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Strategies & Market Trends : Trader J's Inner Circle -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon K. who wrote (10659)	3/5/1999 11:19:00 PM
From: Trader J	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 56535

Jon - I wish I had some magic beans to give you, but all I can offer is words. Shorting some of these biggies can be dangerous. The best advice I can offer is to learn from it. Take some time and reevaluate your goals, what you expect from a good day or week. Determine what it is that you did wrong and modify your discipline to protect yourself. Can you give me your daily or weekly goal so I can get an idea of what you are shooting for? Or at least either your trading capital or avg lot sizes? I would be lying if I said those days haven't happened to me, but I have changed things to minimize the possibilities of history repeating itself. I have reduced my lot sizes to 3000 and below for all but the rarest of circumstances....and usually, I only trade 2000 and below, do not get greedy. If a trade turns against me, I will almost always immediately dump the position. If a trade turns on you, why misjudge it yet again and lose more money. Cut it and look for reentry or move onto the next. Bring your expectations back to down to earth. How much do you really need to make each day to feel satisfied. For me it was $500, then $1000, then $2000 ..... soon I was trading to make money rather than making money from my trades. It comes back to goals. If you are not going to use stops, then you must be willing to set your mental risk stop, and sell when it is reached....without fail, no excuses. To second guess selling is to toss aside discipline and trade by the seat of your pants; do not allow yourself to do this. Many do not like to set physical stops for fear the MMs will ladder down bid to take them out, and in fact, this can be correct. I normally set stops for only two reasons....I am already in them money and want to protect my gains or, because I may be away from the computer and want to stop potential loss. If a stock is going to run, it will run and as long as you don't too tight of a stop, it can work for you. But I have no problem in anyone setting mental stops....as long as you are willing to execute. If you are unable to execute on your mental stops, you will not be trading for long, I can guarantee this. So, the best way I have found to get through this is to take a step back, take a look at your disciplines, realize where you have come from and that you still have 1/2 your gains in what has been a very difficult market, and ..... most importantly, the markets are open all next week. But do not allow your mistakes of today to repeat themselves. Many times, reevaluation of your goals is all you will need. Good luck and trade well Jon. Tj

To: Jon K. who wrote (10659)	3/6/1999 12:07:00 AM
From: zora	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 56535

Jon K, I am sorry to read about your heavy losses. I never expected the market to charge up like it did today. It's especially hard to lose gains you have worked so hard on to accumulate. I have been there, done that. Lost not only my money but my youngest sons. That was a real low point early in my daytrading education. You are still ahead for the year and you will run those earnings higher. I bounced back and learned a lot on the way. I use mental stops but have also let losses get away from me. We are all in this together so know that your case is not isolated. your friend, zora