Where I went wrong placing my stop in $APC

I had my stop placed 2pts. from my entry at 83.17, at 81.17. However, after looking closer at my 30 min chart, I should've had it in two spots. Either on a break of the 50ma at 82.35 or a little below 81.00. That's not to say this trade is going to work or not. I just felt I was stopped out prematurely. 

$APA - 30min set up

Earnings April 28th

$WYNN - 30min Set up

$USO - 30min

$COP - remaining strong

COP has remained strong, bounced back to highs off of 50d pretty quickly. Worth watching here.

$PNRA - Setting up here

PNRA is some what thinly traded but setting up to make a move higher. Held up well today as the market closed on lows.

Current Watch List $$

APA
APC
EOG
WLT
DO

BHI
HOC

LULU
FOSL
EL
RL
UA

OPEN
BIDU
SOHU
SINA
APKT
TZOO
PPO
GPOR
MELI

SLW
SLV
GLD

$APC Break Out couldn't hold today

I started a small position in APC today at 83.17. Stops are at 81ish.

$EL clear skies as it heads to new highs

$LULU Making new highs today.

Kristin Cavallari sportin' that Lululemon Athletica

Sometimes, You Just Have To Jump...

Of course the same things happen in all speculative markets. The message of the tape is the same. That will be perfectly plain to anyone who will take the trouble to think. But people never take the trouble to ask questions, leave alone seeking answers. The one game of all games that really requires study before making a play is the one he goes into without his usual highly intelligent preliminary and precautionary doubts. He will risk half his fortune in the stock market with less reflection than he devotes to the selection of a 
medium-priced automobile.
-J.L.

I believe that having the discipline to follow your rules is essential. Without specific, clear, and tested rules, speculators do not have any real chance of success. Why? Because speculators without a plan are like a general without a strategy, and therefore without an actionable battle plan. Speculators without a single clear plan can only act and react, act and react, to the slings and arrows of stock market misfortune, until they are defeated.
-J.L.

First, do not be invested in the market all the time. There are many times when I have been completely in cash, especially when I was unsure of the direction of the market and waiting for a confirmation of the next move....Second, it is the change in the major trend that hurts most speculators.
-J.L.

I believe that the public wants to be led, to be instructed, to be told what to do. They want reassurance. They will always move en masse, a mob, a herd, a group, because people want the safety of human company. They are afraid to stand alone because they want to be safely included within the herd, not to be the lone calf standing on the desolate, dangerous, wolf-patrolled prairie of contrary opinion.
-J.L.

Trading and Poker: Reaching the Next Level of Success

By: Brett Steenbarger

Well, that's another way poker might be like trading: It's easy to participate, difficult to sustain success. Many just play for the thrills of winning and losing; relatively few systematically learn from experience and build skills over time. 

One reason online poker is particularly promising is that players can play so many hands at one time. This allows for the possibility of accelerated learning; the online poker participant can gain years of live tournament experience in a matter of weeks. But this is only possible if the experience is structured in such a way as to generate frequent, timely feedback and goal-focused efforts at improvement.

Imagine a training program for traders in which there is daily observation of leading traders making decisions, frequent interaction with those traders to understand what they are doing and why, and supervision of students' trading decisions by those traders. It would be like having world-class poker champions sitting behind your shoulder as you play, offering immediate observations and coaching. Expertise development that normally might require many years of effort could now occur in a fraction of that time.

That is the vision.

The key is recognizing that it is the structure--and not just the content--of a learning experience that accounts for its success. Most learning efforts fail because there are too few cycles of performance-feedback-goal setting-corrective effort per unit of time and no clear curricular progression guiding the content of those cycles.

Interested in reading more about enhanced learning and developing elite trading skills? Here are a few sources worth checking out:

* Enhancing Trader Performance - This is the book that I wrote to capture the progression of successful traders from novice status to competence to expertise. 

* The Talent Code - Dan Coyle's book nicely draws upon research to show that elite levels of performance are as much a function of training as inborn ability.

* Talent is Overrated - Excellent book by Geoff Colvin that documents how the structure of practice is a major contributor to successful performance.

The core concept is that, whether you are a poker player, trader, or something else, you can become much better at what you do by creating more and better learning cycles. For the real champions, nothing less will suffice.
.

The Traders Mindset

By Bennett McDowell

Developing “The Trader’s Mindset” is a must for trading success and this can take some time. This is not an area where you can take a short cut or learn a formula. You usually develop it by actually trading and the experiences you gain from trading. We will help guide you towards developing “The Trader’s Mindset” and help you handle account draw-downs, losses, and profits. Yes, profits can actually cause you stress!

