@steve369
Thanks for the details, interesting and not far at all from my approach, but I am confused by:
‘be in accordance with either below (buy) or above (sell) the 60 EMA’
I would have thought below = sell and above = buy. Did you really mean that?
Thanks again
your psychology linked to your results like a tennis player or golfer,trading a psychological game
1 Like
Yes I really meant that. With candle sticks heading upward, a buying trend, the 60 EMA must be below the candles outside the cloud, and the red line above the blue line - and on the selling, outside the cloud above the downward candles, with the blue line above the red.
Ah ok, said like that it makes sense! I misunderstood your first explanation. Thanks and all the best
Psychology in trading is very interesting topic. Indeed, I have also experienced huge emotional swings when I was beginner. But, I think that during time, it all settles down somehow.
This is a great post, and I think your example here is a great way to define two different strategies from which two different plans can be created. There is no rule to say you can’t try both plans at the same time and measure their relative edges. One may shine more than the other in one market direction, but that may change as the market direction changes (bullish, choppy, bearish). Worth a try.
People say that your mindset plays a big role when you are trading Forex. I am a bit afraid because I am a very emotional person. Want to know what techniques other traders are using to control their emotions.
@jassrayder
Changing your trading psychology in itself is an uphill struggle - this is what I believe anyway.
You can’t just say ‘okay when it comes to trading I’ll think like such and such, but outside of trading I’ll carry on the way I am’ - that ain’t gonna work.
You need to change who you are, and your belief systems in regards to everything.
One of the best non financial benefits of trading is an opportunity to make yourself a ‘better’ version of yourself.
That can be interpreted in many ways - but one way I have overcome my trading deficiencies is to actually diminish the role money plays in my life.
For example - most of us go round obsessing about a lack of money in our lives, but this only perpetuates that lack.
You need to start thinking that money in your life is abundant, it will always come and generally think in the same way and affluent person does.
Not always easy I know especially if you’ve lost your job, or money isn’t making ends meet, and yes it all sounds very new age.
Im not going to get into metaphysics or arcane spiritual principles - it’s the wrong forum for that.
But altering beliefs around money will mean you are NO longer desperate to win trades.
It means losing trades won’t be so scary.
And you are not going to snap at the smallest profit for fear it will reverse on you.
Changing your belief system will in effect change your trading habits.
A good book to start with a this is What to say when you talk to yourself.
Is it the best book? No way, but it’s basic enough to give you the concepts needed to radically alter your mindset.
2 Likes
Hi, and welcome. First I have to say that @johnscott31 response is perfectly aligned with my own “technique” if you can call it that. About five years ago, I stopped thinking about the actual money I trade, and started to think about placing a trade as one action of a sequence of thousands that, if applied with the same method again and again, would soon tell me whether I had an edge or not. So that was about 370 trades ago. Without even trying to deviate from a set pattern, I found that timeframes did not always agree with my free time (meetings, outings, family life), but I also found that the market did not always “allow me” to be consistent in my application of trades. But I have maintained a log of how many times these “unintended events” affected me, both in a positive sense in that if I did not place a trade that lost, and in a negative sense in that if I did place a trade but the entry was not, with hindsight matching my exact criteria for entry. At times I almost feel stupid trying to unswervingly stick to the same process, and I have a long way to go to prove a point because this one “trial” needs to run for around 800 trades to demonstrate an edge and so far it has not. I am convinced that the worst thing a trader can do is to spend a huge amount of time defining a strategy followed by a plan, backtest that plan to convince oneself that it has an edge, then proceed to deviate from that plan. I am so convinced of this that I am prepared to spend around one year to see out the entire duration of the plan before changing that strategy and plan. For some this may seem like a year of your life wasted. For me, it is the only way to go.
3 Likes
Try not to take so much risk at once. Focus on your risk management techniques and work on your strategy. Good luck.
If you are an emotional person in general it will effect your trading. In saying that if you are aware of this then you can take steps to overcome it. One thing that could help is extensive backtesting of your strategy… Eventually the moves in the market will not trigger an emotional reaction as you have seen it 1000 times.
4 Likes
@TraderEvolved
100% agree with your first post.
99.9% of mentors aren’t able to extract profit from the market.
They are able to teach you the basics.
When you use their methods and you don’t make pips they blame you.
Psychology comes into play once you have a profitable strategy, 99% of wannabe traders never reach that point, including mentors.
Each trader has a different bent of mind and so we need to remember this fact and also learn our trading skills in the Forex.
Every trader is different and so are his trading requirements. Instead of caring about what others are doing, focus on improving.
If it was just a marketing ploy by trading teachers then we wouldn’t converse in forums like these .
Even with an Edge losses still affect ones mindset
Psychology matters a lot. People are usually emotional but anything can be done for those who can control these emotions. The more emotionally strong you are in trading, the more profitable the ratio can be.
lots of people pass their driving tests first time and still drive like maniacs
We have to learn trading and also remember that Trading needs to be controlled for Better Results 
I agree with you, an emotional balance is highly important for everyone to get better results in trading.
Grapes are sour isn’t it? It’s an easy escape and I won’t deny being a culprit myself. But yeah deep down you know the reality and if you’re serious about trading, you’d end up working up on your past mistakes.