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Are you in trouble as a trader?

  • #41
  • Jan 5, 2017 7:18am Jan 5, 2017 7:18am
Quoting Nefser
{quote} Forex isn't that tough...people just make it sound far more complex than it needs to be. You aren't "up against" anyone. It's a market and you trade it. FFS, get this BS out of your head. "It's a war!" "They're out to get you!" "You have to fight a tough battle against the banks!" What a load of nonsense. You don't have to know monthly flows or levels or bonds or geopolitical stuff, or economic indicators or pivots or candlestick patterns. Don't make it sound so bloody complicated As for your "2 cents" - No, this is the same sort of FUD...
A couple of things:
Stop being so aggressive - frankly I am sick of it on this forum
This is the main reason why I rarely post on this forum. If my style of trading is not the same as yours get over it.
I was trained by an institutional fx trader
If you check my journal you will not see one loss
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=598591
These people here are struggling I am showing them a way- stop having a go
  • #42
  • Jan 5, 2017 7:32am Jan 5, 2017 7:32am
Quoting Fader123
{quote} A couple of things: Stop being so aggressive - frankly I am sick of it on this forum This is the main reason why I rarely post on this forum. If my style of trading is not the same as yours get over it. I was trained by an institutional fx trader If you check my journal you will not see one loss http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=598591 These people here are struggling I am showing them a way- stop having a go
It sounds to me as if you are more of a long-term trader Fader, capturing the big moves rather than the smaller intraday ones, which is where you are at odds with the traders like myself who are in and out of the market several times or more on any given day. Of course, the the longer the time frame, the more those external factors you refer to are going to be important. Perhaps Nefser put his point across a little more forcefully than he might have done, but I agree with him, certainly as far as the majority of traders viewing this thread is concerned, that trading needs to be made as simple as possible, and external noise which has no bearing on each individual trading decision we make, needs to be eliminated as much as possible.
  • #43
  • Jan 5, 2017 8:46am Jan 5, 2017 8:46am
Hi Cat

It was his attitude that upset me. Every single bank has a team that looks at fundamentals. They employ economists who have to produce forecasts. I read that Goldman Sacks made money out of forex than any other department this year.

Sometimes yes I am more of a longer term trader
It depends on the news. If its something major then yes I will be in it for a few days or could be weeks. Quite often though it will just be for 80+pips it depends

But I could not scalp though.

Anyway good luck all
  • #44
  • Jan 5, 2017 9:04am Jan 5, 2017 9:04am
Quoting Fader123
Hi Cat It was his attitude that upset me. Every single bank has a team that looks at fundamentals. They employ economists who have to produce forecasts. I read that Goldman Sacks made money out of forex than any other department this year. Sometimes yes I am more of a longer term trader It depends on the news. If its something major then yes I will be in it for a few days or could be weeks. Quite often though it will just be for 80+pips it depends But I could not scalp though. Anyway good luck all
Don't let it upset you Fader, there's plenty of ' attitude ' on ff, and as far as trading goes, there are many ways to skin a cat ( pardon the pun ) so whatever works for you is all that matters.
  • #45
  • Jan 5, 2017 9:19am Jan 5, 2017 9:19am
Hi cat! You come up with very good threads. Let me offer a suggestion here. Is there a way of letting those who would like to be more open and share their problems to do so privately, perhaps through PM? I am thinking of having experienced and volunteer traders who would like to respond to PMs from troubled traders. I am not troubled but I was when I started trading in late 2010/early 2011. Trade safe and prosper.

KP
Do your homework, follow the footprints of smart money
  • #46
  • Jan 5, 2017 9:26am Jan 5, 2017 9:26am

  1. The sniper will train for years to sharpen and perfect his shooting skills, and the sniper knows exactly what his target looks like and pulls the trigger without hesitation.
  2. The sniper must have unusual patience and be able to stay still for long hours.The sniper must know when to take the shot and when not to. He must be a keen observer, paying attention to details and being aware of his surroundings and everything that is going on around him.
  3. The sniper must be meticulous in his preparation; planning routes for both insertion and evasion, and should be meticulous in record keeping. Sniping is a constant learning experience, and the sniper must be able to keep acquiring knowledge to enhance his skills and abilities.
  4. The sniper in the military has an edge over his enemy; His edge is unwavering patience, mastery of his weapon, and the ability to remain consciously in control of his mind and body for long periods of time in high-stress situations.

I've copied this from another thread of mine, because it applies very well to trading. I think few people realize the sort of person a successful trader has to become, usually very different from the person who sets out on the long journey towards success. He/she has to become the person described above, only with a mouse in place of a gun.

