Ditto Ian’s thoughts, I sit down every night and watch your report to see how you played the day.
This week I’ve been paper trading the system by putting in the setups for the WPT, and then day trading the 9 minute chart, every day has been net profitable, and I can compare what I did during the day to what you did to see how I can refine. My confidence is rising again, and I hope to start back with real money again J.
Todd
Kerry
I was just listening to the Market & WPT video reports and thought how important they are to me (and I'm sure to many others).
Both the market internals and individual stock discussions are extremely useful.
In particular I like the individual trade discussions as it gives us all an insight in to what we should be looking for from our trades.
Although the WPT system may not be what everybody trades their is enough 'meat on the bones' for us all to learn something. It may be just a small comment that lasts a few seconds, but that small comment can ignite a spark and give us that 'aha' moment that eventually (hopefully) leads to a refinement in our trading.
Many thanks
Ian F
Many outstanding intelligent people are horrible traders. Average intelligence is enough. Beyond that, emotional makeup is more important. This is not rocket science. However, it’s much easier to learn what you should do in trading than to do it.
By: William Eckarddt
Kerry,
I have been reviewing your new videos (particularly on market view). These are really very succinct and much easier to follow. The short format of the videos is excellent, because attention spans can be relatively short for some people. I am now getting a far better understanding of what daily bearish divergences mean in a market with strong upward momentum (on weekly) and I take particular notice of the McClellan Summation, McClellan Oscillator and NH-NL. Previously, I was looking to sell everything on the first sign of negative divergences, but it is now clearer what the daily bearish divergences mean (caution, and sign of potential correction, which is healthy), but definitely much more significant if they appear on weekly data. The McClellan Oscillator is at a very low level right now, so it will be interesting to see indices action over the next day or so.
I am also seeing the benefit of your patience waiting for the right setup and focus now on a small number of trades with better setups. This has made a significant improvement to my trading, and is a particularly important discipline as I progressively take larger positions relative to what I was doing 12 months ago. You may recall that we discussed gold on our last conference and I have been accumulating Ozzie gold stocks on weakness over the last 8 weeks and today was significant payback day for them (or the first of a few more?). I have become much more selective about what I trade and when I enter/exit and don’t mind waiting for a bigger pop, particularly if my risk margin is small. Although we don’t talk every week, you will be pleased to hear that the benefit of your experience is rubbing off on me, although I haven’t bought a sports car yet!
It has been a real challenge to learn to trade in a variety of different markets and I get the impression that a lot of American traders just stick with their own market, or use ETF’s that hold foreign content if they feel adventurous. I see real benefits in trading the US and ASX markets because of the benefit of knowledge that you get from one market which can be applied to the other in trading strategies. The Australian market, while not exactly an emerging market, is much less mature than the US markets and fires particularly well when the greenback weakens and commodities rise. Not sure if you are still interested in trading the ASX or using CFD’s, but if so, I can show you a lot more when we meet. CFD’s are a magic tool provided you apply the same risk management rules for normal equity and I will use them more and more as my trading develops.
Keep up the great work.
Regards
Graham
Everyone has a Top Ten….. Here is top ten ways to lose money trading. Add some additional ways if you like.
1. No Specific Trade Plan or System, trading impulsively.
2. Trading a New System/Strategy without knowing its expectancy. Do not back test or forward test, trading on blind faith.
3. Un-realistic expectations, looking for get rich quick systems and searching for the Holy Grail. Looking to trade for the wrong reasons.
4. Trading too large a size for the account. (#3 feeds #4)
5. Making too many trades for the account size. Trading is boring many times and most people want to be entertained.
6. Trading on hope rather than accepting the markets actions. The market will do whatever it is going to do, regardless of your thoughts, hopes, and dreams.
7. Un-willingness to accept a small loss. All large losses begin as a small loss.
8. Letting winners turn into losers. Only believers in Buy and Hold strategy should never sell. A profit cannot be taken unless you are willing to potentially leave some money on the table.
9. Un-willing to scratch a trade when the trade is not working as planned, the trader switches to #6.
10. Not reviewing past performance and learn from mistakes. Do not expect different results if you keep doing the same mistakes over and over. Keep doing what you are doing and you will most likely keep getting what you are getting.
The difference between most losing traders and a super successful trader is NOT in the system they are using. It’s in the position sizing and their psychology.
As has been noted by many notable experienced traders over the years, successful investing means doing some things that may make you uncomfortable. You need the courage to do the things that others find difficult or impossible to do.
