- I find myself trying to force trades and I hear Steve voice in
my head saying "Trading a couple good set-up is ok man you do not
have to catch the bottom.. 80% of the trend still will make you
money" WAIT for the SIGNAL
# 2 - Play your trading plan & charts. Do not trade on
emotion .. It will cost you money .. MY BIGGEST FAULT
# 3 - Take profit
- I find myself wanting that extra .50 cent or $ 1 only to not
get it and lose some of my gains. .. MY 2nd BIGGEST FAULT
- I found myself hearing Steve in my head saying "It's ok to
take profit" I hear Matt say "Move your stop up to lock in
some gains"
Just wanted to share this with the group ... I'm sure I'm
the only one who has these issues around trading.
Posted by pthoreson on 26th of Aug 2008 at 05:01 pm
It is good that you hear those voices, and good that you
recognize their value. Some times when I have a target price and
the stock or fund just won't quite get there, I will sell some of
my position just to get a few "fish in the boat" and then
either buy the shares back if the price falls (within the trading
channel) or sell the rest when the price finally hits my target. I
agree, it is no fun at all to hook and fight the big fish, only to
have it slip the hook at the side of the boat. IMHO, the
markets are best suited to trading right now, long holds don't seem
to be doing much in either direction.
You do have to be careful not to learn the wrong lessons though.
In a trending market most of the research seems to show that having
predetermined targets is a less profitable strategy than letting
winners run and only selling when the trend reverses.
There's some great discussion of this in
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, one of the
all time classic books on trading and investing. The link will take
you to the free online text. It's a heck of a read.
Posted by pthoreson on 26th of Aug 2008 at 06:40 pm
I have the book on my shelf! It is in line right behind my next
candlestick book, but frankly I may move it up. Candlestick books
tend to take me months to get through. Thanks for the
recommendation, I have read nothing but great reviews on that
book.
Posted by dallahoo on 26th of Aug 2008 at 07:48 pm
I second the book recommendation, it is a wonderful read. On
trending markets, that is why oscillators can cause more harm if
they are taken for signal against the trend. In nicely uptradinf
market, overbought readings may stay overbought for a long time,
and overbought sell signals may get reversed in matter of days.
Oscillators, are, however, very good tools to use to initiate
positions in the direction of the trend, even if a signal is
premature, the trend will come to rescue
Yep good points, you have to be aware if the market is trending
or is not trending:
When the market is trending, you can set wider stops and let
your positions play out more, but when the market is consolidating,
you need to take profits more quickly. Currently the market
is consolidating, so it's really that simple.
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Lesson's Learned
Posted by cspirit on 26th of Aug 2008 at 04:51 pm
I wanted to share with group lesson's I've learn.
# 1 - Listen to Steve and Matt
- I find myself trying to force trades and I hear Steve voice in my head saying "Trading a couple good set-up is ok man you do not have to catch the bottom.. 80% of the trend still will make you money" WAIT for the SIGNAL
# 2 - Play your trading plan & charts. Do not trade on emotion .. It will cost you money .. MY BIGGEST FAULT
# 3 - Take profit
- I find myself wanting that extra .50 cent or $ 1 only to not get it and lose some of my gains. .. MY 2nd BIGGEST FAULT
- I found myself hearing Steve in my head saying "It's ok to take profit" I hear Matt say "Move your stop up to lock in some gains"
Just wanted to share this with the group ... I'm sure I'm the only one who has these issues around trading.
Thanks Matt/Steve
Chris
thanks for the reminder. trading
Posted by dowjones4k on 26th of Aug 2008 at 05:14 pm
thanks for the reminder. trading on emotion is my big one.
have a good one
It is good that you
Posted by pthoreson on 26th of Aug 2008 at 05:01 pm
It is good that you hear those voices, and good that you recognize their value. Some times when I have a target price and the stock or fund just won't quite get there, I will sell some of my position just to get a few "fish in the boat" and then either buy the shares back if the price falls (within the trading channel) or sell the rest when the price finally hits my target. I agree, it is no fun at all to hook and fight the big fish, only to have it slip the hook at the side of the boat. IMHO, the markets are best suited to trading right now, long holds don't seem to be doing much in either direction.
You do have to be
Posted by unsane on 26th of Aug 2008 at 05:15 pm
You do have to be careful not to learn the wrong lessons though. In a trending market most of the research seems to show that having predetermined targets is a less profitable strategy than letting winners run and only selling when the trend reverses.
There's some great discussion of this in Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, one of the all time classic books on trading and investing. The link will take you to the free online text. It's a heck of a read.
I have the book on
Posted by pthoreson on 26th of Aug 2008 at 06:40 pm
I have the book on my shelf! It is in line right behind my next candlestick book, but frankly I may move it up. Candlestick books tend to take me months to get through. Thanks for the recommendation, I have read nothing but great reviews on that book.
I second the book recommendation,
Posted by dallahoo on 26th of Aug 2008 at 07:48 pm
I second the book recommendation, it is a wonderful read. On trending markets, that is why oscillators can cause more harm if they are taken for signal against the trend. In nicely uptradinf market, overbought readings may stay overbought for a long time, and overbought sell signals may get reversed in matter of days. Oscillators, are, however, very good tools to use to initiate positions in the direction of the trend, even if a signal is premature, the trend will come to rescue
Yep good points, you have
Posted by matt on 26th of Aug 2008 at 06:04 pm
Yep good points, you have to be aware if the market is trending or is not trending:
When the market is trending, you can set wider stops and let your positions play out more, but when the market is consolidating, you need to take profits more quickly. Currently the market is consolidating, so it's really that simple.