  • #47
  • Jan 5, 2017 9:29am Jan 5, 2017 9:29am
Quoting KeenPips
Hi cat! You come up with very good threads. Let me offer a suggestion here. Is there a way of letting those who would like to be more open and share their problems to do so privately, perhaps through PM? I am thinking of having experienced and volunteer traders who would like to respond to PMs from troubled traders. I am not troubled but I was when I started trading in late 2010/early 2011. Trade safe and prosper. KP
Thanks Keenpips. People can always pm me, but I usually refer them to one of my threads as it can be pretty time consuming answering some of the stuff people want to know. Having said that, I always answer people who do if they have something they'd like to ask.
  • #48
  • Jan 5, 2017 9:35am Jan 5, 2017 9:35am
Quoting cat
{quote} Thanks Keenpips. People can always pm me, but I usually refer them to one of my threads as it can be pretty time consuming answering some of the stuff people want to know. Having said that, I always answer people who do if they have something they'd like to ask.
Well done, bud!

KP
Do your homework, follow the footprints of smart money
  • #49
  • Jan 5, 2017 9:43am Jan 5, 2017 9:43am
Quoting cat
{quote} Don't let it upset you Fader, there's plenty of ' attitude ' on ff, and as far as trading goes, there are many ways to skin a cat ( pardon the pun ) so whatever works for you is all that matters.
Attitude coupled with ego and arrogance.
Ask for clear, step by step instructions and you may get flamed!
My Threads: Trading is as simple as 1-2-3, Highest Open / Lowest Open Trade
  • #50
  • Jan 5, 2017 10:30am Jan 5, 2017 10:30am
Trading Forex would be whole lot easier if traders have a properly defined strategy and good money management, and most importantly stick to your rules like 100%. Our emotions can be our worst enemy which can be trained but this takes time.Forex in the perspective of a smart investor is an opportunity that involves risk and not gambling.
  • #51
  • Jan 5, 2017 10:53am Jan 5, 2017 10:53am
Some very important lessons in here:

Attached File(s)
File Type: pdf fxcm-traits-of-successful-traders-guide.pdf   2.6 MB | 596 downloads
It never gets easier, you just get better
  • #52
  • Edited 11:57am Jan 5, 2017 11:30am | Edited 11:57am
Quoting Shabs19
Some very important lessons in here: {image}
Nice Shabs, thank you very much!

The thing is though, anyone who has traded for a while knows all the stuff written about it, you know - be disciplined, stick to your methodology, ride your winners and cut your losses and so on, but so few actually do this because it's one thing to know all the stuff but quite another to programme it into your brain so that it becomes second nature. No one becomes a trader without a fully conscious effort to become the person that is going to be able to take money consistently out of the markets, it's just impossible because we humans have far too many emotional fallibilities to be able to implement, without fear or contradiction, all the requisites necessary to profit from the markets. A trader can become the best technical analyst in the world, but unless they have trained themselves to overcome their emotions, this will count for nothing, though it has to be said that TA skill is every bit as important, because if you don't know what you are doing, no amount of emotional discipline is going to help you.

This is the problem, I think, with most traders who are losing money, they are victims of their own emotional/psychological inadequacies, which is perfectly normal, we're all like that because we're human, but to be a trader, a real professional, it takes so much more than reading a few books, you have to really work at it, and unless we do, in the heat of the moment when the old evolutionary fight or flight impulse kicks in, our brains go into total shut down unless they have been trained not to, and we they make the same mistakes the majority of traders make, mistakes of irrationality.

What I'm saying is that most people are smart enough to figure out what moves the markets from A to B and back again, it's not easy, it takes time, but it's doable. What most do not fully appreciate however are the emotional and psychological requirements to beat the market, which after all has no emotions, like the ocean heaving back and forth, and it will fuck with yours and turn them inside out if you have not prepared yourself properly to do battle with it.

Put bluntly, most traders are in denial concerning the type of people they are as traders, and if they are the same animals they were when they started out, without fully reinventing themselves as traders, then losses are the inevitable outcome.

What I have written above is the subject of this lecture -
Inserted Video
  • #53
  • Jan 5, 2017 12:00pm Jan 5, 2017 12:00pm
This is another good one -

Inserted Video
  • #54
  • Jan 5, 2017 12:07pm Jan 5, 2017 12:07pm
Quoting cat
{quote} Put bluntly, most traders are in denial concerning the type of people they are as traders, and if they are the same animals they were when they started out, without fully reinventing themselves as traders, then losses are the inevitable outcome.
The biggest problem is that new traders fall for the hype:
1. Unrealistic earnings forecasts ( make incredible amounts of money from a small account- $$$'s overflowing).
2. Unrealistic learning timeline (1 weekend only as seen on tv).
3. Unrealistic belief in their ability to learn / grasp concepts. ( simple even a child can trade).
4. Unprepared to face losses. ( How can than happen to me ? - I paid over $2000 to the best instructors out there).
5. Unprepared to run a business. ( What, I have to keep records ?)
6. When everything goes pear shaped, Blame everyone - No accountability.