Kerry,
I’d worked with financial advisors to manage my money over the last 15 years, and realized after 15 years of paying management fees on an annual basis, that I was about break even… When the market corrected for me over 40% on a $1M + portfolio, I knew it was time for me to learn to trade my own money. My financial advisor ignored 6 months of downward movement before I finally squealed and started to look hard at my statements. His response was ‘the market will recover’. I was 100% invested in Mr. Market. This was my catalyst for realizing that financial independence isn’t financial independence if you are relying on others to handle the money necessary for financial independence. I was still dependent on my financial advisor to perform, and communicate what was happening, how we were doing, if I could spend my money. That said, I paper traded for 3 months after reading Trading for a Living, and did ok, having some wins and losses. When I started trading real money in November of last year, the initial losses and inexperience helped me understand why so few people learn to trade for themselves – the emotional swings were brutal. We began working together in March of this year when I realized I had to develop a system that works for my schedule as a full time consultant, father of two small children, etc.
Here is my equity curve since I began trading with you in March. Having a system to trade doesn’t make me an overnight better trader as much as it exposes my flaws so I can focus on them and become a better trader. Having no system meant I had no areas of resistance or support to based my decisions, I was doing well, and then doing poorly, but I could understand why? In following your simple trend trading system, I’ve realized that when I do something really dumb, I can immediately figure out why it was dumb (poor money management, impulsive trade with no plan, ignoring the basic rules (buying a full position at the 1 ATR instead of the -1, etc.). This means I don’t have to make the same mistake again, and if I do, I get to go back to the same short series of 3 questions?
1) Did you have an entry plan? (price action, position size, technical agreement
2) Did you have an exit plan? (price action, position size, technical agreement)
3) How will you explain this trade to your wife? (my accountability partner). I am trading a $250,000 account, and I write myself a check every Friday for my work week performance. My wife asks me how I did, and telling her I wrote a check is not something I like to explain… I’ve found this for me is the ultimate accountability and keeps me out of risky trades when I realize I may go from receiving a check to writing a check, I net out my account every Friday back to $250,000 through receiving funds, or contributing funds.
Thanks for all your help… I’m pretty sure I’d be in a different position this year without your help and coaching. As of this last week I’m up 17.22% since we started working together in March and I’ve only traded the WPT positions and a few select stocks in the financial services industry where I have some experience. I’ve learned that for me my biggest losses were in order: short trades, trades without a plan (impulsive), and trades where I transitioned from a specific trade plan to hope as my primary strategy…
I have a long way to go, surviving numerous jumps from my ground floor office window after making really bad trade decisions, but overall I’m starting to believe that this is something that can be learned if you are willing to master one system completely before you find another shiny object – the mind wants to move to something else to avoid seeing how hard it is to simply follow your very simple trading rules. That’s the discipline for me, execute this flawlessly – and in doing so exorcise all my personal trading demons.
Regards,
Todd B.
Kerry,
I am having trouble mimicking the results of the WPT system. I am profitable for the year but nowhere near the how the system performed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I realize part of my partial result I was not able to take every trade.
Thanks!
Rarely will anyone duplicate any system results precisely. Remember that the reason for me posting the system and tracking a public portfolio is to help show how to trade a system and follow it in a discipline way. I prefer to teach how to trade not be followed blindly. Regardless of the system duplicating results is nearly impossible. However it is there to show the potential of a system and results could be obtainable within a margin of error. I do not have enough data to suggest what that margin of error is, but I have seen results from others that were within 5% - 10% on both sides.
One client has reported much better results and this was due to the fact he caught trades I missed although his largest drawdown is also larger than the Discretionary Portfolio. This particular client has a much deeper risk appetite than I. I have seen other results that are within a small margin of error. How close one mimics the portfolio is determined how exact one trades the portfolio.
For example if you were to miss the two largest winning trades, the results will have a very different look. This month if one did not take the re-entry on SQM, you make $2,500 less in the portfolio. If you scratch SNDA and do not hold it, one makes $5,500 less. If you attempt to only trade one of the picks, you may pick the one that lost money and not trade those that made the money. My suggestion is take the model portfolio and learn how to build and develop your own system that you are the most comfortable with so you are NOT trying to mimic someone else. I would much rather see you develop yourself into the type of trader you desire to be with a system that works for you. Some traders find that the WPT approach works for them and they produce results very similar. Make sure you are not expecting the same results but trading in a very different approach.
