Need a mentor

Bunny,
Patience is not my main problem. finding a reliable system is

Have you considered candlesticks and stochRSI?

Shreenath,
Things are not as bad as i have projected them. It's just that i manage to cut a nice profitable position short consistently. End of the day, the net result is not as impressive as i want it to be. Inexperience and unrefined methodology is the culprit here.Maybe your confidence level is not high in these trades(any one particular system?). Other possible areas you might want to look if you're getting out or shaken out of a trade is a trailing stop. In a way this is better if you feel your entries are good but you're exiting too quick or you don't hold on to your winners....Also consider a rule, something like once in a winning trade I won't give away more than 50% of my accrued profits. It all goes back to confidence in your system or trading plan and having complete faith in it to stay with it, following every rule, come what may.

Like today, had 5 trades, 3 hit sl and 2 gave profit. net result, a marginal profit. This is the story that replays almost 3 days out of 5. The other 2 days i end with a marginal loss. The problem is implementation i guess. If you go back to these week by week performance - obviously you're having varied results. Try this. If those trades don't belong to a single system, chart separate equity curves for each system/trading plan and look at your win/loss ratio, risk to reward, ease of execution, and ultimately you will be able to zoom in on those trading plans that aren't working out or you havent developed faith in them, yet. Look at your exit criteria. Do a rigorous post mortem on each and every trade and you might find a common theme....

That's what is pissing me off. Otherwise, i i have a good life. Business, family life and almost all aspects of my life (minus trading) is doing fine. I got a 2 and a half yr old daughter and i drop her to her Montessori every morning at 8 am. bought her a new battery operated tricycle that she rides in the whole neighborhood and i have to man her and listen to her all the time in the evening. I devote the whole Saturday to my wife and she decides how we spend the time that day. My best friend oversees my business full time. I join him in the evening from 5'00 pm to 9'30 at night. Overall, i have no complaints with life. After market hours spend some time to do post mortem for each trade as stated above. YOu might be doing it but you still have to look for what you're doing wrong. No point in repeating the same mistake. If you find that one particular system is giving you better results than the rest, try implementing that for a while and see how it goes. You might not get enough trades but you can increase the number of markets you focus. The key is when you're in a winning trade and try to milk it for all its worth while not giving back more than half of your profits. Here position sizing could be your key. Once you have decided that you are going to trade X lots based on your risk tolerance, consider partial exits(like a 2 to 1 or a 3 to 1, etc. combo units)for the first 1/3 or 1/2 of your position size. This will also give you that needed self confidence to sit tight for the remaining position with a trailing stop. But make sure you back test your trailing stops rigorously. One way I do things is to look for a low risk entry on a lower time frame and look to exit using a higher time frame as a target. You could consider looking at trailing stops to begin with on the time frame and see how it does as compared to a trailing stop on a focus time frame. In case you have to switch your risk will go up accordingly and you will have do lower your position size. Here's another thing I've learnt in the past. Even though I have an initial stop based on my risk management parameters, and as the trade becomes a winner, I don't move it lower/higher unless and until there's that first retracement back up/dn. Some people who use fibs, use an initial 33% retracement as a minimum to place their trailing stops. Sorry I'm rambling here but I tend to type in a frenzy when ideas start to flood in....

Its just trading that's getting on my nerves. Not the failures, but the lack of success. On evaluation of my own progress, i find a lack of confidence on my own judgment is a big reason. inability to stick to the rules. self discipline. hoping against hope. methodology, self discipline and Psychology of Awareness remain my gray area.

