Anybody else with 25+ years of experience still trade like a total dumb ass once in awhile? I can imagine a scene in a movie called Top Trader when Goose says to Maverick, "The stock exchange regrets to inform you your son is broke because he was stupid." I'm only down a couple hundred bucks this week, but Jesus. What a waste of 3 days chasing stocks I wouldn't even touch while missing some nice moves in others. Maybe holding myself publicly accountable will wake my ass up.
if it makes you feel any better, i've been sticking to the plan closely since the end of 2021, and then all of sudden, last week i bought calls and shares of rklb and calls on tsla... makes me think the market could be close to a top.
Yesterday I started buying calls on a stock that was starting to move. Stock jumps $6 points and when I head to ring the register there’s a gapping loss! I bought the puts, that’s bad! Getting new glasses today and triple verification.
Everyone stuffs up in a while, but three days in a row is not OK. Take a break until Monday or until you sort out your stressors. Start hating the consequences of FOMO as it drains your account and makes you unhappy and few absolute returns are not the sustainable and it stops you from consistency and confidence. Start to connect emotionally with the consequences. Start interjecting some logic. It's impossible to not miss some opportunities. The market will always be there. If you’re intraday trading, make sure you have no impulsive tendencies. Cut your size , and trade higher TFs until you’re back in your head space. Get up and go for a walk for between trades. You need to clear your head, take a break.
Working out also helps me, but I've been doing it after the close lately. I've never (well, rarely) been stupid after a high intensity work out before the open. It really clears the head and gives me a natural energy boost, rather than slamming coffee all morning. I'll also start breaking up the trading day by walking the hills in the pasture and saying hi to the cows around lunch time. Good insights. Much appreciated.
i lost 65k over 3 minutes earlier this week because i tried to do a stock conversion while boarding an airplane the other day and i got confused with the debits and credits. i haven't been trading for 25 years - i've been trading around 23.
Ouch. 23 is still a ton of experience. -Side question... Were you like me when I wasn't profitable for years, but crazy enough to stick with it because I knew I'd eventually get it? I'm thinking complacency is a big part of it, at least for me. I follow a fighter pilot on youtube, and he and his fighter pilot friends talk about how complacency kills. But so does being overly cautious. In flying fighters, the reason these two things kill is obvious. In trading, being complacent leads to trading too much and trading substandard stocks and methods. Being overly cautious leads to opportunity cost, ie. not taking good trades and not letting profits run. I'm putting together a solid day today, but I've still missed a lot of moves. I'm still kicking myself for not buying TSLA 275 puts at the open. The 270s would have been better, but the 275s are what I was considering. But I didn't do it. Oops. Oh well, at least I'm back in the water and letting the current carry me rather than trying to swim against it. Time for a walk and to say hi to the bovines.
I’ve been trading about the same time, started in 2005/2006. I was also crazy in believing that one day I’ll get it. Only when I began to be really honest with myself and began to focus on what others call “psychobabble”, I began to get it and make money. You really cannot leave any stone unturned if you want to reach your full potential. Ignore those who poopoo psychobabble, they’re usually immature, attention seeking posers. You don’t need to post answers on public forum to the questions below, but just answer them to yourself: Are you planning your trades properly? Seems to me that you could benefit from being more organized and focused. (Used to be my weakness. If trading intraday, you need to make fast and effective decisions without being impulsive). Do you have a framework for your analysis? Do you have a discipline problem? Are you too distracted, or overtrading and taking crappy trades or did you have proper setups and donn’t pull the trigger? (I used to overtrade) Imagine that you’re a head trader of a prop firm, and you need to hire a trader, and the traders that applying for the job don’t have any track record. Write down the top qualities you would want to see in those traders if you can’t see their track record? Then grade/score yourself (from 0-10) on those qualities you’d like to see in those traders working for you. And then ask yourself: “Would you hire yourself?” The above exercise should you some insight (from a different perspective) on what you need to work on.
You actually know your own track record, know how you trade and what your weaknesses are. Now ask the question!!