Not long ago I worked with a client that had a very similar question and thought he was following the WPT system. After analyzing his account, he realized he was doing everything but following the system. He made trades that were never made, did not honor the discretionary stops and was not honoring the system stops. This allowed much larger losses than system ever encountered. In the end he found he was only haphazardly trading the list of stocks showing up on the WPT buy list and not trading a system at all. He was also position sizing in the trades incorrectly. He has since corrected many of these issues and since has found better results. He continues to admit he has some discipline issues and allowing losses to be much worse than necessary. I am recapping his story with his permission, he only asked for his name to be withheld.
Trading is NOT a get rich quick scheme. To be a Professional Trader takes time and education like any other profession. I have said many times, that no other profession in the world can we wake up one day and say “I want to be a Professional Trader” and within 10 minutes we can be in business trading.
I would suggest we arrange some phone consultations or an on-site visit may be worthwhile. We can conduct an account analysis and indentify what may be the road block to your success.
Thanks!
Kerry
Kerry,
First I have to say a BIG thank you! Last year I lost over $40,000 dollars gambling in the markets. I say gambling as I had no trade procedure to follow. I realized this after contacting you to help me with my trading losses. Prior to our first few calls I thought I had a trading system. Your work help me indentify I was not following my own rules and allowing the market to spin me in circles. This was in the fall of last year and I closed my brokerage account as you may recall. I simulated trading after we had worked together refining my trading process and began trading live again first of this year. Attached is my equity curve. I struggled early in the year but since have learned to keep all my losses minimal and avoiding the disastrous losses.
I am far from recouping my $40,000 loss, but I feel I have more control over my trading than ever. I started this year with a $50,000 account and risking 1% on my trades and I am up $7,000 for the year. My win ratio is 62% and most importantly my maximum drawdown is $1460. My return this year is equivalent to 24% on an annual basis. This is by far the best I have ever done, plus I feel more relaxed and calm when I have trades on. I set a goal to try an average $1,000 per month this year. If I can accomplish this I will increase my risk by ½%.
I trade fewer stocks that I scan from a custom built list that you help me indentify. There are weeks that I have very little to trade and sometimes nothing at all. This has been difficult to learn and to remain on the side lines during these times. You can see it reflected in my equity curve.
Bottom line is I am hitting my goal and I am positive with a nice return on a small account while I feel 2000% more relaxed.
Thanks again for all the help and I look forward to our working together in the reminder of the year.
Regards,
Robert
Robert,
Thanks for the comments and allowing me to post to the blog. It has been a pleasure working with you and I look forward to your growth and success as a trader. As a Traders coach, one can only suggest possible improvements. The trader implements them and see’s them thru to success. You deserve the credit more than I for achieving your new found success. I wish you the best in achieving your goals and if I can ever assist in any way, please let me know.
All the best,
Kerry
In discussing a situation with a fellow client I thought I would make a post as a Quote Today.
The Un-willingness to accept a Small Loss when a Trade is NOT working
AND
The Fear of Missing a Move is the two main causes of Trader’s Mortality!
Stay discipline to your trading process, if you do not have a process, you are making trades on hope, fear, and greed. Make sure your process indentifies setups you prefer to trade and then indentify that your setup has a winning probability. If you do not have this process indentified, than you trading system is in-complete. Once you have a system in place, it is only your willingness to follow that system that will protect you from the two emotions mentioned above.
Thanks!
Kerry
A: You may be surprised by the answer I give.
The answer is NO one strategy is going to make you a consistent profitable trader. Many traders hate to hear this answer and I hope I do not disappoint you. The only thing that will enable you to consistently pull money out of the markets is YOU. One does need to use a strategy that demonstrates a profitable tendency. If it was all about the strategy, then trading would not be so difficult. We would buy a program to run the strategy and hold our bag open for the money to drop in it. YOU must have discipline, learn to control losses, and YOU must be able to take your profits. YOU must eliminate fear to trade, the fear to lose, and the fear of missing a move. You must be able to control the emotional and psychological problems that prevent success in trading. This is the difficult part of trading. Most learn chart reading and analyzing markets, but most never master the psychological aspects of trading. That will be your biggest challenge in learning how to trade with any strategy. Rather than guessing what you will do with a strategy, know what to do and then act. Right or Wrong, you will not know this until after the fact.
As a personal example, I have traded the strategy I use today for many years. A few tweaks here and there but the core basic strategy has remained. The first few years I lost at trading this strategy and most any other strategy I attempted. The major change was me and how I controlled my impulsive trades, contained my losses and captured the profits when I had them. This will be true no matter what strategy or style of trading you use. Market conditions change and run in cycles, not all strategies work in all conditions. The most difficult lesson was to learn when NOT to trade.
