Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

DeefMan

Best stats for tracking progress?

Recommended Posts

What are some of the better stats to track for day trading futures/e-mini's?

 

Here's some that I've been using:

Daily/weekly profit/loss (after commissions)

win/loss ratio

daily/weekly net tick gain/loss

daily/weekly total trades

max daily winner tick gain.

 

Here's a stat that they use in pristine e-mini chat room:

Sharpe ratio (modified) = daily avg gain/avg loss

They recommended a goal of around 50% win/loss ratio, and around 1.47 sharpe ratio.

 

Recently I've been using a daily goal of 25 to 50 net tick gain per day, 5 to 15 trades per day, 60% win/loss ratio. That has generally worked well with my trading style.

 

However sometimes due to tracking stats, I've gotten focused too much on the keeping good daily stats and possibly missing out on proper execution, and/or a good setup near the end of the day.

 

Any ideas on what other stats to track that might better keep the mental focus on proper execution, and provide the best way to track progress?

 

I've seen some traders' excel spreadsheets where they track each and every single trade, with specific details of the setup/entry/exit/etc. However I haven't refined my trading strategies and setups enough to do that sort of record keeping.

 

Anyone using R's with day-trading futures? I know tracking R is popular with those dummy type opening gap stock day trade setups.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I dont rate by dollars at all.

 

I rate every trade with 3 numbers (1 is a break of my rules, 2 is slightly faulty, 3 is as it should be). The first number is for the entry. The second for the stop. The third for managed exit.

 

So a great trade is 333. A very bad trade has a 1 in it.

 

Anything to do with money takes your focus away from where it should be. Use money measures for weekly reviews etc (IMHO)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

kiwi, that's a very effective way of keeping tracking of your trades! I like very much. I might just use that, simple but great way to rate execution and discinpline.

 

deefman, I usually write my notes of the trade on my chart then after the trades are done, i note elsewhere, that way I do it without taking my eyes off my charts. I usually write my plans/setups before the day started so I'm already prepared with notes. Doing this after a while, the note-taking goes very quickly without missing setups.

 

Since you don't have a particular strategy or setup just yet, might want to number them like kiwi says, each strategy with a numbering system so you can quickly note them without losing too much focus on trading.

 

kiwi is absolutely right about dollar counting, I have removed all P/Ls columns from my platform. Measuring this will affect your performance tremendously, especially when you increase size. I don't even look at it until the end of the day sometimes. Only when I do weekly reviews I open them up. Using points is more effective. I used to use Rs, which is similar to setting targets but realized the market doesn't know where your Rs are. I usually measure my stop loss and target and quickly calcuate the R:R (Reward:Risk) if it's high enough to take the trade. Then it's really up to the market to take me to my target. If you can calcuate R:R before every trade, your stats usually stay constant since you'll eventually know how much you'll use and how much you're expecting to gain, if it goes your way. Doing this percentage will reveal your performance fairly quickly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Kiwi, I love it! The one thing I've been trying to make myself do is concentrate solely on the setups and making those as perfect as they can be, and then believing that the money will come along later. I completely agree with grading the setups and looking at you P/L later on down the road (weekly).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Well Planned Trade

 

It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. This old adage is especially relevant to trading. Many novice traders assume that winning is the only thing that matters, but what they soon find out is that profiting over the long-term requires discipline and trading well developed trading plans. Sure, you can capitalize on chance and make a few winning trades here and there, but you can only win in the long run by developing a trading plan and following it.

 

 

It is important to distinguish justified wins from unjustified wins. A justified win is when a trader makes a very detailed trading plan and follows the plan. A win that results from following a trading plan is justified and reinforces discipline. An unjustified win occurs when a trader doesn't make a plan or drifts from the plan. He or she may be rewarded, but the outcome occurred by chance. The win is unjustified and can reinforce undisciplined trading.

 

For example, suppose you go long on a stock, expecting it to go up $1, but it went down. If you followed your plan, you might close the trade. Suppose out of frustration, though, you hold out and hope against hope that the trade will turn around. Now suppose that it does, and you end up profiting. You have ended up with a profit, but you may have reinforced an impulsive trading style.

