Three Reasons Why Successful Traders Fail In The Beginning | Forex Factory

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Three Reasons Why Successful Traders Fail In The Beginning

  • #1
  • First Post: Edited 7:07am Feb 22, 2015 5:49am | Edited 7:07am
1. They jump out of losing positions that become winners.

2. They jump out of winning positions that become huge winners.

3. They stop trading and watch the huge moves pass them by.
  • #2
  • Feb 22, 2015 11:45am Feb 22, 2015 11:45am
While I agree with this list, this is the ultimate reason:

4. Not accepting small losses by admitting you are wrong, and get wiped out by leverage
  • #3
  • Feb 22, 2015 11:55am Feb 22, 2015 11:55am
IMO. They fail exactly because they are new traders. If you don't have the experience of alot of trades behind you how can you recognize a good position vs a bad one. It is just like anything else in the world, if you don't have the experience and knowledge, how can you master the job enough to be successful?
In Forex it costs to learn at first because of the mistakes you will make, but can be money well spent if you learn well from those mistakes. There is no free ride in this world. And in Forex, the inexperienced, the gamblers, the uneducated, all feed the traders that have put in the time to learn. This is my observations after 2 years.
  • #4
  • Feb 22, 2015 12:10pm Feb 22, 2015 12:10pm
Quoting jwlee7ucla
While I agree with this list, this is the ultimate reason: 4. Not accepting small losses by admitting you are wrong, and get wiped out by leverage
That's true but sometimes you have to be patient when handling the floating loss because market will not go directly with your position but instead it will oscillate for a while until you make profit . So the ultimate question when having a floating loss is should I stop it before it gets worse or should be more patient as it will go in my favor after a while
  • #5
  • Feb 22, 2015 12:45pm Feb 22, 2015 12:45pm
Quoting jwlee7ucla
While I agree with this list, this is the ultimate reason: 4. Not accepting small losses by admitting you are wrong, and get wiped out by leverage
lol so true
  • #6
  • Feb 23, 2015 12:59am Feb 23, 2015 12:59am
Quoting hals12
{quote} That's true but sometimes you have to be patient when handling the floating loss because market will not go directly with your position but instead it will oscillate for a while until you make profit . So the ultimate question when having a floating loss is should I stop it before it gets worse or should be more patient as it will go in my favor after a while
It's not a matter of a floating loss, it's a matter of "how much can I afford to loos on this particular trade" when you have decided that you don't care about floating or actual loss, but if you don't have that hard stop in place you can end up being fooled by the market and what could have been a small loss could result in a massive oss.
Let it turn and find your entry.
  • #7
  • Feb 23, 2015 9:38am Feb 23, 2015 9:38am
mabe we should not care why other traders are losing money in forex and focus on our own trades
  • #8
  • Feb 23, 2015 11:18am Feb 23, 2015 11:18am
They fail because they don't have a system with a positive expectancy.

Simply
  • #9
  • Feb 23, 2015 11:38am Feb 23, 2015 11:38am
Quoting PoundTrader
mabe we should not care why other traders are losing money in forex and focus on our own trades
I think many of us are just nice folks and so we naturally care about others PT. But in reality, what will our caring about others loosing do for them, or ourselves?

If we could crack open their heads and pour "how to win" inside that would be one thing. But since we can't, aren't we really just distracting ourselves trying? Many good traders have "shown" me much along the way. But until I started realizing it for myself, much of what they taught me went unused. Over time all those little nuggets start coming into focus.

So perhaps that's the best we can do in the end. Share what we know openly and then it's up to them. Those who can get it will. Those who can't?
Ghost Rider - WWTBMD?
  • #10
  • Feb 23, 2015 12:16pm Feb 23, 2015 12:16pm
they do not cut the lose
they cut the winners !
  • #11
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:08pm Feb 23, 2015 1:08pm
Overtrading ... using only indicators... etc. high leverage. Changed that and im on 100% win rate lol
  • #12
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:22pm Feb 23, 2015 1:22pm
Quoting PoundTrader
1. They jump out of losing positions that become winners. 2. They jump out of winning positions that become huge winners. 3. They stop trading and watch the huge moves pass them by.
1. They jump out of losing positions that become winners. - One should set a limit how much to lose for a move, but may not use all this limit on first attempt. Have a provision for a second and third attempt after being stopped out. This may cost a lot and therefore may not be feasible if r/r is not great (TP is much bigger than the sl). It is very much possible that a trader may miss out a second attempt and see the pa going in his/her direction without him. But since the tp is far away, he/she can wait for a good retrace to get on board. Chasing a lost opportunity works sometimes but not always.