Shreenath,
Thanks for opening a whole new dimension for me. Need to work on this new path from now on. I am still fixated on the methodology part. Finding out that one pattern seems tougher than i thought. Problem is, visual back testing at EOD gives such good results that i feel stupid at not being able to see that real time. Its like my eyes mourns the missed opportunity so much that new opportunity passed by in front of my eyes and becomes visible only after EOD.
Even if you have a methodology with a definite edge, you chances are that you won't become consistently profitable without the right mindset. Get clear with your objective for each setup first....what're your time frames(focus time frame, higher and lower time frames; I tend to use lower time frames for low risk entry and combine focus time frame and higher time frame for targets. Say, for a given setup my FTF is a 60 minute chart, then my lower time frame is a 12(5 times lower) or a 15 minute(4times lower)chart and the higher time frame a 240 minute chart combined with the daily. I might use weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly charts for conceptualizing potential trade ideas over a weekend/month end or end of the quarter. Once you feel comfortable with your time frames, stick to it for that setup and not change it. Now what's meaningful for risk reward for the setup with respect to the time frame you're focusing on.
Generally speaking lower timeframe, to me, means lower risk but also less profit expectation. I tend to focus on a reward to risk of at least 3:1 for day trades and if I don't see one even if it's a good entry I might pass the trade. For position trades, reward to risk, IMO must at least be 9 or 10:1. With that in mind, what's meaningful to expect in terms of profit? Make sure you are realistic about these things and not punish yourself. And more often than not, if you're breaking even or taking small losses(after all you're only in your second year(?)of full time trading, then pat yourself on the back. I've heard from at least two successful traders that full time traders take about 3 years on an average to become profitable once they get into this business. If you're taking small losses, look at them as your tuition for greater rewards in the future.
As to not being able to see the patterns setting up in real time vs. seeing them EOD, the only solution here is to pour over chart after chart and become familiar; this is why I suggested to use one setup which gives you a statistical edge to begin with and go back through a few years of data with it and see how it was setting up in multiple time frames, how it looked just at the time you would've pulled the trigger and so on....Also write down the trades as if you took it real time(hope you have made up your own risk profile tradesheet which you will use for every trade be it electronic or manual sheet)with information regarding risk, reward, rationale, and anything you can think of on one page...should also include profit exit points. Now you have actual trade data from the past. Then go back on simulation mode and take AT MINIMUM, 50 to 60 trades, in real time. You take them in simulation mode with real time data and fill that form for each trade and compare the results with the back testing data. That will tell you whether to tweak the setup and so on.....Maybe you have done all these. YOu will also start to learn about entries and exit techniques: scaling in and out of trades, trailing stops. Lot of it depends upond your personality. For me I tend to get confused about taking profits too early vs. trying to clean up. So these days, first half I exit at a predetermined target or nearby and the remaining, I trail a stop based on patterns so I get to milk the trade for all it's worth. This is one of many ways to be able to sit tight and ride a profitable trade. Finding a profitable trade and trade entry is easier but managing it and exiting it is not that easy. Having said this, I would rather be out sooner with a profit than try to get greedy and give back more.

Don't worry about missed opportunities. Markets are going to be here as long as you want and there will always be opportunities. But if you keep beating yourself up for missed opportunities, you will become totally dioriented and miss future profitable opportunities. The next loaded trade might be right around the corner when you're fuming and fretting and worrying about what could've been or should've been. I've learnt from the self help guru Tony Robbins long ago, that most people tend to shud(****) all over themselves for nothing. To remind you again, 'worrying is negative goal setting'. All the time you worry and worry at length and become emotional while you are worried, you're building powerful mental images in your imagination that will be waiting to unleash themselves in your real life. More on that powerful but overlooked topic of imagination later.

Psychology of Awareness & Self Discipline are the area i need to work on instead of the methodology part. A carpenter need to learn carpentry before he concentrates on the tools. Tools can only help in giving result to the thought process and that has become my new gray area. If you read Linda Raschke's book Street Smarts, somewhere in the beginning before the first chapter it says, something like, 'all it takes is one pattern to make a living'. Methodology is meant to give you an edge but money is made in your head, through proper psychology and following your rules. In one of the seminars I took years back, there was one prominent psychologist who was invited to teach and train and he had developed a lot of data from traders who had expertise in different walks of life. Some of the most successful traders tend to come from military background because they follow the rules without second guessing because of years of training. On the other hand a common thread of failure runs amongst people who are doctors, lawyers, engineers, dentists, etc when it comes to trading. Each and every day and every trade is but only one occurrence in your trading career, so don't beat up yourself on this. As long as you learn from experience, that's all that matters.