Even if a succesful trading system or method was spelled out word for word with charts, the next trader who looks at it will either change it or be
unable to follow the rules. Once he makes the first loss, it must be a crap method & discard it and back to looking for the next Holy Grail.
(There are over 2,500 threads on the Trdaing Systems Forum on FF).

Or else, there must be someone who has the magic indicator/EA that will print money automatically for you. Just follow the Green & Red Signals - Simple.
( There are over 17,000 threads on the Tech Forum on FF).
It never gets easier, you just get better
  • #55
  • Jan 5, 2017 12:12pm Jan 5, 2017 12:12pm
One more comment before I close up for the day, and this is for anyone out there who is feeling tired, fed up, demoralized, directionless because the hoped for trading career, that once seemed so exciting, so invigorating, is vanishing before you, and that is that if this is so, then do something different, inspire yourself in some way, anything, to get you feeling good about yourself again, because low self-esteem is a killer for anyone's ambitions irrespective of whether you're a trader or not. This could be anything - a new sport or hobby, even reading a book if it inspires you, it doesn't matter, because as long as you're feeling bad about yourself, you haven't a chance of improving your trading results.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th Century American essayist once wrote, " If you have lost belief in yourself, the entire universe is against you ".
  • #56
  • Jan 5, 2017 12:23pm Jan 5, 2017 12:23pm
← TraderMind Trading Psychology Webinar Program 2012Trading With The Brain In Mind – ITC Barcelona 2012 →
Trading Is Not A Game Of Perfect
Posted on May 10, 2012 by Steve

There is a great book called ‘Golf is not a game of perfect’ by Dr Bob Rotella – and a must read for those of you masochists who are also golfers as well as traders! – from which I have pinched the title for this article because trading, like golf is also not a game of perfect. It is a game of ifs, buts, nearly’s, maybes.
You can probably think for yourself about times when you have gotten out of that trade too early only to see it rocket to and perhaps beyond your profit target, or that time you got out of the market for a loss only to see it come back and go your way or maybe the time you didn’t take the trade because the set-up wasn’t quite right, or it wasn’t quite at your level, only to see it go on to be a winner. Likewise maybe there have been times when fortune has favoured you in similar situations. The nature of markets and the nature of humans creates an environment of imperfection. Perfectionism is an admirable quality to some degree, but can often be destructive and is likely to hinder you as a trader.
Do you have perfectionist tendencies?
Here is how Burns in ‘The perfectionists script for self-defeat’ in Psychology Today defined it; “Perfectionists are people whose standards are high beyond reach and who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment.”
Does that sound like you?
Perfectionists suffer from setting excessively high standards, a fear of failure, procrastination, never being satisfied with their successes and can become emotionally disturbed when their standards are not met – which can be often in trading - fear of competition, not learning, all-or-nothing thinking, being overly self-critical, being intolerant of mistakes and also they can be prone to high levels of performance anxiety.
In your trading fear of loss, hesitation and not pulling the trigger, getting highly frustrated or angry when trades don’t work out or when your timing is out with the market, or being highly self-critical of your trading performance can all be evidence of perfectionist tendencies.
So, if you do have some perfectionist tendencies what can you do?
An important factor to remember is that you are a fallible (imperfect) human being and therefore also a fallible (imperfect) trader.
Secondly remember you are operating in an imperfect, uncertain environment and so learning to think probabilistically is important – as Mark Douglas states in ‘Trading In The Zone’, ‘each trade has a non-guaranteed probabilistic outcome’. Move your mindset from perfection to probabilities.
Strive to do your best and aim for excellence, rather than obsessing with being the best; aim and focus on becoming a better trader.
Focus on your trading process and not just on the outcome.
Learn to embrace the challenge of trading and seek enjoyment in what you do.
Importantly, learn to see failures and setbacks as opportunities for learning not self-condemnation.
And finally, but critically, learn to accept that your personal worth is not your net worth – that you are a worthy human being irrespective of your trading results at any given time.
If have identified yourself as having perfectionist tendencies, then taking on board some of the insights and perspectives in this article will be very helpful for you – remember you are a fallible human being in an uncertain environment.
  • #57
  • Jan 5, 2017 12:45pm Jan 5, 2017 12:45pm
Saw a YouTube video about trading - Profitable Not Perfect. To the point.
My Threads: Trading is as simple as 1-2-3, Highest Open / Lowest Open Trade
  • #58
  • Jan 7, 2017 1:45pm Jan 7, 2017 1:45pm
Quoting cat
{quote} Thanks for your input thewriter30. It's difficult for me or anyone else I think to know what you're doing wrong from what you've written. I agree with your point about keeping time periods short, but really, 10 pips a day should be achievable provided you really zone in on the smaller time frames ( 10, 20 seconds ) using the bigger ones 1m and above, ie, 1m, 3m, 10., 30m, to give you your S&R and the overall intra-day picture. Aslo you say that all indicators are crap, that only S&R works, but you are failing to achieve 10 pips per day....
 
