It really does help me work through my thoughts. It’s helpful to have a place to document the emotional part. However, I also analyze my trades thru my trade history in my account.
Do you keep a journal as well?
A trading journal is an extremely useful tool and I believe that the more you study your trades, the better the outcome.
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Yes mate! It speeds up my journey to become a more disciplined and consistent trader.
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A problem I keep repeating is not following my journal exactly as I should. I start trading and often don’t even look at my diagram. It’s because I want to KNOW everything in my strategy. But that comes from checking it frequently. However, I have yet to develop that habit. It’s best that I do.
Do you have any particular difficulty that keeps occuring? If so, how do/did you manage it?
I’ve had some losses that I’m not happy about, and some missed opportunities.
However, there have been some setups that I was unsure of how to trade, I checked my diagram and I was right! So, that’s pretty cool. Yet, I still have a ways to go.
Onward and upward!
Just finished my trading. Not bad. I tried something a little different. You see, I start my trading a few hours before the candle closes. The problem is that sometimes, I check some charts later in the day, and there was an entry signal even though it wasn’t when I checked it.
That means I was a little too early and assumed that there was no signal. So, now I scan my charts and select the charts that could possibly end in a signal. So, once the candles close, I only have certain charts to check.
Just checked up on my trades. I don’t have the need to check on my trades, but I use my afternoons to check on any trades that got stopped out. I don’t have the time to do it in the morning, so I do it in the afternoon.
I checked and I had a few losses. I was a little annoyed until I checked each one. There were six losses.
Two losses were stupid. I missed out on two big swings, and I figured I’d just randomly jump in. Big consecutive bull candles. Of course, the day I decide to jump in, it retraces.
One loss was a little confusing at first, but at second glance it was a fair loss because I followed my strategy. Two other losses were less confusing based on the surrounding price action, and they are strategic losses, too.
The remaining loss was an incorrect trade that I closed at a loss, but it’s now in the green.
One thing though, I didn’t feel good about that many losses and the amount my account decreased. It’s demo, but I’m still treating it as real. I’m fine with the risk management and the loss, but it psychologically does have an effect that’s hard to deny.
In the end, my loses were mostly acceptable losses, as opposed to unstrategic losses.
Onward and upward!
I had some more losses, which I’m not happy about. Particularly, I had a loss in EUR/AUD, which I’m not happy about. I’m debating if I should have stayed out.
I wasn’t sure how to trade it. I think the problem was that the price action around it wasn’t right. In that case, no matter how tempting it looks, I should have stayed out.
Damn…
My demo account is getting lower and lower. I’m not very happy about it. I had several setups over the past two weeks that would have been good, but my psychology got shook.
One trade, I took two strategic losses, then got scared. The next candle was the right entry! Had I not gotten scared, and BLINDLY followed the strategy, I would have profited nicely.
I have to take some time to think about what I’m doing that’s hurting me recently.
Now that I think of it, I think I’m slowly taking trades that I shouldn’t be taking. I should wait longer.
It can get difficult to do that because, your desperation convinces you that it’s a good trade. Even when following a strategy, there’s a little discrection. And that discretion is where you convince yourself that the setup is good.
I did some analysis of my losses. Long story short, I didn’t follow my strategy. Big surprise.
But why?
My strategy says that I could be wrong up to 4 times. In only one backtest 6 losses were incurred. But in that trade, the reward was WELL worth it. In that backtest, price skyrocketed for over two weeks.
I seem to have trouble taking trades after two losses. I keep thinking that I’m getting faked out.
There was a sign that could have been treated as both a retracement OR reversal. However, the following candle was a reversal sign. The next candle was the REAL reversal sign. So, at most I should have been wrong twice.
If I traded the first candle as a retracement, I would have been wrong only once.
Wrong once, or wrong twice, I would have been following the strategy.
But I got scared by the losses, and I kept thinking about what I THOUGHT I was happening, instead of just following the signs.
This is a big hurdle for me. Trading the same direction after two losses is difficult. Your brain starts to look for other signs that aren’t real, and that’s when not only do losses occur, but that’s when you miss the big swing and all the losses were in vain.
