retired,
I haven't been following this too closely, this SWC thing, just went back from your suggested post. This may not be representative or apply, if so, my apologies and don't take it personal, it's for everybody.
We've all had bad trades, how we handle them has a lot to do with our future success...
In fairness, in April, while we may have suspected that the economy was in trouble and a double dip likely (and all that means for the auto industry and platinum/palladium, as Frank mentioned) it was not nearly as apparent then as now.
Even so, no matter how good the poster, not all their ideas work. One should never rely on anyone else's opinion to initiate or terminate a trade. It is OK to listen, consider or get ideas, but never never rely. Relying on another's opinion in no way excuses a trader from making a bad trade. The choice is still the traders, no matter what the parameters used for that choice, the trader is the one pushing the buy or sell button.
Most importantly, we MUST admit a bad trade to ourselves, accept the fact that it was our mistake, without excuses, without remorse, blaming someone else, or any other emotional excesses, just the plain and simple admission that it was OUR decision and it DIDN'T work.
Consider it the Trader's Confession.
THEN, and only THEN, having understood in cold objectivity our trading errors, whatever they might have been, can we see our mistakes and learn from that losing experience. Without the emotional blinders, we can go on to make the money back that was lost many times over, by applying what we learned from our bad trade.
Victory is the summed result of defeats experienced when combined with both objectivity and perseverance.
But bitterness, it seems, condemns us to trading purgatory, a "Groundhog Day" experience of making the same mistakes over and over again with only minute variations.
PS
I sure as heck admit I don't know everything AND most everything I DO know came AFTER experiences learned from trading mistakes.
Roebear |
