Trend Following

I am reading Trend Following. Only a few chapters in. Up until a few hours ago I held the unwavering belief that a completely mechanical system could not possibly be the route to wild success in this game. The foundation of that belief was built upon the several months spent studying and trading the content contained in FTI's TAF thread.

I am feeling a bit lost now. I will keep reading through Trend Following. I must say this trading stuff is the most difficult thing I have done in regards to my professional work life.

But man I love the challenge

In regards to trend following, the hardest thing I have yet come across in trading is not taking profits off the table, staying in a trade until the trend tells me it's over. I avoided it yesterday and find myself up 130 more pips. Now so tempting to take profit but trend is still looking very strong.

Mind games with myself for sure...

Hands down, it's the hardest thing in trading. I've found that I just have to stay away from the pc once I put on a trade. I put on stop orders. Depending on the trade, I"ll put on a limit order. I then set up alerts sent to my mobile so I know when I'm taken out on either end.

If I'm trailing a trade, I use the alerts or if I'm home, check once an hour. The rule is simple when I check. I walk into the office and look, but I don't sit down. If I need to move my stop, I do so, if not, fine. Either way, I just leave again. Sometimes I break this rule and it's usually to my detriment to be in front of my pc when a trade is on.

I agree with those who say you should work on your "weaknesses", such as developing patience. However, just removing temptation works pretty well. It's kind of like not having cake and cookies in your house if you want to lose weight. I think successful traders find ways such as these, because fundamentally, it's really hard to change yourself.

Thanks for the reply. It's odd how easy it is to risk money I posses on a trade where there is a possibility of losing it, but how hard it is to leave money on the table, giving it a chance to turn into more, when it does not even belong to me yet.

Hey bob. I"m the same way. I use "time" as an indicator, so I don't worry about setting alerts. I just set my watch. The weakest link in my method is me looking at a chart once I'm in.

My first trend following trade is over. From a high of 222 pips to a trailing stop hit of +89 pips.

I have never won a trade where I felt like I might puke when the trade was closed