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Zen & the Art of The Small Account


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Zen & the Art of The Small Account

  #971 (permalink)
 
gtichauer's Avatar
 gtichauer 
Argentina
 
Experience: Intermediate
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Broker: Zen Fire / IB
Trading: ES, TF, 6E, CL
Posts: 379 since Jul 2009
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aztrader9 View Post
By the end of this week, my goal is to accomplish a goal of 2 hours of trading per day or 50 ticks, whichever comes first.

Be strict to this rule....


aztrader9 View Post
After that, gotta find something to do but with a kid in the house, that shouldn't be a problem!

...and more flexible to this one.....if u have your kids at home u can be with them...if u have free time you may sim trade to enhance skills or test a new setups, or study other mtks or whatever.....important thing is to do what will make u feel good and not stressed at that point.

You know I LOVE the idea of making some $$ on the first 1 / 2 hours and DONE !!!!

GT
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  #972 (permalink)
 
rtrade's Avatar
 rtrade 
Paradise, USA
 
Experience: Beginner
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Trading: E-mini, Forex, Futures, Equities, Options
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gtichauer View Post
.....important thing is to do what will make u feel good and not stressed at that point.

I couldn't agree with you more!

Yes AZ, you can trade and you are good at it....relax and let that trader in you loose.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." --- "Therefore, I Believe it and I will see it. And every day and in every way, I am healthier, wealthier, and wiser."
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  #973 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
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Well, its been a week I think since my last post. I've been focusing on trading and then relaxing. Today is the first day in a week that I have spent time post trading to look at charts. I've decided a week in review plus a weekly forecast for the coming week might be in order to just kinda set my week up based on some what if's.

I'll look at hourly and daily charts to obtain bigger picture support and resistance then transfer those over to my two primary trading charts. Well maybe just to my five minute chart. My range chart doesn't really need them.

To recap the week, I had a break even trading week. I broke even two days in a row, lost money the third day, made it back the next and took no trades today....a break even week. The first three days I felt like I was in a fog. The third day, I felt totally in the zone and today I was bored to tears.

On the health front, I've lost about 5 pounds basically by not eating after 6PM and passing on the soda's. The next step is the reduction of my overall caloric intake. I plan on doing this by gradually reducing the size of my meals and supplementing my meals with periodic snacks. Lastly, I need to begin a moderate program of exercise. This will probably be last as its HOT outside now....and I am susceptible to heat stoke, having suffered one about 20 years ago. I have to watch myself in the heat. Instead, I do the flight of stairs a few extra times a day now....not perfect but at least its a start.

I had a few minor episodes of the event that sent me to the ER a couple weeks ago. I think it is vertigo. The ER doc suggested it as a possible explanation of my symptoms but didn't really seem to put much weight on it. This week, I turned my head sharply at one point and instantly had the symptoms again. Could be cause and effect. Not sure at this point. Taking it easy on things that might trigger that though....no sudden movements until I know more.

I've read more this last two weeks than I have in the previous six months. Four full novels, two historical narratives of the War for Independence and a couple of legal thrillers.

This week has also seen several days spent doing things with my daughter. For some reason, she thinks I am perfect.....she's eight.....she'll get over it....but we've spent a lot of time together doing various things she's interested in. This time is priceless.

I am looking for a book written probably 20-25 years ago about a trader that uses what at the time was high technology to try to corner the German Mark. I read it when I was just a teenager and loved it. I cannot remember the title or the author. If someone reading this may have heard of it and can remember the author or title, I would love it if you could let me know.

Thats all folks....

Cheers

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
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  #974 (permalink)
 blocp 
england
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: multicharts
Broker: Velocity
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hi az

I have started reading this thread today and I am up to page 10, I just want to say how much it is helping me see what I am missing in my own trading and where I can start to improve.
Looking forward to my continued reading.

Thanks

sam

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  #975 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
Experience: None
Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
Thanks Received: 13,404


blocp View Post
hi az

I have started reading this thread today and I am up to page 10, I just want to say how much it is helping me see what I am missing in my own trading and where I can start to improve.
Looking forward to my continued reading.

Thanks

sam

I've been thinking about what you said here....that this thread is helping you see what you've been missing. I think I am somewhat disturbed by this. Not because you're not missing something but because of what you think you might be missing.

