I am so glad August is over. This was my worst month so far:

This is a chart of my cumulative R. I was about even before commission and down some after commission for the month.
Where did I go wrong?
I broke my rules. I had the two worst days of my career this month. I made too many trades. I’m sure the success of my previous two months had something to do with it. This, among a few other things I have going on, may have caused some psychological pressure. Also, I think market conditons were not ideal. My discipline was poor. The blame falls on myself - but I will learn from my mistakes.
This month was a blow to my confidence. I don’t like the uncertainty that keeps creeping back up just when I am feeling pretty certain and confident about my future as a trader. Trading is hard. I’m not making much money. It seems like every time you think you have it figured out, you find out you are wrong.
I’m taking tomorrow off. My goal for the next couple of months is to trade my system without breaking any rules so that I can clearly see, from my trading journal and my trading results, that it works. I want to know that it works and how well it works, so that I can get some certainty back into my life. I need a well defined system and routine in my trading that I won’t have trouble sticking to when times get rough - as they have this month. From my losing streak this month, I have learned that it is much more difficult to stick to your rules when you arern’t doing well. It messes with your head.
I play guitar and when I play something enough, it doesn’t matter what’s going on in my head - my fingers will do their job without a problem. I could be in front of a large audience or talking to someone or just alone in my room and my fingers pick the strings the same way, with the same rhythm. I want to trade my system repeatedly, without fail, the same way over and over every day so that it becomes a pattern and a habit. I want it to be carved into my brain so that I stick to my system without even thinking about it. On a winning streak or a losing streak, or whatever the market conditions - I want to trade my system the same way I play guitar or breath - without even thinking about it.
My goal for September and October is to trade without breaking my rules.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 31st, 2006 at 10:28 pm and is filed under trading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.