My personal system is set up in a way that tells me when to trade and what strategies to focus on. If I have no strategy for the current condition it is up to me NOT trade.
We always here and I certainly talk about finding consistency. What is consistency? What does it mean to you?
One must define it, to know it. It is why I routinely encourage traders to identify what they are trading for.
What exactly do I mean when I say this? We all know we are trading to make money or that is what the purpose is supposed to be.
Let me ask the question this way.
I have a job that requires one to come in and go thru a process of questions and at the end of the day lay a report on my desk.
The report is due every day at 9pm NY time. There will be days it takes longer to run the process than others. You may work 1 hour a day or may work 6 hours a day. At the end of the process there is a report that is required to be given to me. I will not pay you by the hour; I will pay you a salary at the end of the year, quarter, month, week or end of day. This is your preference how to be paid.
I need to know two things. How often do you want to be paid and how much?
The work is a series of questions that I will need you to answer and deliver a written report to me at 9pm each and every night, Sunday – Thursday. I will not need reports on Friday or Saturday.
How much do you want to earn to do this work? Can you determine a fee that this will be worth your effort and time to accomplish? If you find a way to do this work in 1 hour or 6 hours makes no difference to me. I am taking offers please let me know.
Once I know this number I will in turn let you know how much it will take to go into this business. I forgot to mention this is not an employment contract. This is a business venture you must invest in. The amount you want to earn doing this process will be determined by how much you are willing to invest in your new business. First you must determine how much earnings you want to make that will make it worth your while to partake in this business venture.
The investment will not be given to me, you will keep it in any account you prefer and close that account at anytime you choose. You have sole discretion over your investment and can change your mind at any time. Failure to execute the report properly will affect the outcome of your investment.
If one does not know what they are looking for to perform this job, than we will have a hard time determining what sources and tools we need to accomplish our request.
The other issue is realistic expectations. If one has expectations to go into business looking to invest $10,000 to make $100,000, well those offers are only on late night TV, called infomercials.
For me personally, I like to trade fairly conservative. I prefer to try and hit a lot of singles and doubles and not go after too many home runs. The times I went after the home run, it ran me home crying.
My personal style is fairly boring and routine. Most of the trades are never that exciting. Most are never catching bottoms or shorting tops. I do like to trade a few counter trend setups from time to time. Majority of my trading is looking to make 2 - 5% each month as consistently as I can. This means I am looking to have very little drawdown’s and try and grind out small profits with a small basket of markets. If I am trading a $200,000 account I want to make about a $4,000 - $10,000 per month. If I can find opportunities that will present this to me and do it consistently, I have a chance to make 20 – 50% a year. I realize I will not make $1,000 - $2000 each and every week. There will be weeks I lose money and weeks I make $5,000. I attempt to work a process that will give me the opportunity for $1,000 - $2,000 per week. I also realize I give up trying to catch every single market move. I know I only need to catch moves that have the opportunity to achieve my monthly income. If I can accomplish this over time and minimize my losses, I will show a good return on my account.
Most Traders focus too much on the next great thing, the one strategy that will ultimately become their printing press for money and solve all problems. Unfortunately that thinking will drive us to lose money in more ways than we can imagine. It is important to recognize what you are trading for and then discovers the tools and discipline necessary to achieve those goals. Too many traders are chasing moves and not focused on their process and goals.
Once I focus on what I am to do, I become less focused on what the market will or will not do. I focus on what conditions I have and if I have opportunities that meet my criteria. If have no opportunities that meet my criteria, my discipline is the only thing to keep me from making mistakes that I will regret. The market will flash its lights in front of me and tempt me to make trades I have no desire to make.
For example, recently SNDA was a nice setup that fit my criteria. The stock gapped up and never looked back. I did not get in the trade, why? My criteria (trade plan) calls for me not to chase if I do not get the trigger based on my criteria. The trade worked out well only without me profiting from my analysis. If I am going to throw out my trade plans I might as well not make them and trade on my gut. The problem with this is my gut has always had BIG losing trades. My discipline is the only thing that will allow me to follow the plan. I have my instructions and I am to follow. Not following the plan and I am discounting the plan is worthwhile and lack faith it will lead me to where I want to go. The plan will not always be perfect and I will miss opportunities, but will the plan allow me to achieve my goals ver. time? I can always trash the plan and build a new one; I can revamp my plans so that it will help achieve my goals in a better way. I must have something to follow that gives me high probabilities to achieve my desired outcome. If I cannot achieve my goals may be I am just too un-realistic or the plan has no merit what so ever. One will not know if the plan has merit unless it is fully back tested or better yet tested in the real world of trading.