Is'nt this a paradox? How can i convince myself to feel good about myself when deep down i know that i dont ( yet ) have the pattern that i rely upon for the rest of my life. How can i concentrate on breathing exercise when i know i am not ready for battle.
Yes, feeling good before you manifest something feels like a paradox. But there's more to it than what you see. We as humans in our society are trained to think that 'hard work and doing/taking action' makes us successful. We hear phrases like, 'you've to bust your butt cause there's no free lunch in life'. We get hooked into taking action in a frenzy to become successful. We set goals and go after them in a frenzy. We become attached to the results. But have you ever thought why you want to be successful as a trader? Why do you want to make all that money? What does it give you? Freedom? Security? Yeah...but why do you want freedom or security? In the end it all boils down to fulfill our needs as humans and ultimately it comes back to feeling good. Our own nature, IMO, is one of Ananda/bliss and we forget it because we're so focused on the externals in life. Think about this(we don't have to dwell on this now but it gives food for thought about long term consequences), all desires can be categorized into two groups. Everything happens to fall into one group where there's always a beginning and an end. And as long as there's an end my friend, your search on those external factors you think will make you feel good will continue. So what about a desire, if you accomplish will never have an end to your Joy, Freedom and Growth?
Unless we learn to feel good about our current situation in life, about what we do, and where we're heading chances are that we won't manifest what we want in our life. YOu will have experienced about this in the past for sure. There must've been at least one thing which you wanted. You desired it, you were so hooked to making it happen, you pictured it through all your senses and better even before you got it, you were absolutely sure that it was going to happen.......and voila....it manifested in your life. So go back to that line I typed about how actions originate. We're back to Feelings <-> Habits of thought. We have a desire and we will invariably have habits of thinking around/about that desire. In short, you either believe or have doubts about making it happen. As long as your desire/s don't LINE UP with your 'habits of thought' you will feel disonnected from your Source. The only way you will know about it or get a clue that your desires are not in alignment with your beliefs is through the negative emotions you feel. Some experience tightness in their solar plexus, some in their heart but the reason is the same, misalignment. As long as there's misalignment, you don't flow your energy to manifest your desires and you feel disconnected. Have you ever thought, why my screen name is LineUpEnergy?

I guess, its definitely the other way round. A healthly mind can grasp things faster. think faster. Act without thinking.



Like you said, action leads to self image and that dictates how i approach any challenges in life. Changing my habit of thought will take at least 6 months and wont happen in a few days. so now IF i want to change my pattern of thinking and slowly incorporate discipline, i HAVE to change my routine. I could use a lot of guidance from you on this regard. Actually it's the other way around. Your self image of who you're leads to your behavior. I strongly recommend that you study and implement Dr. Maltz's book on psychocybernetics
or even his student's book Dr. Bobbe Summer's 'Psychocybernetics 2000'. Your action might influence your self image and change it over a period of time due to the experiences you gain but that's nothing compared to the hold your self image has on your behavior, NOW and in the future unless you learn to alter it to give you what you want.
Changing a habit or pattern of thought doesn't have to take 6 months. It can be done instantaneously in some cases and in some cases a month and in some a year but it all boils down to how badly you want to change.


This is the most difficult part. Accepting responsibility for every trade that went wrong. Every time i hold myself responsible for a bad trade, my self image takes a beating. I write it down and next time i repeat it again (and again) i curse myself for the lack of discipline. Then i feel the urge to bring in some improvement in the system i follow and start working on that instead. The fault is with my discipline and not my system.
First of all you have to truely accept your risk for every trade in your heart. To truely accept risk you can try a few things. One thing is to risk very, very minimal amount per trade. If the risk you're taking is inconsequential to you as a trader, then you will almost feel bored in a trade. That's the way it should be for you to remain emotionless and mechanical/objective while placing, during or ending a trade. If you feel emotional, fidgety, etc during a trade, chances are that your position size or risk is too high. Second thing is to learn to believe that, trading is a game of probabilities and over a period of time you will come out as a winner and this next particular trade you're taking will not define your trading career(as long as you don't become reckless and have your stops and everything in place). The third thing about being able truely accept risk is by having confidence in your setup which can only come by research and back testing and forward testing with a simulator through repetition, repetition, repetition. When you get into that mode, you will not think about a trade when a setup occurs for you to enter or exit the market. YOu just act.....do you think when Michael Jordan used to shoot all those three pointers, he would be thinking about the mechanics of shooting or whether the throw is going to be good enough during those few seconds of action? Once you develop a series of winners under your belt then you will accept risk with open arms but then you have to guard yourself against over confidence.



