For those that are following this blog, may I first of all apologise for the lack of posts. My only excuse is the fact that I have been beavering away looking for the elusive edge. The edge eh, where do you buy 'em from, anyone got any spare (ones that work obviously) because to be a successful trader you must have an edge. Three months in and I am beginning to believe this more and more.
As you can see by my results on the right, Months 1 & 2 were a bit of a nightmare of spells of indiscipline, blind panic, anger, frustration, despair, and many head in hands at the desk moments. Month 3?, well Month 3 shows another loss I'm afraid - a loss of £96.38 which in comparison, is, I believe, a massive step forward (and £37.50 of that was due to letting two trades go in running - I know it shouldn't happen, but two in a month is just a massive improvement on where I was. Great though, that still when I let them go in-play, they still slap me - a great reminder)
So, the difference between last month and my previous two?
Smaller stakes - still concentrating on making a profit rather than a salary
Experimentation - Playing around with different strategies, recording every result, some failing almost immediately and some showing just 60% strike rates, (which is only slightly above a toss of a coin re entry points) and one, which last week recorded a 74% strike rate which is encouraging)
Discipline - Redding and Greening 'almost' every time
Patience - Not trading every race if my current criteria is not met (I only traded 397 races this month as against 606 the previous month)
Future plans? Well, I have decided that I will re-evaluate my position after 6 months, Months 1, 2 and 3 have all shown losses. I'm really hopeful that Month 4 will produce my first positive P&L, but if I continue to lose through to month 6, well..........
Written on my wall at the moment, is something I read on someone else's blog which is inspirational to me right now, and it's this - "You only fail when you give up".
I really hope I don't fail.
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Greetings,
ReplyDeleteI learned from a successful Wall Street trader years a(1) Have an index card present when trading with a short list of rules that are never broken as part of "the Plan". If you break any rules of the plan...you have no plan and you will lose.
It seems like you are getting more businesslike every week and you will eventually become a winner.
All the best! Jake
Hi there, good to see you are sticking with it. Now this edge you are talking about. I reckon the edge is being able to out-think other traders, as I believe traders are solely responsible for the massive & super-fast swings that occur and that catch us all out!
ReplyDeleteYou have done a lot of work and I like some of your criteria, especially being patient and not trading in every race. Sometimes I just can't see a way in to a market, so I leave it alone (as I know I'd lose out if I placed a trade).
Good luck in the next few months.
JK.
Hi Turf Speculator,
ReplyDeleteI can't count the number of times I've stuck pieces of paper to my wall, trying to instil patience and discipline. I even went through a stage where every time I let a bad trade go in-play and it invariably cost me more, I used to type out the name of the horse and how much it cost me and print it in large bold font on A4 and stick it on the wall. I did it so many times I ran out of toner!
Love your comment about the trader though. - ''If you break any rules of the plan...you have no plan and you will lose''. - Now that one is going on my wall.
Cheers Turf. Thanks for taking the time to post.
Hi BallbOy
I don’t see the edge as something to out think other traders with; I see it just as something that consistently produces results.
Some traders scalp, others look for trends and then ride the wave, some use technical analysis and resistance points, some I believe bully other traders, by putting in huge amounts to force / scare other traders into making what turn out to be rash decisions. Many times you see money come in and then disappear quickly once other traders have reacted to the 'bait'
I'm just trying lots of different things, hoping I find something that consistently works for me, thus giving me - 'my edge'
Three months in, and I haven't found it quite yet, but trading 6 days a week, I've learned an awful lot.
Good to see that you've got your discipline in tact by only trading when you see opportunities. I find it really does work for me. In the early days I'd look for anything that remotely looked like a signal, and boy did I get stung!