If you want to make $100,000 out $10,000 you are likely better off to go to Las Vegas and have a good time and you just may hit the jackpot.
The WPT Portfolio follows a method to grind out 2 -5 % on average a month. Thus far we are close to achieving this. It is yet to be seen if we will achieve it the rest of the year, we shall see.
It is not the most exciting way to make money and it is not as fun as having those big 20+% moves in a day or two. I rode my share of roller coasters and I prefer a more calming ride as drifting down a slow moving river knowing I will reach my destination if I stay on course.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of ways to trade the markets. There are some methods that will provide exhilarating moments. You just have to know when to place the bets and the conditions are prevalent to make those types of trades. You must be willing to place a bet that will win big or lose it all bet. A few weeks ago a client wanted to work out a trade in the financials and make a $2,000 bet. We structured the trade in a leverage market and he anted up. The trade worked out very well; however, it appeared he may lose it all at one point. His $2,000 bet was only worth about $400 dollars only after a few days. He called asking should he bail and salvage his $400. I asked him why and he proceeded to tell me it looked like he was all wrong and he might as well take the trade off the table. I asked him if he was not serious about wanting to risk $2000, which was the original plan. He was going to risk $2,000 dollars and willing to lose it all to see if he was right. There was nothing different currently than in the original plan; everything was the same except he now thought it was not going to work. The original plan was to lose $2,000 or the oversold condition in the market would be relieved followed by an explosive move to the upside. The play was to risk the full $2,000 and look for a 15+% rally in the markets within one month’s time frame. This was a bet on the financials and was a lottery ticket play. The trade netted $6254. The client was about to take a $1600 loss because he thought it was not going to work. He began to second guess his decision and pull his bet off the table. When the trade appeared to go sour he was no longer willing to embrace the full risk.
The guy called asked how I knew not to get out of the trade. My answer, I did not have a clue. For all I knew the market was going to keep running down and he was going to lose his remaining $400 dollars. I told him if he was willing to risk $1600 why not the other $400 and let the original plan play out. Let’s continue watching the game and see who wins. It is easy to risk other people’s money!
What occurred was when he put the trade on he thought he was making the trade at the right time. Therefore he thought he was willing to lose $2,000 because he was convinced he was right and would never see his $2,000 dwindle down to $400. The client had a good plan and he understood the plan. The issue is he really did not think the market would go down any lower. He was only willing to experience the loss because he believed he would not ever have to accept that loss. Once he realized he could lose his $2,000 he decided he did not want to play this game.
$2,000 is not a huge bet in the markets but it is decent size bet depending on one’s account. This was a small bet compared to the account the client has to trade. He hates to lose more than $1,000 at any one time. I have seen this on numerous occasions. He will lose $500 and not blink an eye. If he loses over $1,000 he is mortified. A $1,000 dollar lose is less than ½% of his account, yet it is the fact it is more than $1,000. When he thought this trade was going to lose him more than $1,000 he was ready to bail. Matter of fact, he told me latter that had he not called he would have bailed as soon as he got his losses under $1,000. Was this in the trade plan? Not at all… The plan called for holding some options for one month and see if the move he expected would occur. In order to play he wanted to pay $2,000. Once the trade went sour the first few days and exceeds the pain threshold, all bets were off and the trade plan was ignored.
Remember nothing had changed. The market conditions were the same, very oversold. The size of bet was the same; he did not overtrade and average down. As a matter of fact the trade was looking even better, but he was sitting on a $1,600 loss. His trade had 3 – 1/2 weeks left, he was only three days into the trade. It was a very well thought out simple plan. Nothing complicated technically or fundamentally, just a speculative bet that within 4 weeks we would see a significant rally. The trade turned out well for the client in less time than projected.
The 10% of doubt he had in the trade and looking at a $1600 loss in reality was enough to say I don’t want to play and never wanted to make this trade. He wanted to close the trade out so he did not have to accept a $2,000 loss. The market had convinced him he was about to have to do something he really did not want to embrace.
Most of us are willing to embrace any risk if we know the outcome. If we knew the outcome it would not be a risk. As Mark Douglas talks about in his book “Trading in the Zone” one must embrace the real risk. This is another part of the Trade Plan, truly know and accept the risk you are taking, if you do, managing of the trade becomes easier.
