Losing Money Trading Day After Day

How many of you here are just losing money trading day after day despite doing all the learning and live trading?

Lets be honest!

One of the most difficult things about trading is realizing that one can't and shouldn't trade every day. Not only because it's very physically and mentally demanding....of course, but because quality setups, which offer above average opportunity for a profit, do not come around every day. There are many approaches used in trading, and Market, at one time or another, will reward each and every one, but on it's own time, which unfortunately does not often align with ours. One realizes after a while that some of the old sayings are not always true, "trade small and often" comes to mind, which is best moto for a broker and not a trader. Like J. Livermore used to say - " The hardest thing in trading, especially when things go your way, is to "sit on your hands".

One of the most difficult things about trading is realizing that one can't and shouldn't trade every day. Not only because it's very physically and mentally demanding....of course, but because quality setups, which offer above average opportunity for a profit, do not come around every day. There are many approaches used in trading, and Market, at one time or another, will reward each and every one, but on it's own time, which unfortunately does not often align with ours. One realizes after a while that some of the old sayings are not always true, "trade small and often" comes to mind, which is best moto for a broker and not a trader. Like J. Livermore used to say - " The hardest thing in trading, especially when things go your way, is to "sit on your hands".

Your posting is questionable....there are good trading setups each and every day...and there are tons of them...ONLY if you can see them!!! Some people can't see those setups and they make outdated statements which doesn't have any logic!

dannydon786, I thought the fact that we are talking about human traders and our limitations was understood :). Of course there are more than a few good trades present every day, but we can only watch so much, and we can analyze much much less. So don't take my words in absolute sense....that's just day dreaming, see how it applies to everyday real money trading.

Good luck,

Simon

Your posting is questionable....there are good trading setups each and every day...and there are tons of them...ONLY if you can see them!!! Some people can't see those setups and they make outdated statements which doesn't have any logic!

I agree. During the day, there are almost always 1 or 2 setup on H1, and even more setup on M15.

Hi dannydon786, I don''t trade Forex so will have to take your word for it. As far as best trade set-up goes - that depends a lot on what kind of trade one is looking for. I suppose very short term 20-30 tick trades do not take long to spot, it is also very difficult to make good money trading like that - one has to be right a great deal of time. A little larger targets take a little more time to find and analyze, I guess it's a matter of preference.

:-?=D> it sounds good

Yikes, this sounds like me!

Tru dat Bruh

I was reading a whilst back about actively trying to loose as many trades as possible. I think this would be an interesting experiment.

Have you tried it ?

Some body here in India asked the broker to to give a feature in their trading system that when they buy it will be executed as a sell order and vice versa.

But I doubt how good the outcome will be. Trading is far more than just finding a good entry. I read somewhere " Market structure is the king and money management is the queen"

What I learnt from my experience

1. We should be patient and should not operate under fear and greed.

2. We should categorise ourself based on our risk appetite , what kind of trader we are ? Scalper, day trader, swing trader etc.

3. Not every day is a trading day(If we trade one or two instruments), we should avoid those days.

4. In a good trading day exploiting every single oppertunity to make money.

5. Last but not the least, buy low and sell high.

The last concept is heard so much that we take it for granted. But I learnt a hard way that, this is the single most important concept of trading.

Have you tried it ?

Some body here in India asked the broker to to give a feature in their trading system that when they buy it will be executed as a sell order and vice versa.

But I doubt how good the outcome will be. Trading is far more than just finding a good entry. I read somewhere " Market structure is the king and money management is the queen"

What I learnt from my experience

1. We should be patient and should not operate under fear and greed.

2. We should categorise ourself based on our risk appetite , what kind of trader we are ? Scalper, day trader, swing trader etc.

3. Not every day is a trading day(If we trade one or two instruments), we should avoid those days.

4. In a good trading day exploiting every single oppertunity to make money.

5. Last but not the least, buy low and sell high.

The last concept is heard so much that we take it for granted. But I learnt a hard way that, this is the single most important concept of trading.

I haven't tried it yet, but I will try it on demo as an experiment. Maybe I could program one as an EA but take the sell as opposed to buy and then see the results...

Have you tried it ?

 

" Market structure is the king and money management is the queen"

 

3. Not every day is a trading day(If we trade one or two instruments), we should avoid those days.

4. In a good trading day exploiting every single oppertunity to make money.

Money management is the key. You can take a mediocre system and still make money from it with if you apply position sizing / money management techniques that were popularized in the trading world by Vap Tharp and Ralph Vince.

I read Van Tharp's Definative guide to position sizing (2008) years ago and havent looked back.

There is a 2013 updated version I have been looking around for, contains a few new chapters and a bunch more systems to overlay on top of your trading.

The way I look at the "not every day is a trading day" thing. Yes you can only trade if there is a trade you can identify. So indeed it may not be a trading day in any one market or timeframe

I just go and look at more markets or timeframes to look for a trade.

My old mentor was asked once what is his target (in a trade) he laughed and said as much as the market can give him. Thats about managing a trade exit and letting the trade close itself out rather than an arbitrary

exit, say 30 pips.

High Probability Trading Strategies by Robert Miner is another book teaches you about multiple timeframes and trade management.

M

i will also suggest to have a trading plan and follow it without greed or fear. I experienced greed this week :(. I mostly trade in options at this time and i had option spread in AYX which i bought for $200 per contract. It was in profit of $250 per contract (more than double) but i got greedy and kept it instead of closing for profit. On Thursday, AYX announced earnings after hours and stock dropped by 25%. My greed cost me almost $450 per contract (Original price of $200 + $250 profit) and not spread is worthless.

So have a trading plan and follow it strictly :)