Trading WITH Emotions

That’s right you read it correctly. This thread is about real trading WITH emotions. I know that it is widely accepted that our own emotions prevent us from being successful in the markets, but I think people misunderstand how to conquer their inner demons.

I have been trading for a long time now! I have traded many different systems; I have had great years and some not so great years in the markets. Thankfully I am in the privileged position to say that I can make money from the markets and have been doing so for a good number of years.

I started this thread for a number of reasons but there are two primary driving forces; first I have missed this place and wanted some interaction with this great community again and secondly I wanted to squash the myth that you need to be a robot to make money in these markets. I do agree that you need to control your emotions to be successful but I do not think it is realistic to expect a human being to be completely emotionless.

Do I get p*ssed when I lose a trade? Yes of course, I don’t like losing money! Do I get happy when I make a killing on a trade? Yes again, I like to make money… otherwise why would I trade?

The key to my success however is the fact that I KNOW that my emotions can sabotage my trading. I have learnt to recognize when my emotions are telling me to do something that my brain disagrees with and hence ignore those emotional thoughts… well most of the time.

So this thread is in the interactive section for that very reason. I want everyone to get involved. Post your trades, your thoughts etc. Tell us when you have taken a trade that you are proud of, tell us when you have taken a loss that p*sses you off. Just be real. No one is here to judge you, and you know what… over time by saying this stuff out loud to the community, you WILL learn to recognize and control your emotions when trading!

You can trade any system you want, use any broker or platform you want. The main thing is to just be real!

I personally trade a few different strategies on a few different platforms. I trade, spread bet and have a flutter on the binary options. I really don’t care what I trade or how I have to trade as long as I have an opportunity to profit.

Let the games begin!

OK i'll start. So today I had three trades. Two were regular spot trades and one was a binary option. I was short the NZD/USD and AUD/USD and made money on both. The took an AUD/USD 1 hour Put (Sell) option which also ended in the money.

A decent day which was made even better by the fact that I made a rookie mistake that I haven't made in years!!! For my AUD/USD short I added a 0 to my regular position size by accident and ended up in a position that is 10 times larger than my desired size. This time it ended well for me and I felt guilty for being so happy as I know it could just have easily gone the other way.

That was actually the trade that got me thinking about starting this thread. You see I have been trading for so many years now and doing so successfully that I forgot about those stupid mistakes that ANYONE can make and how it can make you feel.

That is why I decided to start this thread... to show people that you do not have to be a robot to trade successfully you just need to learn to recognize when you are letting your emotions take over and do something about it!

After so many years and experience one would expect a controlling emotions to be a breeze, but It takes constant practice and reminders. I still find it the hardest part. At times I am amazed on how well I call the markets, but anger at how how poorly trades have been executed. :-) Definately not the same level of experience you have :-)
Well handled your AUD/USD

Indeed it amazing how your emotions can affect you. After trying to trade like a robot I found that actually it was easier to simply accept that your emotions are a part of human nature and instead look for ways of countering them.

Markets are a little boring this morning. I missed the early morning AUD/USD train through resistance, then waited for an EUR/USD short that never happened. Now I am looking at the GBP/USD for a quick bounce. Need the pullback first though.

It all balances out... I just missed the GBP/USD which actually would have stopped me out... So the way I see it the AUD/USD and GBP/USD now cancel each other out... lol

There is another opp on the AUD/USD but it has gone quite a way in a short space of time so I am leaving it. NZD/USD looks to be setting up though..

woke up early this AM very frustrated with my self. Meant to close out UJ position @ 12:00AM last night but fell asleep watching tv around 11:00 so I lost a little more than I should have and Missed my enter I was planning on entering at 12:00 AM once the 4 hour candle closed. x.x Very frustrating. That being said I didn't chase the trade or anything so thankfully I had some control on my emotions...

Hate when you make little stupid mistakes like that!

Man the fx markets liquidity has been such bs lately... Usdcad killing me today. Been short since close of first red ha candle on the last down move. Took the price 32 hours to move 30 pips... A measly 30! Just to have it retrace to break even instantly on news that everyone always claims "is already factored into price."

The news thing doesn't bother me, but 32 hours for 30 pips, that is insanely low liquidity....

my biggest frustration is not being able to tolerate routine.
like i see a good trade, wait for it to develop on a smaller tf to get a better risk/reward, and it doesn't happen that often.
i would rather jump to another trade soon after.
and wait and wait.
the european hours are pure insanity for the midwest (live in chicago).
wake up at 4 am.
so i'm pretty much a zombie man!
i have weeks when instead of winning a truckload of bucks, all i get is screens with what happened while i was sleeping or following another trade not so spectacular or great.
so how do you deal with that? you said that you're a busy person. that's why i bother you with this question.

Why are you not trading liquid pairs then? GBP/JPY is always moving like a rocket, EUR/JPY is moving a lot too, EUR/AUD-GBP/USD, can't complain from them either.