Why most Lose Trading?
In my youth I was lucky enough to have a mentor by the name of Kevin Teppo who took me in and basically rewired my brain to that of a rich man. These are things you can apply to every walk of life. I've been fortunate enough to succeed in insurance (which I ditched due to the dishonesty of the whole racket,) real estate, stock trading, and now forex trading is my new frontier.
When speaking of the stock market, he said "You could give the perfect system to 100 people, and less than 10 would make money with it."
This is very true, my friend. I don't want to get all philosophical on you, but the fact is, the Forex market will deliver whatever you expect from it.
Let's say you take a little course on Forex trading, and you learn about a few indicators and methods of trading. Maybe the only thing you're taught is an EMA crossover system with a MACD filter. This is an ancient system. It's been going on for years and years and years. Do you know why it exists? Because people can make money off of it. Most systems are profitable, or we wouldn't have them.
But multiple people can trade the same system on the same currency and experience completely different results. I would say that your result has nothing to do with the nature of the Forex Market (or any market for that matter,) and only to do with yourself. If you are a successful trader at heart, you will be a successful trader in reality.
If you expect to lose, you will. You will cut you're losses before they become gains. You will hold on to your gains until they become losses.
And then, after you've learned the folly of those things, you will do just the opposite. You will cut your gains short for fear that they will become losses. You will hold on to your losses in hopes that they will become gains.
The secret, as I understand it, is to recognize a point that proves that your initial prediction was wrong. That is your stop loss. If the price hits your stop loss, I'm sorry buddy, but you were wrong. You will either choose a TP that you can reasonably expect to hit, or you can choose a trailing stop that you can reasonably expect to end in profit, or you can trust your system, which after all you've spent weeks and months developing and testing (right?!) to show you what to do.
What it comes down to is that if you are a system trader, and you deviate from your system, more often than not you will lose. If you are an intuitive trader, and you don't trust your intuition, then really, what hope do you have?
Just look at the EMA crossover. Trade it. There are more wins than losses, and the wins outweigh the losses 3:1. That's why people trade that system. It's so simple that it almost seems stupid, but there is mathematical logic in it.
To trade is to lose. It's a fact. You can't never lose. It's next to impossible. You don't have to never lose. You just have to be realistic. If you want to turn 1000 into a million in the next month, you're not being realistic. Could it be done? I suppose it could, maybe, but I can't do it, and I don't know anyone who can.
The key then is faith. Have faith in yourself and your system. If you don't have faith in your system, then you will "human error" the hell out of it. If you don't have faith in your self, you will lose. I probably sound like every self help book out there, but I'm dead serious. The market is not out to screw you over. It just doesn't work like that. It's been doing the same things for years and years.
None of us need a magic system. We could trade profitably using nothing but trend lines and S&R. The change has to occur within yourself. Know that you are a profitable trader, and you are one. Know that you are a loser, and you are one. The world is very simple.This is a very wise post..
Thank you drgoodvibe, I like your name!
On a side note, if you really want to own the psychological side of trading, which in my humble opinion is 90 percent of the game, pick up a copy of Jack Schwager's book "Market Wizards." It's an eye opener. I particularly enjoy the section about Ed Seykota. Without this book the stock market would have pummeled me.
Also, an entire volume could be written on this statement, but take from it what you wish. In the words of Han Solo: Don't get cocky.
You're telling inexperienced traders to have "faith" in their system.
How dumb could that be?
Have faith that your system isn't wrong, your forced technical analysis isn't wrong and that fate has it for you to be right?
Seriously, don't give advice if you don't know anything- what you spouted out is the same thing every other guru spouts out. It's also even more clear that you don't know anything when you use the word, "faith".
No business owner, or trader should have faith in something they survive on. No jackass goes into the forest having faith that he carries a flint that he hopes to work.
SO why the hell would you have "faith" in a trading system? Simple, YOU DONT.
You have answers and definitive outputs. That is it. There is no such thing as faith.
Next time tell the noobs to have faith that there "is no spoon," while you're at it, tell them to take the red pill.