HI
ThanKS for your reply. Yes at this point I am scared because of huge past losses. I admit that. Thought it waddle the point of the thread. 
 
I may have explained myself using the wrong words. I believe systems are crap and they always end up failing. Couldn't agree more about keep flexibility 
 
Nowadays maybe I am brain dead but yes I cannot make 10 pips. Except when I call it out without actually trading.
I was not aware of TF in seconds...will need to check that trade Academy. I joined this postings to gather courage to come back that is the truth . How help me? Well I have some sort of gambling personality so that is beyond your power.  I think it will help seeing real people trading and making real money...or real pips if you wish.
Long ago joined the YTR room. 400 usd a months. Not a single motherf trader supposedly pros coukd consistently make money 
So I got the point that I actually believe that this is all bs and there is no real fx opportunity for retailers traders. 
 
However I am so pissed I cannot be profitable that I keep coming back. I wonder being a fairly decent smart guy why i cannot make this work.
 
Let talk indis  ... many crosses seem ok until they keep failing more than not. CCI etx sounds good on paper...always are late when it comes to giving entries and exits...so on aND so forth...I have seen candle patterns fail over and over. I have tried small a great TF
 
It is easy to say I am wrong yet is there a real true to life successful traders? 
 
  • #59
  • Jan 7, 2017 3:23pm Jan 7, 2017 3:23pm
Quoting thewriter30
{quote} HI ThanKS for your reply. Yes at this point I am scared because of huge past losses. I admit that. Thought it waddle the point of the thread. I may have explained myself using the wrong words. I believe systems are crap and they always end up failing. Couldn't agree more about keep flexibility Nowadays maybe I am brain dead but yes I cannot make 10 pips. Except when I call it out without actually trading. I was not aware of TF in seconds...will need to check that trade Academy. I joined this postings to gather courage...
Thanks for your reply. Yes, there are traders who make a very good living, lots of them, but a minority of the retail fraternity. I myself support my family only from trading, and you'll just have to take my word for that. I don't have a trade explorer firstly because I see no advantage in it as I am out to impress no one, and secondly, ff trade explorer doesn't support the platform I use anyway. Do not make the mistake others who are struggling to make it happen make, which is assuming that because they haven't made it, then it must be impossible for everyone. We all progress at different stages, but I have to say, that if you have a gambling mentality, which I assume is a habitual lack of self-control, then this is almost certainly the reason for your failure.

I suggest you take the time to read through my Trader's Academy thread, as it is full of very useful info not just from myself about what I have elarnt in the 10 years since I started trading, but from many others. I also have other threads you may want to look at.

I'll leave it there, as anything else I would say to you I've already written in my threads. I do however wish you the best of progress, I really do. The most important first step is for you to become a trader. Gamblers make terrible traders, so you are going to have to eradicate these weaknesses of yours or I'm afraid you are going to be on a hiding to nothing.

All the best,
Cat
  • #60
  • Jan 7, 2017 10:34pm Jan 7, 2017 10:34pm
Quoting Fader123
For me the easiest traders are where you have a large miss or a large beat on an economic indicator that Central Banks are really focused on. ....... The Aussie had rallied up to a resistance level prior to the figures being released. I think it dropped 150 pips that day. For me its really important to map out all of the various levels
I also look for these types of opportunities, i.e. corrections after price has moved against fundamentals that CBs are focused on. I was taught FA by Jarratt Davis; he uses a similar approach, as one strategy in his arsenal. Another is to pair currencies that are fundamentally weak against those that are fundamentally strong; then buy dips to support, or rallies to resistance (whichever is appropriate) on a shorter TF.

However, it is also possible to be profitable using only TA. The fund manager here (26 consecutive winning months) is an example. Tom Dante is another; he trades predominantly off key S/R levels, albeit with a few nuanced 'twists'.

Quoting cat
Perfectionists are people whose standards are high beyond reach and who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment. Does that sound like you? Perfectionists suffer from setting excessively high standards, a fear of failure, procrastination, never being satisfied with their successes and can become emotionally disturbed when their standards are not met which can be often in trading - fear of competition, not learning, all-or-nothing thinking, being...
I can relate to this very well; perfectionism is perhaps the worst of my self-sabotaging enemies. Being a career software developer can help to ingrain perfectionism into one's personality (just one small bug can cause an app to fail completely). In other words, what is an essential personality trait for programming can be highly detrimental to one's trading. The best solution I've found is to work through both analysis and execution with the help of a trading buddy.
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