You can see how powerful psychology in trading is, if you show the same successful trading approach to one hundred different traders. No two of them will trade it exactly the same way. Why? Because each trader has a unique belief system and their beliefs will determine their trading style. That is why even with a profitable and proven trading approach, many traders will fail. They do not have the proper belief system to enable them to trade well. In other words, they lack “The Trader’s Mindset.”

When you encounter psychological issues it is best to recognize the issue, just be aware of it, don’t deny it. In order to “fix” psychological issues we as human beings must first become aware of the problem and issues causing the problem in order to heal and “fix” the problem. This is much of what psychoanalysis is all about. The psychologist or psycho- therapist tries to let the patient first see the problem and then the patient must believe that these issues are causing the problem in order for the patient to heal. The reason this process can take so long, perhaps even years is because the patient needs to not only recognize their problems, but must accept that there truly is a problem. They must take responsibility for their problems to heal.

Success in trading is a direct result of a sound trading system, sound money management, proper capitalization, and sound psychology. All of these must be in sync to be successful in your trading. The “ART” system is designed to focus on all of these areas. The only area where you may need additional help once you have mastered your trading skills, is your psychology.

Psychology is the one area that you may need additional help and can take up to a year or so to resolve personal issues attaining trading success. Our consultation services focus on this aspect and if you find yourself struggling with psychological issues, you owe it to yourself to get help in this area.

Here is a list of common psychological trading issues and their causes:

Fear Of Being Stopped Out Or Fear Of Taking A Loss: The usual reason for this is that the trader fears failure and feels like he or she cannot take another loss. The trader’s ego is at stake.

Getting Out Of Trades Too Early: Relieving anxiety by closing a position. Fear of position reversing and then feeling let down. Need for instant gratification.

Adding On To A Losing Position (Doubling Down): Not wanting to admit your trade is wrong. Hoping it will come back. Again, ego is at stake.

Wishing And Hoping: Not wanting to take control or take responsibility for the trade. Inability to accept the present reality of the market place.

Compulsive Trading: Drawn to the excitement of the markets. Addiction and Gambling issues are present. Needing to feel you are in the game.

Anger After A Losing Trade: The feeling of being a victim of the markets. Unrealistic expectations. Caring too much about a specific trade. Tying your self-worth to your success in the markets. Needing approval from the markets.

Excessive Joy After A Winning Trade: Tying your self-worth to the markets. Feeling unrealistically “in control” of the markets.

Limiting Profits: You don’t deserve to be successful. You don’t deserve money or profits. Usually psychological issues such as poor self-esteem.

Not Following Your Proven Trading System: You don’t believe it really works. You did not test it well. It does not match your personality. You want more excitement in your trading. You don’t trust your own ability to chose a successful system.

Over Thinking The Trade, Second Guessing Your Trading Signals: Fear of loss or being wrong. Wanting a sure thing where sure things don’t exist. Not understanding that loss is a part of trading and the outcome of each trade is unknown. Not accepting there is risk in trading. Not accepting the unknown.

Not Trading The Correct Position Size: Dreaming the trade will be only profitable. Not fully recognizing the risk and not
understanding the importance of money management. Refusing to take responsibility for managing your risk.

Trading Too Much: Need to conquer the market. Greed. Trying to get even with the market for a previous loss. The
excitement of trading (similar to Compulsive Trading).

Afraid To Trade: No trading system in place. Not comfortable with risk and the unknown. Fear of total loss. Fear of ridicule.
Need for control.

Irritable after the Trading Day: Emotional roller coaster due to anger, fear, and greed. Putting too much attention on trading
results and not enough on the process and learning the skill of trading. Focusing on the money too much. Unrealistic trading expectations.

Trading With Money You Cannot Afford To Lose Or Trading

With Borrowed Money: Last hope at success. Trying to be successful at something. Fear of losing your chance at
opportunity. No discipline. Greed. Desperation.

These are by no means all the psychological issues but these are the most common. They usually center around the fact that for one reason or another, the trader is not following their chosen trading approach or system. And instead prefers to wing it or trade their emotions which in trading will always get you in trouble. So, I think you can see how psychology is all important in trading.

Our goal as traders in regards to psychology is to maintain an even keel so to speak when trading. Our winning trades and losing trades should not affect us. Obviously we are trading better when we are winning, but emotionally we should strive to maintain an even balance emotionally in regards to our wins and our losses.

It will happen when it happens and when you achieve this level of mental ability; it will come after working long and hard on your problems, but will come without you knowing it. It usually happens when you least expect it.