In my youth I was lucky enough to have a mentor by the name of Kevin Teppo who took me in and basically rewired my brain to that of a rich man. These are things you can apply to every walk of life. I've been fortunate enough to succeed in insurance (which I ditched due to the dishonesty of the whole racket,) real estate, stock trading, and now forex trading is my new frontier.
When speaking of the stock market, he said "You could give the perfect system to 100 people, and less than 10 would make money with it."
This is very true, my friend. I don't want to get all philosophical on you, but the fact is, the Forex market will deliver whatever you expect from it.
Let's say you take a little course on Forex trading, and you learn about a few indicators and methods of trading. Maybe the only thing you're taught is an EMA crossover system with a MACD filter. This is an ancient system. It's been going on for years and years and years. Do you know why it exists? Because people can make money off of it. Most systems are profitable, or we wouldn't have them.
But multiple people can trade the same system on the same currency and experience completely different results. I would say that your result has nothing to do with the nature of the Forex Market (or any market for that matter,) and only to do with yourself. If you are a successful trader at heart, you will be a successful trader in reality.
If you expect to lose, you will. You will cut you're losses before they become gains. You will hold on to your gains until they become losses.
And then, after you've learned the folly of those things, you will do just the opposite. You will cut your gains short for fear that they will become losses. You will hold on to your losses in hopes that they will become gains.
The secret, as I understand it, is to recognize a point that proves that your initial prediction was wrong. That is your stop loss. If the price hits your stop loss, I'm sorry buddy, but you were wrong. You will either choose a TP that you can reasonably expect to hit, or you can choose a trailing stop that you can reasonably expect to end in profit, or you can trust your system, which after all you've spent weeks and months developing and testing (right?!) to show you what to do.
What it comes down to is that if you are a system trader, and you deviate from your system, more often than not you will lose. If you are an intuitive trader, and you don't trust your intuition, then really, what hope do you have?
Just look at the EMA crossover. Trade it. There are more wins than losses, and the wins outweigh the losses 3:1. That's why people trade that system. It's so simple that it almost seems stupid, but there is mathematical logic in it.
To trade is to lose. It's a fact. You can't never lose. It's next to impossible. You don't have to never lose. You just have to be realistic. If you want to turn 1000 into a million in the next month, you're not being realistic. Could it be done? I suppose it could, maybe, but I can't do it, and I don't know anyone who can.
The key then is faith. Have faith in yourself and your system. If you don't have faith in your system, then you will "human error" the hell out of it. If you don't have faith in your self, you will lose. I probably sound like every self help book out there, but I'm dead serious. The market is not out to screw you over. It just doesn't work like that. It's been doing the same things for years and years.
None of us need a magic system. We could trade profitably using nothing but trend lines and S&R. The change has to occur within yourself. Know that you are a profitable trader, and you are one. Know that you are a loser, and you are one. The world is very simple.Mmm,
Why, buddy? Let's imagine that I am a cook. That is my profession. If someone were to come up to me, and ask me if I can cook, I would not reply "sometimes..." or "if the kitchen suits me..." or "if all conditions are met properly and perfectly."
That's ridiculous. "YES. I CAN COOK. I'M AWESOME AT IT."
I'm sorry if you are offended by my words, but they are simple truths. I am not among those who are constantly searching for the next big disappointment. I'm a worst case scenario type of person, and I have 100% faith that no matter what situation you place me in, I will come out on top. And I have yet to be proven wrong, as you can see, I am still here with my freedom, health, and good nature.
I feel that I could trade on any market and be profitable. That is faith. I didn't mean it to be some mumbo jumbo, I'm just very serious about it, faith and confidence are the same thing. If I am not confident in a system, then I will not trust it, and my oh-so-powerful brain will intervene in my work, doing nothing for me but muck up whatever result my system might have brought me.
So essentially, if you do not have faith that you will succeed at what you are doing, success is just not possible. It doesn't matter if it's forex or rebuilding an engine. If you don't think you can do it, you can't. You'll give up.
The foreign exchange market is what it is. There are those who triumph over it, and those who are pummeled to the ground. What separates these people? It can't be their system, because we're all working off systems that are similar or exactly the same. The difference has to be within the person, it's the only logical thing.