 

You might think that profits are all that matter. "All is well that ends well," right? Well, maybe not. You may make a big profit, but at what psychological cost? Unexpected wins may provide short-term pleasure, but they can adversely influence discipline in the long term. Rather than developing a well-defined trading plan, following it, and getting rewarded by trading it, a trader puts on a trade haphazardly and is coincidently rewarded. In this case, a lack of discipline is rewarded, and this unjustified reward may increase a trader's tendency to abandon trading plans in the future because he or she has been rewarded for doing so in the past. However, the positive outcomes are usually short-lived, and a lack of discipline ultimately produces trading losses.

 

Cultivating discipline is vital for consistent and profitable trading. One implements proven trading strategies, over and over, so that across a series of trades, the strategies work enough to produce an overall profit. It's like making shot after shot on the basketball court so as to accumulate a winning number of points. The more shots you take, the more likely you will amass points. But the winning player is the person who first develops the skill to make the shot consistently, so that at every possible opportunity, the ball is likely to go through the basket. To a great extent, consistency is key. If the player uses one approach one time, and a different approach at another time, performance is haphazard. It's the same for trading. One must trade consistently, following a specific trading plan on each and every single trade. This allows the law of averages to work in your favor, so that across the series of trades, you will make an overall profit. If you follow the plan sometimes and abandon it at other times, you throw off the probabilities. Suppose you used a strategy that had a track record of 80%. Under the best-case scenario, you could only expect to win 80% of the time. But since history doesn't always repeat itself, it's likely that you will win less than 80% of the time. If you don't execute the trading strategy the same way each time, you will decrease your winning odds. And fewer winning trades may mean an overall loss. That's why discipline is so important.

 

With discipline comes profitability. Don't let unjustified wins interfere with your ability to maintain discipline. Follow your trading plan, and reinforce the idea that if you follow your plan, you will end up with profits in the long run. If you abandon your trading plan, and get an unjustified win, you may feel good in the short term, but you'll pay a long term price when it comes to your ability to maintain discipline. So clearly define your trades, and stick with your trading plan. The justified wins you receive from following your plan with help you develop an unwavering pattern of disciplined trading.

from Innerworth.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent post Kiwi, covering perhaps one of the most important aspects in trading!

 

The gratification I receive on a planned out trade far exceeds a winning impulsive trade. Designing a trading plan and following is a must. A trader with a trading plan can get into the sniper mode of waiting for that killer trade. A trader without a plan will end up overtrading following absolutely no setups. A plan keeps emotions in check. It is a clear roadmap and I could never trade without one. The times I lose are times when I didnt spend enough times designing my trading plan.

 

I am fortunate enough to have learned strict discpline through my long years as a poker player. Similar to trading, there are so many possibilities in poker. You need to be prepared for all the possibilities and play your hands accordingly. Play tight but aggressive. Sometimes you have to lay down or fold a good looking hand. Even the best looking setups might have to pass in trading if internals are acting weak. Intuition in trading allows one to filter out the good setups from the bad. This creates further discipline in my opinion.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent post, kiwi! It cannot be any clearer than that.

 

I think positive and negative reinforcement is a MAJOR factor in shaping trading behavior and many traders are not aware of it. Mixed signals with mixed rewards can produce a child with confused and insecure upbringing, he'll wander aimlessly not knowing what is the correct behavior to merge in with society. But a child with discipline has a clearly defined role and duties that secure his actions to do the right thing and possibly successful things in the long run.

 

In the end, with mixed rewards the trader doesn't know if it's him or it's his trading system that's the problem. Creating a trading plan and rating it help identify and root out the cause of the problem. It's the only way to move forward.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The Well Planned Trade

 

It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. This old adage is especially relevant to trading. Many novice traders assume that winning is the only thing that matters, but what they soon find out is that profiting over the long-term requires discipline and trading well developed trading plans. Sure, you can capitalize on chance and make a few winning trades here and there, but you can only win in the long run by developing a trading plan and following it.