Here is a word of caution. DO NOT use any of the indicators I mention throughout this thread. I changed them often. Far more than I care to admit. In the end, you need something super simple....the KISS formula....Keep It Simple and Sustainable. That means whatever you use, must be able to stand the test of time and in all market cycles.

After that, good trading comes down to this: Find a pattern, Know your pattern, never trade anything other than your pattern. Strive to eliminate mistakes. Mistakes are caused by not forcing yourself to only trade your pattern. Everything else is a mistake caused by greed....but most likely fear. Fear of losing out, fear of large stops, fear of loss...you name it and there is a fear attached to it.

I started this thread with the idea that a decent trader could take a small account and turn it into a large account....the key here is "Decent Trader". I thought I was a decent trader when I started this thread. I realize now that was a load of crap. And the idea that a beginner trader can take a small account and turn it into a large account is almost zero. I say almost because I do know of one trader that turned $500 into many many times that in about a year trading first micro lots on forex and then the larger lots as the account grew....and he was brand new to trading....but he studied technical analysis intensely before he ever started. Once the account got going, he had some of the same issues we all face but was able to overcome them a lot faster than most. Other than this one guy, I know of no beginner trader that has taken a small account and grew it into a large one without blowing several out first. Me included.

In the end, the only real edge you have is your mental discipline and how you handle your emotions, both good and bad. You cannot eliminate emotions. You can't really even manage them, you must instead learn how to work with the emotions you have by focusing on the mental discipline side of things. For instance, you are in a trade, its going against you and your emotions are screaming at you to exit the trade at all costs. However, your mental discipline says the trade premise is still intact, there has been no exit signal so the trade is still valid........now what. Which one do you listen to? Most listen to the screaming in your head to bail.....the ones that make money, listen to the screaming and decide to do the rational thing anyway, despite the overwhelming desire to exit.....they stay with the trade......sometimes they will lose because of this, but in the end, they know they will win over time if they just continue to exercise strong mental discipline in the heat of battle.....

Good luck....and by the way, most of this post was directed at myself as it applies at all times to me as well.

Cheers

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
  #976 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011

Just curious, what is the net result to date in your trading account?

  #977 (permalink)
 
PandaWarrior's Avatar
 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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Posts: 3,165 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 6,329
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GaryD View Post
Just curious, what is the net result to date in your trading account?


Well, not that its anyone else's business, but its enough to trade two lots in CL if I want and sustain a reasonable draw down based on appropriate risk management.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
Started this thread
  #978 (permalink)
 
redratsal's Avatar
 redratsal 
Milan (I)
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Ninjatrader
Broker: Kinetick
Trading: FDAX,6E,CL,YM,NQ,ES
Posts: 1,648 since Oct 2010
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aztrader9 View Post
I've been thinking about what you said here....that this thread is helping you see what you've been missing. I think I am somewhat disturbed by this. Not because you're not missing something but because of what you think you might be missing.

Here is a word of caution. DO NOT use any of the indicators I mention throughout this thread. I changed them often. Far more than I care to admit. In the end, you need something super simple....the KISS formula....Keep It Simple and Sustainable. That means whatever you use, must be able to stand the test of time and in all market cycles.

After that, good trading comes down to this: Find a pattern, Know your pattern, never trade anything other than your pattern. Strive to eliminate mistakes. Mistakes are caused by not forcing yourself to only trade your pattern. Everything else is a mistake caused by greed....but most likely fear. Fear of losing out, fear of large stops, fear of loss...you name it and there is a fear attached to it.

I started this thread with the idea that a decent trader could take a small account and turn it into a large account....the key here is "Decent Trader". I thought I was a decent trader when I started this thread. I realize now that was a load of crap. And the idea that a beginner trader can take a small account and turn it into a large account is almost zero. I say almost because I do know of one trader that turned $500 into many many times that in about a year trading first micro lots on forex and then the larger lots as the account grew....and he was brand new to trading....but he studied technical analysis intensely before he ever started. Once the account got going, he had some of the same issues we all face but was able to overcome them a lot faster than most. Other than this one guy, I know of no beginner trader that has taken a small account and grew it into a large one without blowing several out first. Me included.

