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12th December 2017
After battling with longs from 13130 - 13091 closed them b/e just before 9. But took and closed long just now for 30 points from 13010 a new trade, but it's still charging extra 10 just now. I just still feel it won't go to 13200 right now.
Morning chaps presently long from 52-53.... Sterling driven gains....
How you doin Jack?
Quote from anstel on 12th December 2017, 11:41 amHow you doin Jack?
Hi, anstel. I am doing fine. I had a Prince exhibition in London on Saturday that was really good. In terms of trading: I'm getting into a profit zone after what happened in November. I like and want longs, I like set ups for longs and dislike shorts. But it looks like all longs happen at night now and during the day it falls. Dax is holding below 200 and 13000 is the floor as far as I see. I hope for Christmas rally eventually to 500.
I still have problems with increasing the stake. I am supposed to increase every week according to profits 30%-20% but scared. Sometimes I get brave and take the one I planned but then it gets lower and returns and I reduce and run the ramainder to a profit. I don't have guts then to hold the original stake (cos that's how it all started in November when I had a loss so I am extra cautious now). How are you? Getting lots of profits this year?
Morning chaps presently long from 52-53.... Sterling driven gains....
Quote from Jack 2 on 12th December 2017, 12:00 pmQuote from anstel on 12th December 2017, 11:41 amHow you doin Jack?
Hi, anstel. I am doing fine. I had a Prince exhibition in London on Saturday that was really good. In terms of trading: I'm getting into a profit zone after what happened in November. I like and want longs, I like set ups for longs and dislike shorts. But it looks like all longs happen at night now and during the day it falls. Dax is holding below 200 and 13000 is the floor as far as I see. I hope for Christmas rally eventually to 500.
I still have problems with increasing the stake. I am supposed to increase every week according to profits 30%-20% but scared. Sometimes I get brave and take the one I planned but then it gets lower and returns and I reduce and run the ramainder to a profit. I don't have guts then to hold the original stake (cos that's how it all started in November when I had a loss so I am extra cautious now). How are you? Getting lots of profits this year?
Hi Jack...I'm looking for consistency.....ive had losses....ive had gains....I'm working still on the process.... It's extremely hard but I'm still trying...at some point I'm hoping I can pull all the knowledge and experience ive gained together and become a more rounded and consistant trader....not easy...not easy at all....
Tell you what Jack I think sometimes the best trade is to not have a trade......quality not quantity......
Quote from anstel on 12th December 2017, 12:47 pmTell you what Jack I think sometimes the best trade is to not have a trade......quality not quantity......
I am working on consistency too, anstel. At some point I decided that I am doing it for the money but not for the fun of it. And suddenly my interest in other strategies disappeared and I started polishing mine to gain consistent profits. It doesn't matter how many strategies we learn we won't change who we are so we need to squeeze the most of what we know already. Like one famous trading teacher said "it doesn't matter what strategy you are using it is your attitude and money management that matters. You can make money just out of 1 single EMA it doesn't matter". That was an interesting point.
My biggest problems are hesitation and fear to be wrong (Stop loss issue).
However to the point of consistency, I did notice that since July I pulled out 120% of account and that's why I keep low stake to gradually increase the new account balance. I don't need surprises. When the time comes I will gradually do it. The important lesson was that withdrawing doesn't affect your future winnings (in the past I thought as soon as I withdraw "they" will trigger a series of losses for me deliberately as a revenge. Nah, it's all rubbish)
To add for the above, in the past I didn't understand why I cannot win, you get profits one day then lose another day. So I decided if I get any profits they need to be out of the account then "I can start again". I noticed I was good to "start again" so I used this thing. Because when you have profits you try to protect them and chase them if the trade goes wrong and lose profits and part of account etc. But if you don't have any profits you "start again" you know what I mean?
Because if you accumulate your profits and have a bigger account you may act reckless one day and it may cost you, cos all those 50% of account are winnings (for example) so you don't care really. You lose a value of money, but when you withdraw it keeps you going in your mind what you are dealing with.
