lobwedgephil said:
BaylorSpineGuy said:
I'll go ahead and share this here.
I'm not sure what it is, but I have only taken like 5-6 trades in the last 6 weeks and several of those were scalps.
I never felt confidence behind the last rally from Oct 13th and some of the people I listen to vs what I thought for myself didn't line up, so I even didn't time a short position well. I have been fairly busy most days which has limited how much I can trade and on the days I wasn't busy, the action was fairly choppy so I never got a clean direction.
I guess I'm trying to say I've almost been paralyzed. I lost $1100 on two trades (a small amt of my trading account im trying to learn with) on Sept 30th, and those two misses have almost handcuffed me from being able to trade at all. And I know what I did wrong on those trades. Twice earlier in the year I really set myself back by not cutting a couple losers and so have been extra cautious so I don't go backwards again.
It's almost for me like a case of the yips with trading. Im by no means an expert but over the last 2 yrs I do have a good sense of market direction and how to make a little scratch.
Im gonna have to get over this, but this market has been so tough to trade and I don't wanna give away my money, even at risk of making a little scratch.
Anyone else dealt with something like this and if so, how did u overcome?
Size down, don't try to make that money back in one trade. Focus only on your next trade, it works or doesn't, but cut loser quick, take gains on winner. You have to build confidence slowly. You have to be okay with losing, losing doesn't mean you're going backwards. Not cutting a loser correctly does.
Thanks to all for the advice! I think this is what I needed to hear. Losing doesn't mean going backwards is what I haven't been able to convince myself of.
I should be clear that of those 5-6 trades, I've probably hit on 4 of them, and I'm probably equal money since early October. Time on my schedule has been a factor but I've also had anxiety.
I'm ready to get back into it. I've got a few days in 2 weeks and want to spend some time trading…
Thanks!!!