I’ve read that this could be one of the symptoms of trading addiction. 
Hahaha. How do you ensure you keep that balance even with your charts being very accessible to you? And with that itch to check them constantly?
1 Like
I think I’m also more patient. Well, sometimes. I think I get into trouble when I can’t fight the urge to get into another trade because I believe that price will pull back at this level or continue at that level.
I’ve had decent success trading ranges. At least a range that’s been running for at least 15-20 candles. And for these I use tight spots. If I’m wrong, I want to know early. And tight TPs too. I’ll take 5 or 10 pips quickly any day.
1 Like
Well, I’ve got a lot going on in life outside of trading, and I only have so much margin to trade with! So I think that will keep me honest. Well I hope so.
I think I’ll continue trading as long as I think I’m still learning something and if my account balance is growing.
2 Likes
How about this? If your margin is growing, you don’t have the financial limit to help you fight that trading itch. Of course, being busy with other things in life is a healthy distraction.
The itch is horrible. It takes work and commitment to get away from it. I remember when I first started trading, I kept my phone on me at work, and I was checking that think every few minutes. And that’s while trading D1! Why in the world would I check my charts so often if I’m trading D1?? What do I think is gonna happen?! haha
I tried leaving my phone in the break room. That didn’t work either. I found myself frequently going to the break room and checking my phone. In the end, I decided to move the trading apps from the first page of my apps to the last page of my apps. This way, I don’t see them right away. Out of sight, out of mind. This helped me a lot.
Did you have SLs and TPs set? That’s helped me a lot to stay away and let the trade do its thing.
1 Like
At that time, I might have had TPs set. I used to set TPs when trading ranges. But I don’t use TPs anymore.
But I ALWAYS used SLs. For EVERY trade. I learned about the importance of SLs from books and Pipsology, so that was a habit I had from the beginning.
That makes sense. 
Hahaha. Tbh, although we haven’t interacted much, I’ve read your posts and it’s pretty obvious that you do have a lot going on. 
That’s great! And I hope you also keep growing your account.
I’ll be honest. Not setting these on every trade helped me out a bunch (mostly swing trades). Probably the long term, its not the best strategy to not use them all the time. Definitely use them on scalps and intraday trades all the time. Or bigger position size trades.
Oooh. Interesting! 
Haha. Although that’s quite risky. Just curious, would you say you’ve won more than you’ve lost with this strategy?
I’ve had two consecutive profitable months. Just slightly profitable for the entire year, but profit is profit! Is my recent profitability because I’m sometimes using SLs and then other times not? Hard to say.
Have I won more than lost because of my SL strat? That’s hard to say too. Probably lost less since I let down trades recover if possible. Not sure if I won more though. Hope that makes sense.
2 Likes
That’s big news, bro! Congratulations!
Whoa! That’s great! Definitely a step in the right direction.
Uh oh. Sounds like it could be time for more analysis. Figuring this out could be key. What do you think?
I think this boils down to how comfortable you are trading in general. Because there is no point going on vacation if you know you are going to be stressed and anxious about your money. Personally, people should learn to disconnect and focus on recharging before going back to the heavy and fast-paced lives they have (whether or not it involves trading).
If you’re swing trading on D1, your trades can last weeks. In my opinion, swing trading 5 pairs on D1 only requires 15-20 minutes of trading each day. How hard is that?
What vacation could you be on that you need a break from 20 minutes of work. And if you’ve learned to detach yourself as much as possible, why would it be so overwhelmingly stressful that you can’t enjoy your trip?
If you’re trading H1 or M15, sure, then I understand. For those TFs you have to spend a lot of time in front of the computer.