"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

Thursday, April 12, 2012

stopped out again




Took another short at a really bad place, looking for a breakdown as price dipped. This was the bottom of consolidation chop just as price was reversing up... a truly bush-league move. My head is not in this right now. The best way to tell if one is making bad decisions is when one takes a trade and gets caught going the wrong way as price turns and goes the other. That's what I did. I am taking the "obvious" trades, ones that are exploited by the experienced traders on the correct side of the action. Getting caught on the wrong foot this way is purely emotional, reactive trading. It doesn't fit with the amount of training I have done and my cahrt-reading abilities.
Quite frankly, I know what is causing this. Anxiety will wreak havoc with a person's trading senses and we have plenty in our lives right now. For a week I have been struggling with eating correctly, maintaining my exercise regimen, and retaining the confidence that I will be able to continue with learning to trade full-time. Financial pressures are building at home because Mrs. Bluecollar and her employer of 15 years parted ways a few months ago. They had treated her like garbage for years, as I have mentioned once or twice on this blog. Neither of us are working currently. Second shift jobs are rare around here, and that is what I need to keep my days free to trade. A lot of people depend on her and me, which makes it hard to make the substantial changes in lifestyle necessary to keep me learning to trade full time. This is incredibly frustrating, to be so close to success and not able to quite grasp it. I am on the right path, but not ready to trade live yet. With the need to be profitable always weighing on my mind, it is easy for me to force trades. And that is exactly what beginners do... which is why my decisions of late are akin to a beginner's. This is always a mental game.

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