Are you a winner or a loser?

[ProTrader]

thought about starting a thread to see how you identify yourself in terms of trading success: are you a winner or a loser? Give at least 3 reasons to support your point of view

I consider myself a winner because:

1. I know how much I'm gonna risk on each trade before even placing the trade
2. I adapt very easily to changing market conditions
3. I don't believe in holy grails

and you?

[OverTheTop]

I consider myself in a limbo . I have previously been a loser primarily due to my fear of pulling the trigger. thanks to this site, I was able to understand there was a problem and work toward a solution. Now, I don't have that problem anymore and I'm on my way to become slightly profitable.

[Luvnrio]

I'll take a stab at this,

Even with having only 6 months worth of knowledge in this business, I consider myself a winner because;

1. I'm fearless.
   
2. My attention to detail.
   
3. I still have 90% of my initial funds. (ok, 87%)

They who lose today may win tomorrow. - Cervantes

[aiki14]

I'll give it a try as well,

I think of myself as a winner because:

1) I am relentless
2) I am emotionless in my trades
3) I haven't had a down month in 3 years and have averaged 1.2% per week net of expenses over that time.

My goal is to make an average of 2% per week for a year. Which is about 150 trading days for me.

Reading back it sounds boastful, sorry about that.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

I think of myself as a breakeven guy mostly due to my bad habit of picking bottoms and selling tops (unsuccessfully) do you guys know how I can overcome this?

luvnrio, congrats. losing only 13% of your stake in 6 months is a great achievement for a novice trader

aiki, 1.2% per week over a 3-year period is an outstanding achievement. how do I become like you? just kidding...

[Leth]

Hmmm..

I lose more trades than I win, so technically I'm a bigger loser than I am a winner on paper. And I'm OK with that because I know how to lose.

[Leth]

If your are not successful at picking tops and bottoms...try picking the middles. I hope this doesn't sound like a smartass answer, because it is not. Im just saying that trying something different may work better for you. As they say, "you never know till ya bet."

Leth

[Luvnrio]

Originally Posted by BuyLowSellHigh

I think of myself as a breakeven guy mostly due to my bad habit of picking bottoms and selling tops (unsuccessfully) do you guys know how I can overcome this?

luvnrio, congrats. losing only 13% of your stake in 6 months is a great achievement for a novice trader

aiki, 1.2% per week over a 3-year period is an outstanding achievement. how do I become like you? just kidding...

Buylowsellhigh, thanks for the compliment, however, my 13% doesn't include one stock I should have cut 4 buxs ago and until I cash out, I won't consider it a loss... I'm sure everyone holds on to one in the beginning. (atleast i hope i'm not the only one) Maybe it will come back and maybe not. But I won't be forgetting anytime soon to cut my losses at a predetermined stop.

As for your issue with picking bottoms and selling tops, picking bottoms is a coin toss with a tight stoploss set IMHO. Win some lose some. Nobody can pick bottoms, and if they say they can their lying. (I read that somewhere) as for tops, I set a predetermined exit price and raise my stoploss as it increases.

RiO

[kerahc]

Originally Posted by Luvnrio

Buylowsellhigh, thanks for the compliment, however, my 13% doesn't include one stock I should have cut 4 buxs ago and until I cash out, I won't consider it a loss... I'm sure everyone holds on to one in the beginning. (atleast i hope i'm not the only one) Maybe it will come back and maybe not. But I won't be forgetting anytime soon to cut my losses at a predetermined stop.

As for you issue with picking bottoms and selling tops, picking bottoms is a coin toss with a tight stoploss set IMHO. Win some lose some. Nobody can pick bottoms, and if they say they can their lying. (I read that somewhere) as for tops, I set a predetermined exit price and raise my stoploss as it increases.

RiO

So have you sold the stock you said you should have 4 dollars ago yet? If you haven't would you buy the stock right now if you didn't already have a position? If the answer is no then you need to dump that stock right now and buy something that you have a better shot of making money at. If you let money sit in a stock that is going down or sideways you not only lose the money but also the opportunity cost of that money being tied up instead of sitting in an equity that is going up so it's a double whammy.

If I don't have a plan and love an idea that I'm trading then I don't own a stock past that moment. Please remember that all ideas don't work out and just because you sell that stock you can always buy it back when you see it starting to reverse. Unless someone has skin in the game their opinion doesn't matter no matter how smart you think they are, please remember that it just might save you.

[Luvnrio]

kerahc, thanks for your concern and your trading advice. No, I have not sold the stock yet as stated in my post and my reasons for holding on to it are purely psychological. This trade was my third ever made and was a huge learning experience for me and since then I have learned many other things. As for would I buy that stock now, the answer is, not at this time.

Please understand that I have a huge respect for my money and knowing that, trust me when I say the money missed in that trade is but a small price for an important lesson learned. Of course when it does come back, I will be well disciplined in the area of money management and no longer need it as a reminder.

Again thanks and good trading
RiO