time I'm working. I'd also like to trade in a way that keeps the risk down, though, but think that is a matter of trading frequency, solid entry confirmation and sticking to 1-2% total equity per trade and practice.
And now for a straight forward question: What was the best thing you did to handle your emotions when trading? I had to first read about emotions in trading, but it wasn't long before I identified them in myself, and they can be all consuming at times.
I'm know this has all been discussed before in one way or another, but maybe it's a good first post for me and might draw out some new opinions. Thanks for any and all replies!