 

Ditto. Some very good points, well presented. Especially those highlighting the psychological & discipline measures!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Be careful who you blame.   I can tell you one thing for sure.   Effective traders don’t blame others when things start to go wrong.   You can hang onto your tendency to play the victim, or the martyr… but if you want to achieve in trading, you have to be prepared to take responsibility.   People assign reasons to outcomes, whether based on internal or external factors.   When traders face losses, it's common for them to blame bad luck, poor advice, or other external factors, rather than reflecting on their own personal attributes like arrogance, fear, or greed.   This is a challenging lesson to grasp in your trading journey, but one that holds immense value.   This is called attribution theory. Taking responsibility for your actions is the key to improving your trading skills. Pause and ask yourself - What role did I play in my financial decisions?   After all, you were the one who listened to that source, and decided to act on that trade based on the rumour. Attributing results solely to external circumstances is what is known as having an ‘external locus of control’.   It's a concept coined by psychologist Julian Rotter in 1954. A trader with an external locus of control might say, "I made a profit because the markets are currently favourable."   Instead, strive to develop an "internal locus of control" and take ownership of your actions.   Assume that all trading results are within your realm of responsibility and actively seek ways to improve your own behaviour.   This is the fastest route to enhancing your trading abilities. A trader with an internal locus of control might proudly state, "My equity curve is rising because I am a disciplined trader who faithfully follows my trading plan." Author: Louise Bedford Source: https://www.tradinggame.com.au/
    • SELF IMPROVEMENT.   The whole self-help industry began when Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936. Then came other classics like Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins toward the end of the century.   Today, teaching people how to improve themselves is a business. A pure ruthless business where some people sell utter bullshit.   There are broke Instagrammers and YouTubers with literally no solid background teaching men how to be attractive to women, how to begin a start-up, how to become successful — most of these guys speaking nothing more than hollow motivational words and cliche stuff. They waste your time. Some of these people who present themselves as hugely successful also give talks and write books.   There are so many books on financial advice, self-improvement, love, etc and some people actually try to read them. They are a waste of time, mostly.   When you start reading a dozen books on finance you realize that they all say the same stuff.   You are not going to live forever in the learning phase. Don't procrastinate by reading bull-shit or the same good knowledge in 10 books. What we ought to do is choose wisely.   Yes. A good book can change your life, given you do what it asks you to do.   All the books I have named up to now are worthy of reading. Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, Robert Greene — these guys are worthy of reading. These guys teach what others don't. Their books are unique and actually, come from relevant and successful people.   When Richard Branson writes a book about entrepreneurship, go read it. Every line in that book is said by one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.   When a Chinese millionaire( he claims to be) Youtuber who releases a video titled “Why reading books keeps you broke” and a year later another one “My recommendation of books for grand success” you should be wise to tell him to jump from Victoria Falls.   These self-improvement gurus sell you delusions.   They say they have those little tricks that only they know that if you use, everything in your life will be perfect. Those little tricks. We are just “making of a to-do-list before sleeping” away from becoming the next Bill Gates.   There are no little tricks.   There is no success-mantra.   Self-improvement is a trap for 99% of the people. You can't do that unless you are very, very strong.   If you are looking for easy ways, you will only keep wasting your time forgetting that your time on this planet is limited, as alive humans that is.   Also, I feel that people who claim to read like a book a day or promote it are idiots. You retain nothing. When you do read a good book, you read slow, sometimes a whole paragraph, again and again, dwelling on it, trying to internalize its knowledge. You try to understand. You think. It takes time.   It's better to read a good book 10 times than 1000 stupid ones.   So be choosy. Read from the guys who actually know something, not some wannabe ‘influencers’.   Edit: Think And Grow Rich was written as a result of a project assigned to Napoleon Hill by Andrew Carnegie(the 2nd richest man in recent history). He was asked to study the most successful people on the planet and document which characteristics made them great. He did extensive work in studying hundreds of the most successful people of that time. The result was that little book.   Nowadays some people just study Instagram algorithms and think of themselves as a Dale Carnegie or Anthony Robbins. By Nupur Nishant, Quora Profits from free accurate cryptos signals: https://www.predictmag.com/    
    • there is no avoiding loses to be honest, its just how the market is. you win some and hopefully more, but u do lose some. 
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
    • $CSCO Cisco Systems stock, nice top of range breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?CSCOSEPN Septerna stock watch for a bottom breakout, good upside price gap
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.