When I get stopped out I feel really frustrated sometimes. I realized it’s because at first I don’t understand the reason. It feels random. It literally feels like no matter what I do, it’ll be wrong. That’s when I feel like the market is against me. As if no matter what I do, it’s wrong. It’s not a good feeling.
But, I feel much better after I do my analysis. Studying my losses show me what I could have done differently. And the solution is never random. The clues are the same. Which is what directs the construction of a strategy.
Even if a candle seems random, it’s an acceptable loss.
When I don’t understand, all the answers I need are in the charts.
A big problem I’m having is dealing with fakeout candles. So, I made a note to do some analysis of fakeout candles.
I see that analysis in your post has been gradually improving over time. You nail down drivers behind market structures better and better. Keep up good job.
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Thanks! I appreciate it, but I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I often feel upset when I keep losing, but I feel better when I review my trades. Gotta keep moving forward!
This morning I closed some trades at a small profit to reverse some positions, but strategically.
Trading Monday morning can be weird. There are gaps and weird movements often.
I checked on my trade history just now and there are no new losses since this morning, which is a nice change. I didn’t bother checking each trade. If there are no losses to analyze, then I’m just gonna study some more charts.
I started studying reversal candles, but it’s taking longer than I thought. Sometimes, I get distracted. If I see a nice chart sample, I take a few minutes to label things, then put the screenshot in a folder for later reference. It’s worth the distraction because I’ll forget later and it will come in handy later on.
Keeping a trading journal is the best way to keep track of your trades and strategies. This will assist you in improving your trading journey.
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You’re right about that! Thanks!! How’s trading been going for you?
I reviewed some losses. It seems that I get so worried about being faked out, that I actually ignore actual signals.
Sometimes, when it’s a bullish signal, I go short. Bearish signal, and I go long. I also get scared of closing too early.
There’s a lot to compute, even with a strategy. The difficulty lies in the application of the strategy.
I keep denying signals over and over…
I’m still trying to figure out why. I want to understand what’s going on in my brain.
I get a good position, and I get scared of closing. My strategy determines that there are times when there are contradictory signals. During consolidation and retracement periods, there could be a bullish signal Monday, and Wednesday a bearish signal.
So, when I see that bearish signal, even if my long trade is at a loss I still have to close it. That’s just what the market gives.
But, I think I get scared of closing, only to find out that price reversed and goes in my favor the next day.
The problem is that price action will give a signal before reversing, and I get so fixed in my position, I don’t even SEE the contradictory signal.
I’m taking my time more. I gotta try to just keep trusting the signals…
I have a few hours before candles close, so there’s no reason to start checking up on trades yet. I’ve learned that a lot can happen to a candle in three hours before it closes.
For now, I’m looking at fakeout candles. I’m marking them and taking screenshots to take notes on and perhaps even do a tally.
I’m seeing different trends that can affect the nature of a fakeout candle. If price action is choppy versus a smooth swing…these conditions do make a difference apparently.
The problem is that I don’t know what differences yet. I was just looking at a AUD/CAD chart, and I labeled where I would have jumped in. And I really jumped in on some bad places. Now, I have to figure out why.
The hard part is turning this information into practical steps that don’t confuse me when the time comes to place a trade.
I’m starting to wonder about the benefits of trading against the trend.
I’m starting to have doubts that there are any…
I’ve seen charts that have some really nice bearish swings in a bullish trend.
The problem is that you don’t know when those could happen, and missing out on them would be such a waste.
Then again, perhaps that’s the kind of thinking that would lead to wreckless trading.
I need more analysis.
I just analyzed a bullish GBP/SEK trend from early 2021.
It was a bullish trend, but not a very volatile one. I backtested it and initially, had tons of losses.
I zoomed out a bit, and realized I was trading that entire trend wrong!
I took another look, and there are actually just two losses and then I ride the bull trend for two long months.
I just got reminded that you have to survey the scene first. The first step in my strategy is to zoom out and survey the scene. This is why…