Just some thoughts kicking around the ole attic today. I am always trying to figure out the difference between the wildly successfull and us that know what to do but don’t seem to get the plot. I know that some of it is how we approach trading.
We all know and have heard enough to not trade with scared money. If you can’t afford to lose don’t trade. And along with that would be plan the trade , then trade the plan. If we are doing that, we have accepted that we could lose x amount of money if our stop gets hit.
Then within our plans we should have a profit Target (TP) in mind. But do we really, are we trully making a trading plan are we exceuting that plan according to our own set of rules. That we have decided to use.
If we were then there is only two outcomes to our trades. We get stopped or we hit our TP’s. Now we can have some flexablity for sure but that should also be in our plan. If the last swing on a reversal breaks, My TP is the S/R off the 1 hr. or 4 HR chart. If I get a reversal trigger before then it is just a counter trend trade.
Like driving down the road just because we have thee right of way doesn’t mean we should get in a wreck. If we can avoid losses we do it.
But the majority of our trades if we haven’t really got our trading to where we want it ,should be with the trend. And our TP’s should be pretty well a given. So when are we going to start doing what is right ?
I was looking around and read a great Post By Mike W. (MW’s trading journal I think). He was reading a Tony Robbins book. And the conclusion of the paragraph was that most of us have great goals . But in reality we just look for instant satisfaction.
We will get in a trade and we will be happy to take a small gain verses any amount of loss. But this is not what we are really striving for. We want long term consistent successes and be able to trade full time with the least amount of stress. The hard part is how do we make that shift.
Yes some of us may be able to even make some consistent profits week after week just taking quick scalping trades. When time allows and if you can read the charts well it can be a lot of fun. Especially if the bulk of your livellyhood is being meet but some long term trades . That would make your scalping gains icing on the cake and relieve any stress.
That is one reason I believe that we see those that are just doing great with thier trading seeminglly have the ability to get every trade off the signals we all know. We tend to doubt them as we aren’t to that level.
But think to your own trading the times when you were in the zone mentally and you took every trade spot on it seemed and you did this time and again. What if you were in that trading zone all the time. If we can elimnate the worries of trading. Even if we say we don’t have emotional attachement to our trading . I think our results speak differentlly.
I have been mainly a scalper , but just because I like that style of interaction with the markets it really doesn’t fit into my ultimate goal which for me is freedoom from a rigid employement schedule. Yes it could make me more money. But I have never really had a love affair with paper.
I want to be able to travel internationally and make my living off trading. Longer term positions would allow that easier. If your in a positive trade and just making adjustments form time to time. The need to sit at your desk 24/5 is gone.
A scalpers mentality is great for entries if your any good at it you can get the best entries. But if we can’t realise that we are in possiblly a long term trade and just lock in some gains and let it run. We are missing the boat.
This is why I have latelly been looking for trades based off time frames. We have shown and see all the time that entries at specific times of the day tend to last till the next specific time. They can be either continuation or reversal trades the reversals may also only be retracements on higher time frames.
But they still tend to move one way till the next important time. These are session beginings and ends normally. But for me this is a start in the right direction.
We have also said time and again that we should enter as a scalper and trade as a swing or position trader. We need to look at our higher time frame charts after we have entered a trade. We see time and again when the 1 hr closes and gives a signal that supports our entry off a scalp or 15 min signal that we had a entry to a big move.
I understand a lot of us are thinking I want to learn to get 180 pips out of that 100 pip move by scalping all the entries. That could be done but are you doing that ? I’m not. If we get in the trade we look up the charts and we see we have the good entry then using the lower ma’s on the 1 hr at the least we can hold some decent trades.
If we break a swing on the hrly then look at the 4 hr and do the same. I posted that book by Ed Ponsi the other day I have not finished reading it myself . But I have seen a system he teaches using the daily that is very similiar to these ideas(page 90). but being they are daily, entries maybe few and far between with a few losses before a great success.
I want to tell a tale about a trader, which I believe to be true. This man had a job that made him travel from home so he had spare time on his hands when he was on the road. So being finacially in decent shape . He would spend his time playing online poker.
He got good enough that he was playing and winning in those small tournamanets they have . If your not famialiar with that. They will involve say 12 players and each player will put in say $1,500 dollars and I believe only the top 3 players take a prize. So basiclly it is a win or lose sittuation. You have put your money up and you use your skills to beat the the other players . Sound familiar ?
Anyway still having free time on his hands this man came across Forex and started studying what that was about. Mainly focused on Price Action and demoed a while and lets say ,This part I am not positive on.
But lets say he won a poker game with a pot of $15,000 so he opens his first live account with basiclly free money. Now risking only something that he had won. Can you see how mentaly this could be a great plus to learning to hold trades.
Anyway he came across EO’s thread which kinda of tied up some lose ends for him in his trading and with all the different elements and entries it provided . The rest is history he had very few losses and has become one of the best traders I have ever seen all within a year and a half.
But the only difference from us and him is mainly his attitude to his money. I can be in a trade and might have entered to early so I have a bit of draw down nothing big maybe 10 15 pips but it stalls there for a while rubbing me the wrong way, and this happens a lot at major areas as the sellers and buyers try and get a hold.
But when it finally goes my way I am just worn out watching it, that I close with barelly any gains. This is not smart on my part I fought the battle I was right, and I won . But I lost the war by giving up. Which is the worst thing to do.
A lot of what I am talking about is common among a lot of us. I have watched a lot of people struggle with trading most just disappearing or giving up. I have seen a lot that took years to finally get consistent and start making decent gains.
I believe in almost all case weither we see it or even believe that our attachement to our trading funds is key to our success or failures. I want everyone to succeed. There is enough for us all. Just because we are making profits doesn’t mean someone else is losing . I think that is a misunderstanding. You may want to buy at a level doesn’t meant the guy selling it to you isn’t closing a huge trade. Plus it is currency exchange at times people just need to have a different currency to complete a deal. It isn’t always about winning or beating someone else.
Though many find it easier to see it that way. The biggest battle as in everything in our lifes is the one that take place inside ourselves. Once we conquer that we will see gains in everything we find important. I saw another post by jimmy mac on Mike W’s Motitvation Thread. Little You tube by Tony Robbins. Might give you something to think about.
Hope your all having a great weekend and wish you all the best in the world… Ken
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