Problem is I make lots of impulsive trades destroying the bottom line. It seems they possibly can be cured by going away from the screen for 15min and then seeing things clear again and not making up reasons for entering trades. Anyone else experienced something similar and found a cure for it?
Instead of thinking "this looks good", focus on "something ain't right here". Big difference, both are impulsive but the latter sets of bells and whistles.
Ya being more "cynical" towards setups seems to be one solution. Focusing on really letting every setup prove itself, as in poker letting every hand prove itself to not be folded. Strangely this doesnt work for me because after staring at the chart for 20min I lose every perspective and forget that I lose perspective. So only solution I have come to think of is to set alarms for me to go away from PC. Very weird. Its like this losing of perspective after a while at the chart is some personal flaw I have that I need to deal with or work around.
I have a hard and fast rule that I never take a trade within 10 minutes of turning on the software, no matter how good it looks. That keeps me out of a lot of my impulsive trades. When you start getting the itch, think to yourself, "is satisfying this momentary urge worth throwing away my dream?" Other than that you've just got to stop doing it. You've either got the willpower or you don't. Are you serious about this or aren't you? There's no magic here. But here's a suggestion. For the next few days report back here how many impulsive trades you take. If you screw up, we will heckle you (and mercilessly take your money). If you succeed, then you have a chance. Be sure to worsen your odds by spending a lot of time in front of the screen. Good luck.
It's really not about that. First you need a method that has positive expectancy. You have to know that, net/net over time your approach makes you money. Then, you only take trades that meet method criteria. Dont look at the chart more than you need to, don't try and "feel" what the mkt is doing, just stick to your game plan and forget anything else is happening. Over time, of course look to improve your approach, but in the meantime you need to train your brain to react to only the situations that you've deemed tradeable, according to your plan.
Think like a baseball player-- 5 hits per hundred at bats is the difference between a .250 hitter and a .300 hitter. Only swing at the pitches you have a high percentage of hitting, be the Ted Williams of Trading. http://www.tedwilliams.com/index.php?page=phtips&level=1#
Yep...let someone watch you trade in person and you'll quickly notice that those "impulse" trades doesn't occur while someone is watching you. Yet, you did say walking away helps with your trading or helps with getting things under control again. Therefore, show an image of what your trading software, charts et cetera looks like on your monitors while trading because something is causing you to get fixated (lost in the forest) to the point where you think taking impulsive trades will satisfy that addiction you have to be on a rollercoaster. Mark
I agree with R. Raskolnikov and the cure is called "paper trading". Do not switch to real trading until you have found a way to consistently make money, and then switch back to paper trading if you find out that you aren't able to consistently make money anymore. There will be no damage done, and a lot to gain in case you find a way. In order to learn how to juggle would you use three knives? If, instead, you aren't willing to paper trade (I had the same problem), it might mean that you are not actually trading to make money (or even not at all), but to get a thrill. That also explains why many people trade with real money despite not having a profitable tested and proven method. They don't care that much about losing money (this, too, applies to my own experience).
I had a similar situation but it was in the form of being a Pig... 'ya know, Bulls make money, Bears make money but Pigs get slaughtered.. so I had this incredible strategy that had to be executed perfectly, it traded counter trend, with the trend, it just was after every nickel the market could throw my way... and it was complicated... I could not execute it to save my life.. I simplified it, broke things out into two charts, one for one situation and the other for another, finally I incorporated the ideas that "The trend is your friend" and "Pigs get slaughtered", I mean that kind of stuff was left behind in my Piggish quest for profits... it all got a lot easier at that point. Now it's not so hard to wait for a REAL setup, BORING AS THE DAY IS LONG but at least it's not intellectually difficult and at the end of the day it's rewarding... listen to some of the really successful screen traders talk sometime, they don't seem to be the "coffee generation", many of them are very sleep inducing speakers actually... I listened to one guy, I could understand that for him, waiting for an infrequent but very powerful setup really was his idea of a good time.... Pigs get slaughtered, don't be a Pig...