2. They jump out of winning positions that become huge winners. - This is more practical if one is trading on bigger time frames but consistently keeps on booking profits by moving sl to BE+as many pips as possible. You never know what happens that takes away all unrealized gains. Sometimes weeks and years of moves are nullified in just few hours or days.

3. They stop trading and watch the huge moves pass them by - Again a longer-term trading can provide some remedy if those moves are not missed because of indecision. Once a trader selects a method, should trust the edge in it and consistently apply the method. However, that requires keeping positions small so that first few failed attempts or losers do not negatively affect the esteem.
The Thief of Wall Street
  • #13
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:37pm Feb 23, 2015 1:37pm
How can a successful trader fail in the beginning? Wouldn't that be an unsuccessful trader?
  • #14
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:38pm Feb 23, 2015 1:38pm
It wasn't until I started trading how I wanted to trade that I started winning, I think it's very difficult to pick up a system and become profitable with it.

The long journey has to be just that, long! You have to try anything and everything until something suits you and your lifestyle. It's very easy to get misguided by apparent 'full time' traders that seem to change their system frequently. The only full time traders I know, which aren't many, would never dream of changing their system.

Good luck everyone,

BeTrue
  • #15
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:42pm Feb 23, 2015 1:42pm
Quoting albchr
{quote} I think many of us are just nice folks and so we naturally care about others PT. But in reality, what will our caring about others loosing do for them, or ourselves? If we could crack open their heads and pour "how to win" inside that would be one thing. But since we can't, aren't we really just distracting ourselves trying? Many good traders have "shown" me much along the way. But until I started realizing it for myself, much of what they taught me went unused. Over time all those little nuggets start coming into focus. So perhaps that's...
  • #16
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:45pm Feb 23, 2015 1:45pm
Quoting Pharm0r
How can a successful trader fail in the beginning? Wouldn't that be an unsuccessful trader?
more like before they was successful what mistakes they was making
  • #17
  • Feb 23, 2015 1:46pm Feb 23, 2015 1:46pm
Quoting BeTrue
It wasn't until I started trading how I wanted to trade that I started winning, I think it's very difficult to pick up a system and become profitable with it. The long journey has to be just that, long! You have to try anything and everything until something suits you and your lifestyle. It's very easy to get misguided by apparent 'full time' traders that seem to change their system frequently. The only full time traders I know, which aren't many, would never dream of changing their system. Good luck everyone, BeTrue
i started trading in 2005 didn't start making real money untill 2010, so it is a long process for most
  • #18
  • Edited 3:36pm Feb 23, 2015 3:17pm | Edited 3:36pm
there's my 2 cents from the other side (losers)

i started trading stocks in 2009. i opened my first (and the only) FX account in 2012 (and it's still alive)

between highs and lows, i never made real money (my losers are far more often than my winners)

but in the other hand, i never lose real money (just using money management techniques)

my best 'season' was trading stocks with counter-trend long/shorts... guess what? made a lot but in the end i lose it all again

it has 4 or 5 years studying trading (not full time, of course, but LOTS of time), from the basic to the complex of technical analysis

read several trading 'classics', gurus, and tried millions of strategies

and when i look back, i just dont know why am i 'spending' lots of my life time trying to be a successful trader

of course i learn something, but in fact... no money was made

i dont know if someday i will be profitable.. i hope so

lots of times i ask myself: "is it possible for somebody to make a living from this?"

anybody has or had the same experience? or something to share about.. ?

EDIT:

a few more things...

until now, i couldn't identify my optimal trading timeframe (I like something between H1, H4 and D1)

i couldn't define a basic concept: am i buying resistance breakouts or am i buying supports? which is more appropriate? i don't know!

i had success when began trading FX just buying and selling congestions breakouts in H1 tf, but the consistency was not that good and over time didn't make it happen

other problem i have is to put the TP order. as my winning trades percentage is low, i need to make more than a 2:1 or 3:1... so i normally try to go further when in profits...

tkz guys!
  • #19
  • Feb 23, 2015 3:51pm Feb 23, 2015 3:51pm
Quoting gustcoelho
there's my 2 cents from the other side (losers) i started trading stocks in 2009. i opened my first (and the only) FX account in 2012 (and it's still alive) between highs and lows, i never made real money (my losers are far more often than my winners) but in the other hand, i never lose real money (just using money management techniques) my best 'season' was trading stocks with counter-trend long/shorts... guess what? made a lot but in the end i lose it all again it has 4 or 5 years studying trading (not full time, of course, but LOTS of time),...
  • #20
  • Edited 4:05pm Feb 23, 2015 4:05pm | Edited 4:05pm
Quoting PoundTrader
what you mean with applause?

is this for being 100% sincere or for my awful performance (in this case, you're laughing on me)?

(personally, sometimes i need to laught about it)

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