Below is a list of what one feels after acquiring “The Trader’s Mindset.”

-Sense of calmness
-Ability to focus on the present reality
-Not caring which way the market breaks or moves
-Always aligning trades in the direction of the market, flowing
with the market
-Not caring about the money
-Always looking to improve your skills
-Profits now accumulating and flowing in as your skills improve
-Keeping an open mind, keeping opinions to a minimum
-Accepting the risk in trading
-No Anger
-Learning from every trade
-Winning and losing trades accepted equally from an emotional
standpoint
-Enjoying the process
-Trading your chosen approach or system and not being
influenced by the market or others
-Not feeling a need to conquer or control the “market”
-Feeling confident and feeling in control of “yourself”
-A sense of not forcing the markets or yourself
-Trading with money you can afford to risk
-No feeling of ever being victimized by the markets
-Taking full responsibility for your trading

When you can read the list above and genuinely say that’s me, you have arrived!

2006© TradersCoach.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

$SRCL - Medical Waste Disposal Leader

Interview on Seeking Alpha With W. Scott O’Neil

Ten Lessons I Have Learned in Working With Traders

By Brett N. Steenbarger, Ph.D.

When I sat down to write this article, I thought it would be challenging—but useful—to distill over 20 years of trading experience—and 25 years of specializing in brief therapy—into ten lessons that I have learned while working with traders (including myself!). In that time, I’ve written two books on trading and worked with dozens of professional traders at a proprietary trading firm. What has this taught me? Let’s break it down:

1. Trading affects psychology as much as psychology affects trading – This was really the motivating factor behind my writing the new book. Many traders experience stress and frustration because they are trading poorly and lack a true edge in the marketplace. Working on your emotions will be of limited help if you are putting your money at risk and don’t truly have an edge.

2. Emotional disruption is present even among the most successful traders – A trading method that produces 60% winners will experience four consecutive losses 2-3% of the time and as much time in flat performance as in an uptrending P/L curve. Strings of events (including losers) occur more often by chance than traders are prepared for.

3. Winning disrupts the trader’s emotions as much as losing – We are disrupted when we experience events outside our expectation. The method that is 60% accurate will experience four consecutive winners about 13% of the time. Traders are just as susceptible to overconfidence during profitable runs as underconfidence during strings of losers.

4. Size kills – The surest path toward emotional damage is to trade size that is too large for one’s portfolio. We experience P/L in relation to our portfolio value. When we trade too large, we create exaggerated swings of winning and losing, which in turn create exaggerated emotional swings.

5. Training is the path to expertise – Think of every performance field out there—sports, music, chess, acting—and you will find that practice builds skills. Trading, in some ways, is harder than other performance fields because there are no college teams or minor leagues for development. From day one, we’re up against the pros. Without training and practice, we will lack the skills to survive such competition.

6. Successful traders possess rich mental maps – All successful trading boils down to pattern recognition and the development of mental maps that help us translate our perceptions of patterns into concrete trading behaviors. Without such mental maps, traders become lost in complexity.

7. Markets change – Patterns of volatility and trending are always shifting, and they change across multiple time frames. Because of this, no single trading method will be successful across the board for a given market. The successful trader not only masters markets, but masters the changes in those markets.

8. Even the best traders have periods of drawdown – As markets change, the best traders go through a process of relearning. The ones who succeed are the ones who save their money during the good times so that they can financially survive the lean periods.

9. The market you’re in counts as much toward performance as your trading method – Some markets are more volatile and trendy than others; some have more distinct patterns than others. Finding the right fit between trader, trading method, and market is key.

10. Execution and trade management count – A surprising degree of long-term trading success comes from getting good prices on entry and exit. The single best predictor of trading failure is when the average P/L of losing trades exceeds the average P/L of winners.

Well, I’ve already hit ten and I have at least ten more I could jot down. Number 11 would be that successful performance mentors have content expertise in their particular domain. What I mean by that is that teachers of concert musicians themselves have experience as musicians; basketball coaches invariably have played the sport themselves. You learn trading by seeing your mentor trade and by having your mentor observe your trading. The right mentorship goes a long way toward shortening learning curves.

Figure it out: what proportion of baseball players, golfers, actresses, chess players, singers, or bicyclists can make a consistent living from their performance activities? Is trading really so much easier than those activities? The stark reality is that expertise in any performance field is the exception, not the rule, requiring dedicated practice and training. If you are emotionally prepared for the learning curve—and excited by the challenge—you are well ahead of the game. Start with finding the Three M’s: right methods, markets, and mentors. Those are the foundation of success, upon which you build skills and experience. Enjoy the journey!