This is exactly what i have been doing all this time. I develop a system, give it to a trader friend of mine and he loves it. He trades it with good success and i fail to achieve half of what he does.

Then i sit and develop a new one and show it to him and he is even more impressed and performs even better. While i sit and sulk the whole day.Just stick to one thing and make it your own. I have read many threads here on this forum where people come, offer their own strategies/methods/etc, and most of them are genuinely interested to help people. Be on guard and watch out for yourself. Be consistent. Never ever give up on a thing you believed in, got started.....without proving to yourself that it was wrong. Never focus on how others are doing. You can always learn from other peoples experience, ultimately we'll have to take responsibility for our own actions. Remember we all create our own reality.

LUCK = Labor Under Correct Knowledge.

I still am doubtful if i have the correct knowledge. Because i doubt the basis of my actions, success always eludes me.
Henry Ford once said, whether you believe you can or you cant, you're right. If you doubt yourself, it indicates that you don't have confidence in what you are doing and that would be worst way to begin any project. Develop sound confidence and belief in your abilities. Here's what you can start doing right away: Go back to your life from being a kid until now and make a list of all those things, little or big where you felt you accomplished something and you felt good about it after you made it happen. It's what I call a catalog of past successes. Pick the top three or pick them all if you wish and go back to the chronology of events. Replay those movies hundreds of times again and again and watch how you feel. That success pattern is always there in all of us and we can learn to superimpose it onto anything in life and become a super success. Make it a habit to 'flick back and flick up' past successes and superimpose them onto what you want for your future(I learnt it from Lou Tice's seminar - Pacific Institute in Seattle).



Maybe, one year down the line, i will be looking back at this post and smile at recollecting my own journey in this business.
This will happen without a doubt, but why wait for a year to feel that way? Why not start picturing, imagining, musing, pretending, observing, visualizing(in other words flow your energy)about that outcome NOW? Make it a habit, when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed, to start doing it now. Now here's another thing to remember. Never visualize with an attitude of getting from point A to point B because when your focus shifts to point A, which is NOW, then you will muck up your energy. You must want your focusing to be PURE, that means no contradiction in thinking, only to focus on how you feel when you become what you want to be, get what you want or go where you want to go. Always visualize for the sake of seeking pleasure from the experience. Haven't you had a dream where you were enjoying it so much only to wake up and feel that you want to go back to that dream and dream some more of the same?

But right now i need all the help i can get from you. I can learn from my own mistakes or learn from the experience of other who had made the same mistakes. I am sure you have successfully overcome this phase and when you read my post, you can identify areas i need to work on. Will do my best here but ultimately it all boils down to what you do. And, I can see there're so many people here who want you to succeed.

Thanks once again for opening a whole new dimension for me.

Hello Linkon,
I'm finally back to my pc; it's been one hectic weekend with one thing after another..... I will respond to your message from late last week and then we can get to summarizing everything we have shared so far...

My responses are in blue :

Sorry this took so long......will try to keep it short and simple...

Regards
Shreenath

Shreenath,
Outstanding reply by you to one of Linkon's post. That reply deserves more then a click on thanks button..
Truly appreciate the effort that u have taken in righting the content.
"Real Diamond" post that is difficult to come across frequently.

Let them flow whenever u can manage time to respond. I am getting addicted to reading your posts..

Happy Trading.