that is the question
i have been trading forex for a year now from demo to live to demo to live to demo to live and through numerous sytems.
I now have been focused on a systen for the past seven months which i can get 100pips a day if my setup comes into play.
I have lost close to $10,000 in the year and i have been through numerous brokers. i am at a stage now were i put $100 in just about every week and start to build it up - before bust
Problem is i lose due to lack of concentration and over trading. My hours to trade for the system is london/europe open which is my time 4pm onwards to maybe 8pm. i have many distractions - a wife, commuting from work to home (have laptop open on carseat), and then 2 yearold daughter when i got home then dinner and so on.
i enjoy forex and i have dedicated every minute of my mind to it. Yes i am in it for the money - but i enjoy the challenge.
I let my loses run unfortunately - primarily due to the fact that the SL will be the maargin call - as i often dont have much in the account. I find everyweek i am back to square one. Also i find myself looking at charts and all day leading up to the 4pm start and can often trade in that time asia session- but i also feel i am improving all the time in my ability but not in my account - perhaps i am not psychologically suited
Should i walk away?
Don’t quit, but do move over to demo and do [B]not [/B]return to live until you have traded profitably for at least three consecutive months.
Maybe try to change your schedule/trading. If there’s not enough time to trade intraday, then just accept it and go with daily time frames. That is something I can identify with.
Many recommend a book by Mark Douglas; Trading in the zone, as a good read on the psychological aspect of trading which seems to be the area should work on.
Remember that discipline is a must or you’ll bust. But also remember that without dreams, sleep would just be 8 hours of nothing!
ya, stick with it. Psychology is the biggest factor in this business. I actually think the process of learning forex to be very straightforward. however, I think that greed and the desire to better your life gets in the way of making rational decisions.
If you can’t devote enough time to it on your present time frame then increase it. Just remember, it’s better to only take the trades you absolutely think 90%+ will go in your favor and slowly reach your goal then taking only semi-good trades in hope of reaching your goal sooner. Because in the end, you won’t reach your goal if you make poor decisions.
Yep, thats good advice there. I have been trading 5 years, and it wasnt till year 3 that I was profitable, and just in the last year it has become a real source of income. Sooo many things to learn and experience that has to be gained…not an easy task. For the most part I scalp. If you are able to devote 2 or 3 hours to london open, you could bank 40 pips or so consistantly, and not have to trade besides that. That is when I bank the most pips. You can check out how I scalp at myfxsource.com/peteschat.htm
the question is do you have the dicipline to follow a simple set of rules… if the anwser is no then get out. save your money your marriage your family.
if the answer is yes i have a set of rules for you. you can trade any system you like as long as you follow these rules in your trading.
<[email protected]>
email me and i will send them to you.
best of luck with your decision.
jon
Join the club…lol. Although I havn’t quite lost to your extent (actually still on my first real account and still got 75% of it…lol), basically the circumstances are similar…been at this for over a year, family, full time job, distractions, lack of concentration.
So I had to figure out solutions to those circumstances if I was going to have any kind of level of success at this.
I agree…trading from an open laptop on the car seat is not giving you any advantages…and using your margin as a stoploss isn’t in your best interest either.
As far as overtrading goes, you stated that when your setup comes into play, that you can get a 100 pips a day. So you really need to pay attention to what works and what doesn’t, and if the charts don’t clearly show it, don’t trade…discipline man, discipline!
One really needs to sit oneself down and get control of onesself…what psychological issue do you feel is affecting your success, and what are you gonna do about it…did you search the internet for anyone else with a similar story and what they do? Once I started doing that, my losses seemed to hit a bottom and although I’m still struggling with some issues, I seem to be maintaining a plateau…which I consider an improvement for now
The thought of calling it quits has entered my mind too out of frustration, but also the thought that I haven’t dug deep enough inside myself is what keeps me trying.
hey thanks all for advice - it really comes down to me maintaining discipline at all times and perserverance - but mainly imrpoving the psychological discipline and really making the effort to do so - in actions not words!
So I will be the dissenting voice. ALthough I agree it may take many years to get a handle on this the fact is the overwhelming majority fail, not surprising when you think who and what you are up against. Unless you can honestly see what it is about you that will put you in that small successful group (and notice I say YOU, not system) then forget it and dont waste a precious moment with your family
I agree with all of the other posters on this subject. I have been in your shoes once but not quite to the extent my first account i lost because of not maintaining my system even though it was a profitable system. but emotions got involved and the rest is history.
I found one thing that is very effective in maintaining a strategy.
write down your rules on paper and read them every time before you trade and ask yourslef “does this pair/trend follow ALL of my rules?”
when you enter a trade take a screenshot of it and mark it accordingly (like draw lines with paint showing what you are seeing and why you go that way) and put it in a folder labled “mytrades” or whatever will not get lost
make a trading journal. (if you want i can send you the excel spreadsheet that i made just for the occasion ) and the most important part of this is the comments section. write down what happend during the trade and write down a explanation of what you see that you (or your system) can improve on.
all in all i personally believe that the psyche in trading is ment to be emotionless.
1 make a system
2 make rules to enter exit
3 follow your system and rules like a religion
4 take notes/screenshot
5 critique
6 improve
sorry about the numbers but i think it might make it more simple to understand.
best of luck to you and i hope that whatever decision you make you are happy with.
…the thought that I haven’t dug deep enough inside myself is what keeps me trying.
I believe YOU have found MY answer for ME!!! This IS INDEED MY reason for not ‘packing it in’!!! I’ve just never found the correct words!!! HOW MUCH FURTHER I (we) can ‘dig’ of course is the question!!! I mean: AT WHAT POINT do you realise you’re about to ‘dig through’ that very fine line between reality and insanity!!! LOL!!!
i have not found a system i can use… travelling around like a normad… can someone suggest what is the best way to earn say 20pips around london/ny overlap… for eur/usd?
All that’s been said is great, do hang in there;
I’ve been there and appreciate how hopeless it might seem, but continue with your training.
Have you gone through the school of pipsology right here on this site?
I’ve posted my amazing results from last month, take a look and demo trade my trade alerts.
I would also suggest you trade less. When I started with a friend’s system I was getting $1/pip which could make for a good profit and also send my heart racing if the trade went bad (which happened quite often as I was a beginner who wanted to make money, but didn’t have the experience to make it happen every time).
I lost some money and I thought to change fromm $1/pip to 10cents/pip which has made such a huge difference psychologically. Obviously I’m making far less money, but as I am making money it makes me feel profitable. And as my account can more easily withstand poorly placed trades I rarely feel anxious anymore.
I don’t particularly care for making big bucks anymore, as I long I see a steady profit coming in for little stress. As many people have already said, it is a marathon and trying to make a mad dash for the cash will see you burn out quick.
I was having similar issues and was frustrated because I want this to be my full time job, but my ‘real’ job was getting in the way.
I am on my 3rd demo account (having made so many common mistakes) and finally showing a profit. I changed my system and am only following 4 pairs. If I don’t have time to look at the chart, I won’t trade. I also only trade between 2 time frames in the day and night.
I am trading less, but gaining more. It was a tough lesson, but I am happy I am learning it on the demo.
) and the most important part of this is the comments section. write down what happend during the trade and write down a explanation of what you see that you (or your system) can improve on.