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Strategies & Market Trends : The Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: charlie mcgeehan who wrote (10535)	8/17/2000 5:03:12 PM
From: charlie mcgeehan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 49816

one of the worst things a trader can do when they are falling behind in their trades is try to hit a home run and make it all back. thats when the line is crossed from trading to gambling. preservation of capital should be the first order of business. the market will change around and become easier to trade, perhaps not for a month or two or longer but if you preserve your capital you can still play the game.

To: charlie mcgeehan who wrote (10535)	8/17/2000 5:51:25 PM
From: Mike E.	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 49816

i have noticed that many that contributed to this thread are no longer doing so or are posting a lot less than they used to. That's possibly due to being "intimidated" by the number of posts some individual posters do (me) and I mean to cut back. i have spent part of the day in pm's with stan and ian talking about how hard it is to trade successfully in a market that seems to take traders out almost every day. I wish you guys would've discussed it here, I would've like to heard your ideas and problems to see if they were the same as I and others are experiencing. i think we have seen across SI this year many good traders that have had to return to jobs to support themselves as the market no longer provides the income it used to. Some had to, some chose to. I chose to leave corporate hell this year and my last day was March 31. I figured if I can make it through these times (the Mar./Apr. corrections, 500 pt. intraday NAZ swings), I'd have it made. I'm not so sure anymore. I don't know if we'll ever return to the "good times" and we better figure out a way to make do with what we got. I can tell you and everyone else reading here that I have already lost more this year than I can ever hope to recover by year's end. I would have to almost triple what I have left to return to my peak. I did it stubbornly holding onto losers while they tanked (knowing they would come right back like they did in 1999 and early 2000 - and they didn't) while I sold winners for 2 or 3 points and watched them run an additional 10 or 20 points after that. Imagine that, I have no problem pushing the button to sell for 3 points profit, but I can't push it to cut my losses at 3 points! It's a severe psychological barrier that I have and have been working to correct all year. I figure if I don't overcome it, I will eventually be back at work too. Mike

To: charlie mcgeehan who wrote (10535)	8/17/2000 6:45:04 PM
From: Jack Hartmann	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 49816

Charlie, it has been especially tough since mid-July for many traders. Many got out when the Nasdaq dumped that one week expecting a return to mid-May levels. It rebounds 300 points instead. When I make a short term (1-3 days) trade, I find myself watching the trading action during the day since it requires more attention. Add the various odd jobs and I am away more too. Jack

To: charlie mcgeehan who wrote (10535)	8/18/2000 9:03:14 AM
From: Kenya AA	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 49816

charlie and Thread: I didn't respond to charlie's post because I only recently started to lurk here and am still in the process of evaluating the tone and efficacy of this thread, so, while I may have dipped my toe in the water with a few posts, I didn't feel comfortable baring my trading soul, so to speak, at this juncture. But I have to say, reading the responses posted by Mike, Kevin, Jack, Jeff, et al has left a very positive impression of the group of people participating in this forum. I'm more of a lurker than a poster, but, going forward, I do hope to be able to make some positive contributions to this thread both in finding good plays and sharing experiences. That said, I'm off for a few weeks on a much needed vacation. Good luck to everyone with their trades! K