I have experienced and seen many times Trades performing really well for months only to change the size of their risk and begin to trader vastly different. Make sure you grow your size incrementally and you are placing bets with risk you can truly embrace. Most importantly, never place a bet that is not based on some viable trade plan. Even if it is only a speculative trade plan.
Losses must always be cut and they must be cut quickly, long before they become of any financial consequence. After the elimination, the transaction must be, in a sense, forgotten. It must be left out of future consideration completely that there is no sentimental bar to reinstating the position at a higher level, either very soon or at a later date. Cutting losses is the one rule that can be taught with assurance that is always the correct thing to do. However, as a matter of actual application, it requires a completeness of detachment from human frailties which is very rarely achieved. People like to take profits and don’t like taking losses. They also hate to repurchase something at a price higher than they sold it. Human likes and dislikes will wreck any investment program. Only logic, reason, information and experience can be listened to if failure is to be avoided.
An excerpt for the book…
The Battle from Investment Survival
By: Gerald Loeb
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Kerry,
As this seems to be "Equity Curve Week" I thought mine may also give some encouragement. The interesting point is that it was back in August that I decided I needed to review what I was doing and seek some guidance from you. You can hopefuly see the results since then (and it has been a tough time in the markets over this period too of course). The percentage gain is relatively small but that is purely because my work is keeping me very busy and so I have been trading very lightly and so have missed numerous signals.
Trading is now nowhere near as stressful as it used to be. I know exactly the game that I am playing even if I don't play it as well as I could.
One interesting point is that the trades I have been making since August have been almost identical to those I made before. The difference is that my entries are now well defined rather than me just blindly buying the market. Trading really is a typical case of where a chain is only as strong as the weakest link. In my case the weak link was my entries.
Still a long way to go of course but the direction is the right one now.
Regards,
Chris
I love getting feedback from clients and fellow traders. Here is another email I just received today. Jeff is wonderful guy and a good friend, not to mention a good stock picker. I always pay attention when Jeff mentions a stock. Here shared an email this morning and I asked him to elaborate on the difference in his trading, here is his reply and many thanks for letting me post to the blog.
Hi Kerry,
Here is my equity curve for January. My picks have gotten better, but I have also been more consistent at taking profits. You’ve played a big role in these results. Thanks!
These are the main reasons for my results ( December was also good and I was profitable for 2008 ).
1) I spent much more time on a short list of about 10 favorite stocks and really got to know how they trade and what is and is not out of character.
2) I focus much more on support and resistance on all time frames. I tend to sell as we approach resistance and if we keep going, I don’t worry about it. I’ve always had a tendency to kick myself if I get out too early or if I don’t get out and it drops! That leaves a narrow margin where I’m not kicking myself. Now I’m focusing more on my account goals rather than “being right.”
3) I also like to buy closer to support so my stops can be below that support. I’m also using volume much more to determine if the short term trend is running out of or gaining steam.
4) I am trading smaller with proportionally wider stops so I don’t have to be as precise in my timing.
5) Probably the biggest thing is that I’ve really cut back on questioning myself. There have been many times where my analysis suggested I enter a position but I would talk myself out of it. The same applies to exits. I would see a stock hit a ceiling and stop going up and I was afraid I would sell and be wrong. Now I sell and if it goes up further, no big deal.
Jeff
In working with a client today we reviewed the recent equity curve. In doing so we indentified those trades that was not traded based on an indentified strategy. I suggested that he take his equity curve and remove any trades that were impulsive and re-plot the equity curve, keeping only those trades that were made based on an indentified set of rules. Here are the results and his comments. Hi Kerry, I've omitted some of the trades that we determined as impulsive or no strategy trades... Attached is the result.. I've printed it out and it is hanging on my wall now, to remind me what is possible and what can happen if I impulsive trade again. Wessel |
I just received this comment from a client, I asked his permission to share, so here it is.
Most of what has helped has nothing to do with a new strategy or indicator. I can't believe how far my trading has come along. I was ready to give up on trading, but your encouragement to implement these simple tools have turned my trading around 180 degrees. I never had a winning year until now. |
Many of you have heard me talk about Consistency. The success of a Trader is how consistent they become in their trading.
I would rather have a nice consistency to my trading rather than a roller coaster ride of huge profits and losses. I have done both and I definitely prefer consistent.
A client that works for Disney had one of their cartoonist draw a picture with this saying. It was a wonderful surprise when I got back from traveling for two weeks.
I am posting a pic here and taking it to be framed today. I thought I would share with all.
Many thanks for the pic!
