fxtyrant,
I saw your post. And I had a thought for you as constructive criticism. I have found in my experience that the words people use and the way they phrase things often offer a clue to the things left unsaid or between the lines. You said the following:
"just the thing i need after a bad day... to have an EMA line preventing me from winning back some losses"
The way you put it intrigued me. Particularly the "preventing me" part. The way you phrased it makes it sound like you feel as if you are not in control of your results and that you are not responsible - the EMA line was!
This is important to note because although I think every trader "knows" that they are responsible for their results, often times that doesn't translate at a operational level. The "know" on the theoretical level, but they haven't truly internalized it.
Something else to think about:
If you look at the results of trades as "winning" and "losing" then every time you have a "losing" trade you may be susceptible to feelings of loss: loss of pride, ego. Not to mention your equity.
When I put on a trade I actually write out a check for the amount of my stop. I view stops and unprofitable trades as a business expense. When I take a trade I am willing to incur a business expense. Once I've written the check the money is "gone". It's spent. There's nothing I can do about it. Therefore, when price hits my stop and I take the loss there's no emotion attached to it to feel loss about. I don't know if this will work for you, but it does for me.
I suppose the reason that I mention all of this is because by the sound of your post you make it seem like you go on quite an emotional roller coaster while trading. Have you ever considered how long you can ride that emotional roller coaster before you are spent and want off the ride?
Best wishes.
I saw your post. And I had a thought for you as constructive criticism. I have found in my experience that the words people use and the way they phrase things often offer a clue to the things left unsaid or between the lines. You said the following:
"just the thing i need after a bad day... to have an EMA line preventing me from winning back some losses"
The way you put it intrigued me. Particularly the "preventing me" part. The way you phrased it makes it sound like you feel as if you are not in control of your results and that you are not responsible - the EMA line was!
This is important to note because although I think every trader "knows" that they are responsible for their results, often times that doesn't translate at a operational level. The "know" on the theoretical level, but they haven't truly internalized it.
Something else to think about:
If you look at the results of trades as "winning" and "losing" then every time you have a "losing" trade you may be susceptible to feelings of loss: loss of pride, ego. Not to mention your equity.
When I put on a trade I actually write out a check for the amount of my stop. I view stops and unprofitable trades as a business expense. When I take a trade I am willing to incur a business expense. Once I've written the check the money is "gone". It's spent. There's nothing I can do about it. Therefore, when price hits my stop and I take the loss there's no emotion attached to it to feel loss about. I don't know if this will work for you, but it does for me.
I suppose the reason that I mention all of this is because by the sound of your post you make it seem like you go on quite an emotional roller coaster while trading. Have you ever considered how long you can ride that emotional roller coaster before you are spent and want off the ride?
Best wishes.