Position sizing is very important.....I have never really had a problem getting into trades.....I have found getting out harder in the past.......I'm happier now to take a loss and get out than I was.......you can't be a perfectionist and say I need it to go to break even before I exit....if it's wrong and you have given it enough chance to come right and it's still wrong just get out... Either flip it or walk away for a bit....coming back to size....ive traded all sorts of size from small to large.. At the big size its suicidal really.....but it's an assessment of market conditions...it's still risky...I made a lot of money the first quarter this year trading big.....problem I found was when you trade big.....the thought of trading £10-£20 a point seems like your standing still.....and what happens is you realise the market conditions are changing and you need to get small quickly....but......something inside you says hang on after trading £x pp to trade at this smaller size is hardly going to make me any gains.......Its all an illusion of course but when you trade big you seem to loose sight of the actual value of the money....sounds daft but it just becomes a number....The only time you realise how much it actually is is when you loose it all again.....then it hurts !!!!!
The other thing is this.....where can you go and deposit £1k or 2k or 10k and get credit up to say 100 times or maybe even more for free .....well you can't...and they provide it so you get over leveraged and get in a mess...have to take a big loss and its game over...ive traded 3 points for a grand and the pressure is astronomical..... I made a lot but lost it....so ive had the experience and it's there in my toolkit..... if I ever get a big account again I can draw on that experience but in the real world £100 a day is a nice wage so better to trade £5-£10 pp and work on consistency .......it's about the process not the money.....if you get the process right the money will take care of itself.....
Quote from anstel on 12th December 2017, 2:32 pmPosition sizing is very important.....I have never really had a problem getting into trades.....I have found getting out harder in the past.......I'm happier now to take a loss and get out than I was.......you can't be a perfectionist and say I need it to go to break even before I exit....if it's wrong and you have given it enough chance to come right and it's still wrong just get out... Either flip it or walk away for a bit....coming back to size....ive traded all sorts of size from small to large.. At the big size its suicidal really.....but it's an assessment of market conditions...it's still risky...I made a lot of money the first quarter this year trading big.....problem I found was when you trade big.....the thought of trading £10-£20 a point seems like your standing still.....and what happens is you realise the market conditions are changing and you need to get small quickly....but......something inside you says hang on after trading £x pp to trade at this smaller size is hardly going to make me any gains.......Its all an illusion of course but when you trade big you seem to loose sight of the actual value of the money....sounds daft but it just becomes a number....The only time you realise how much it actually is is when you loose it all again.....then it hurts !!!!!
The other thing is this.....where can you go and deposit £1k or 2k or 10k and get credit up to say 100 times or maybe even more for free .....well you can't...and they provide it so you get over leveraged and get in a mess...have to take a big loss and its game over...ive traded 3 points for a grand and the pressure is astronomical..... I made a lot but lost it....so ive had the experience and it's there in my toolkit..... if I ever get a big account again I can draw on that experience but in the real world £100 a day is a nice wage so better to trade £5-£10 pp and work on consistency .......it's about the process not the money.....if you get the process right the money will take care of itself.....
lol, exactly, I am a perfectionist, I need it exactly b/e otherwise I won't come out: that's really me. Sometimes a few quid cost me more later. I understand your position on higher stakes, I experienced something like that on £5-10 in the past (for me it's big if I stay for example on £1-3 most of the time), it feels like you want more and quick and taking some 50 quid loss is not an option.
Nobody ever provided me with any deposits, I hear first time about that. Before I "started again" last time I asked money at my bank but application didn't go though and I was glad cos I started from the "last bottom I could afford" and I was grinding my teeth determined to succeed. That was the last chance, you're at the cliff and want to survive. And that also matters. When success comes hard that's the right one. There's no such a thing like easy money.
So I don't really know when I increase above £3 again, up to the Christmas I'm staying put, I may just keep any winnings for the rest of the month cos I did what I needed to do before. Now I can try to accumulate again. Hopefully I will succeed.
1 point for a grand. Scary. Insane. But for some instututions is possible.
Yes, process and consistency. Agree 100% GL
Another important thing I've learnt is to accept responsibility...
If you have a losing trade it's not the markets fault......no matter how irrationally the market may be acting it's still your fault....we have to own our mistakes.......once we accept that is our fault ...it's quite powerful......The Market can do anything at anytime and so we have to be aware that we have absolutely no control over it .....I think a lot of traders operate from a position of fear....so they look for specific signs or set ups..I.remember a nice chap on here ..he had his RSI trio theory.....and charting projections and all sorts of chart and technical indicators channels all sorts of stuff.....it is done by us to try and avoid the possibility of loss...I remember another chap always had really tight stops.....another trader trading from fear...he just kept getting stopped out over and over and over again...
