Consistently Losing

[Consistently Losing]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm having problem with my trading and I want some help . I consider myself a swing trader and my method is following the trend and watching price action as confirmation for entry. My problem is I'm always losing . There are times when ny positions are in profit but I'm just not so sure when to move ny stops and then I get stopped out even when the trade was right. I try to cut losses by closing out positions that are not working the next day and Minot even sure if this is what people say cutting your losses short means. I need help people . Thanks .

 

 

And why is it that you think you should win at this game? What's your trading edge? None, as far as you have described. So you are losing on average on commissions & slippage, plus likely psychological errors.

 

If you want to win (on average, in the long run) in a trading endeavor, you have to identify a trading methodology with enough of an edge to overcome commissions, slippage, execution errors, and then some.

 

It is a long road to become profitable ... paved with hard work, and that hard work is (should be) statistical analysis & backtesting.

 

Can you glean from forums some good ideas? Yes, but you'll have to backtest each one of these ideas to find out which really work, and which don't.

 

If you don't want to do the hard work, but have risk capital for trading, then your best bet is to find a CTA, or hedge fund, to trade your risk capital.

 

I wish you the best.

[Problem with the 4 Cardinal Rules of Trading?]

Hello,

 

We are taught that there are 4 cardinal rules that should be observed at all times, if one wants to succeed at trading. None of the rules is certainly easy to follow, but actually, there is one that I so far failed to abide by, despite all efforts.

 

From my own knowledge, here are the 4 rules:

 

1 - Follow the trend

2 - Cut your losses short

3 - Let your profits run

4 - Manage your risk

 

I am sure every body has his most difficult one. Please share your experience.

Best wishes and a profitable 2013 to all TL'ers !

 

Here are my own rules:

 

1. Trade with an edge

2. Don't rely on anyone to find my edge(s) - and in particular, always verify myself through backtesting that a supposed edge is indeed an edge

3. Use a minimum of 1000 setups to validate an edge, over a minimum of 5 years

4. Accept that any single trade, taken in isolation, is useless & meaningless - for an edge to translate into profits, hundreds of trades are necessary

5. For any strategy/system, know in advance what is a "normal" drawdown, and at what point a drawdown would signal that the edge no longer is.

6. Execute flawlessly - I have personally found that automated execution is what works best for me.

 

Cheers

[What Really Works for Technical Traders]

Phantom:

 

Just discovered TL & this thread, thanks a bunch for your sharing!

 

All the best