In the end, the only real edge you have is your mental discipline and how you handle your emotions, both good and bad. You cannot eliminate emotions. You can't really even manage them, you must instead learn how to work with the emotions you have by focusing on the mental discipline side of things. For instance, you are in a trade, its going against you and your emotions are screaming at you to exit the trade at all costs. However, your mental discipline says the trade premise is still intact, there has been no exit signal so the trade is still valid........now what. Which one do you listen to? Most listen to the screaming in your head to bail.....the ones that make money, listen to the screaming and decide to do the rational thing anyway, despite the overwhelming desire to exit.....they stay with the trade......sometimes they will lose because of this, but in the end, they know they will win over time if they just continue to exercise strong mental discipline in the heat of battle.....

Good luck....and by the way, most of this post was directed at myself as it applies at all times to me as well.

Cheers

I am always astonished about your intellectual honesty and fairness, besides the contents of your threads which are always interesting, you are always honest with yourself and that is a great lesson.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal
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  #979 (permalink)
 
GaryD's Avatar
 GaryD 
Orlando, Florida
 
Experience: None
Platform: shoes
Trading: happy
Posts: 6,462 since May 2011


aztrader9 View Post
Well, not that its anyone else's business, but its enough to trade two lots in CL if I want and sustain a reasonable draw down based on appropriate risk management.


Sorry AZ. I was not referring to account balance. Just net result as in on track with your goal, up or down and since when. And really, the next question in my head, and the more important one to me, was going to be "why?". And the answer I was expecting had nothing to do with dollars or indicators, but more of self-examination.

We all trade first and foremost to make money. We all lose money in that pursuit, that is guaranteed. If we ever make the shift from unprofitable to profitable, my experience is that it does not come from indicators or daily goals. It comes from something inside. A shift in how we look at what trading is and is not.

I guess in hindsight had I taken time to craft a longer and better question it may have proved more productive and less rude. Or maybe there is no way to ask that question correclty. Again, my apologies.

  #980 (permalink)
 
papa15's Avatar
 papa15 
Wake Forest, NC
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Sierra Charts, Investor RT, Ninja Trader
Broker: VanKar
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aztrader9 View Post
I've been thinking about what you said here....that this thread is helping you see what you've been missing. I think I am somewhat disturbed by this. Not because you're not missing something but because of what you think you might be missing.

Here is a word of caution. DO NOT use any of the indicators I mention throughout this thread. I changed them often. Far more than I care to admit. In the end, you need something super simple....the KISS formula....Keep It Simple and Sustainable. That means whatever you use, must be able to stand the test of time and in all market cycles.

After that, good trading comes down to this: Find a pattern, Know your pattern, never trade anything other than your pattern. Strive to eliminate mistakes. Mistakes are caused by not forcing yourself to only trade your pattern. Everything else is a mistake caused by greed....but most likely fear. Fear of losing out, fear of large stops, fear of loss...you name it and there is a fear attached to it.

I started this thread with the idea that a decent trader could take a small account and turn it into a large account....the key here is "Decent Trader". I thought I was a decent trader when I started this thread. I realize now that was a load of crap. And the idea that a beginner trader can take a small account and turn it into a large account is almost zero. I say almost because I do know of one trader that turned $500 into many many times that in about a year trading first micro lots on forex and then the larger lots as the account grew....and he was brand new to trading....but he studied technical analysis intensely before he ever started. Once the account got going, he had some of the same issues we all face but was able to overcome them a lot faster than most. Other than this one guy, I know of no beginner trader that has taken a small account and grew it into a large one without blowing several out first. Me included.

In the end, the only real edge you have is your mental discipline and how you handle your emotions, both good and bad. You cannot eliminate emotions. You can't really even manage them, you must instead learn how to work with the emotions you have by focusing on the mental discipline side of things. For instance, you are in a trade, its going against you and your emotions are screaming at you to exit the trade at all costs. However, your mental discipline says the trade premise is still intact, there has been no exit signal so the trade is still valid........now what. Which one do you listen to? Most listen to the screaming in your head to bail.....the ones that make money, listen to the screaming and decide to do the rational thing anyway, despite the overwhelming desire to exit.....they stay with the trade......sometimes they will lose because of this, but in the end, they know they will win over time if they just continue to exercise strong mental discipline in the heat of battle.....

Good luck....and by the way, most of this post was directed at myself as it applies at all times to me as well.

Cheers

One of the better answers/posts I have read....

My focus is on:
1. Avoid the opening chop.
2. Honor stops
3. Ensure reward > risk on all trades
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Last Updated on July 25, 2011


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