The reality of trading is this......you ARE going to loose.....get over it.....once you realise that with the best will in the world the market can and will do anything......then you have accepted that you will make losses along the way...
The next thing is people come along and think oooohhh I can do this it only goes up and down...can't be that hard....lol....they think they can make half a million quid from a smart phone spending a couple of hours a day....then putting their feet up for the rest of the day drinking champagne.
The people that eventually make it in trading have been through hell.....they have worked 24 hr days...without sleep.....proper food sometimes probably.....blown a number of accounts....been to places emotionally people who don't trade can't even imagine......they have given it everything...sacrificed a lot....social life forget that...holidays lol....and learnt a lot about how they perform under unrelenting pressure...
It doesn't come easy.....anyone reading this who thinks it's easy....my advice is keep your money in the bank and do a bit of overtime instead...you will be richer in the long run...have a more relaxing life....and spent more leisure time doing what you want.........
However if you are more scared of not trying .....of getting to the end of your life thinking I wish I'd tried that......but hadn't then have a go.....but be prepared for the ride of your life with no guarantees of success... Now then back to business....
Big big thing Jack there you mentioned about the bank..........The only way to get money to trade with is to work your b@llocks off and save as much as you can.....then if you loose the bloody lot at least your not in debt...
To go to the bank and borrow money to trade with is ......well .....bloody hell.....that's called getting your priorities wrong....
Always got to save up and get the money from earnings....Anton Kreil talks about building your own infrastructure and he is bang on the nail there......It all takes hard work from the very beginning....no short cuts I'm afraid....not in my book anyway......
Failure is success in progress......Albert Einstein...
And.........:0)....97% of the people who quit..... work for the 3% who never gave up.......
Everything you said about the life of trader is absolutely true. I've gone through all that but eventually learned to be more relaxed while trading cos your health is at stake. But to start with, it is bloody hard, you go through emotional rollercoster before you get used to take pressure in a different way.
I am not good accepting the losses but I am working on it writing articles in my diary. I know exactly what you are saying that the price can go anyway anytime and losses may occur but I'm still fighting it quite a lot. I want to be 100% right, and when I am not I am getting out by adding and closing small profits and on any decent pull back close the worse trade in terms of loss which in average brings me to b/e or even little profit/loss. But this occasions can turn into disaster and I know it and keep it at the back of my mind. I think I will be able to stop myself if things go wrong completely. But... so far it all ends the same: either I survive and close b/e or little loss/profit or make a total mess and close a much bigger loss (still a loss) eventually. I need to stop doing it.
About borrowing, I was watching one Russian trader's interview, it is a common practise there. He borrowed and somehow managed to survive and pay it off. But I don't think everyone is that lucky. I was thinking of borrowing on credit card...
Don't ever ever borrow money to trade with Jack...I remember when I started working some of my friends where earning a lot more money than I was.....my father taught me a really good lesson.....if you havn't got the money to buy it for cash...you can't afford it....so save up till you can afford it.....
He said....the people that save up and buy it for cash get it cheaper......while the people that can't afford it straight away pay more because they have to borrow the money....
people are inherently lazy...they want everything now and don't want to scrimp and save for it...
Im Old school ......save up first...and work for it....
My father was extremely wise and taught me a lot...
My dad pretty much could have written some of these ten rules....I wish he was here today....check this out Jack and listen carefully....
It will be a long watching 🙂 Thank you for all your advice today, anstel
Hi guys.. FTSE looks to be unfolding in an orderly uptrend now since the break of 7370. 7360-7395-7370-7415-7390-7430-7410-7450-7425-7475-7450-7500.. notice how each low is at the place of the prior high. That suggests if it holds under 7500 it will probably test 7470s next. 7470s is also the area below which the uptrend would first come under pressure. So it's bullish above there and shouldn't have much problem getting to 7540s eventually. In addition, Sterling is bang on $1.33 which is the area of a previous swing high on the daily so that could bounce here. I've been out of sync with my timings the last week or so.. I'd expected 2600 on SPX and for that to keep FTSE under pressure.. crazy how those shooting stars result in only 1.5% of downside now. Suspect its tax rate related and could all change in Jan. For a while I've thought we might get back to 7500s in December then drop in January. Just didn't expect us to get there with 8 days to spare so reserving judgement now other than thinking we see 7540 soon
Evening Mcg....got a short on cable at 1.3315 and long Ftse from 52 and 53.... Keeping it all nice and modest size wise......see how we get on.....