What could separate a trader who can make 20, 30, 100 trades in a row without a loss and those who can trade 20, 20, 100 trades in a row without a gain? Is it their system?
No sir, it is their faith. The faith to stick with it.
There are a billion different ways to approach Forex trading. If half of your trades were losses, and half were gains, but your gains outweighed your losses 2:1, you would be a profitable trader, correct?
So what would you say is the deciding factor. I would say it's having the intelligence to see a profitable opportunity, and having faith in your own intelligence to follow through with it.
Of course what could I possibly expect from someone who gets angry over a forum posting? I'm quite sorry that you are perturbed. Perhaps in the future you will understand and bypass these struggles for yourself.
Oh, by the way, never take the red pills. They're full of meth.
You are comparing apples and oranges.
Cooking, and Surviving are two very different things on the scale of necessity.
If you trade for a living, you don't trade on faith.
If you cook professionally, you don't cook on faith- you cook on what you know.
If your career is on the line, and you don't think the facilities meet your requirements, you do not cook. Because it's your credibility on the line.
Understand?
Thanks.
No, I really don't understand. But that's quite alright.
I feel that we are misunderstanding each other. I am not saying that you should simply open up a trade and "faith" it into a profit. That may or may not happen, but that is not a good approach.
But if I hand you a system that I can prove is profitable, and you can not make a profit out of it, YOU CANNOT BLAME MY SYSTEM.
You can only blame your self.
That's all I'm trying to say. Success happens in ourselves first. Be it lack of understanding or lack of "faith," it is not the system that failed, it is you.
I'm not claiming to be a prodigy at this. When I first started trading I lost many thousands of dollars. So let me point this out. If trading is the only way you have to make money, you had better be REALLY GOOD AT IT. I am a quality assurance auditor. It is my job to recognize what people are companies are doing well at and what they are not. You don't make money off of something you're not good at. So if you think you're going to take up trading with no knowledge and support yourself...
I hope that you have a rich wife.
This is hard stuff. All I am saying... and please don't get all angry again, because I don't see how that is necessary... is that if you do not have faith in what you are doing, then you need to do something else. If you don't believe that you will get more profitable signals than negative signals, then aren't you wasting your time. We're here for profits, not losses!
If you don't have faith in what you're doing, something is wrong. Either you're not doing it right, or it, in itself, is not right. I don't know. I hate bickering. But I'm not going to have you knock on a perfectly legitimate statement that helped me become good at what I do, because I know it can help others too, and in the end that's all we're here for. Folks, don't listen to him. Forex is a beast, but it's not a monster. You can tame it. You can own it. But if you think you're going to learn it in a month and have it be your only source of income, I can only hope you are really good at it.
As far as serious, long term trading is concerned, YES, FAITH. IF WHAT YOU WERE DOING DIDNT WORK, YOU WOULDNT HAVE FAITH IN IT. AND IF YOU DONT HAVE FAITH IN WHAT YOU ARE DOING, YOU WONT LET IT WORK.
Thank you drgoodvibe, I like your name!
On a side note, if you really want to own the psychological side of trading, which in my humble opinion is 90 percent of the game, pick up a copy of Jack Schwager's book "Market Wizards." It's an eye opener. I particularly enjoy the section about Ed Seykota. Without this book the stock market would have pummeled me.
Also, an entire volume could be written on this statement, but take from it what you wish. In the words of Han Solo: Don't get cocky.Been seaching google to download a free version of this ebook , could you share it here pls. Thanks.
Lords,
I have it in hardcopy, so I can't really share it. I got it on Amazon for like $3, so that's probably the way to go. It was recommended to me way back when, that's the only reason I'm aware of it.
I did find a torrent of it, here: Market_Wizards Torrent Download
But it seems to be in bad health, I doubt you'll be able to download it. It is an older book, speaking mostly of futures and stock currencies, but the psychological aspects remain the same.
Also, Walander, please don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Based on your animosity I would say there's a lot you can learn from me.
See attachment. There's more than a "survival" living there, and I have a "day job." It's people who jump to conclusions that put people like me in jail. Really.
- Free trading apps
- Over 8,000 signals for copying
- Economic news for exploring financial markets
You agree to website policy and terms of use