Trading at random

[Iron]

I'm not being funny Neil, but if you aren't prepared to be patient then you're in the wrong game. Your logic seems to me to be 'If I trade with larger amounts, then I'll make a decent income, and won't feel the need to take short-cuts to riches by going in-play'. That doesn't inspire much confidence.

What happens when, as a result of upping the ante, you end up with a sizable red? Will you try to win it back in-play? Maybe people do (I've certainly done so, on a number of occasions). Or what happens when greed or boredom kick in and cause you to go in-play, as you want more than the profits the market is giving you, and you don't want to slowly and steadily build up your bank and stake size?

The human ego wants everything and it wants it now, but the markets don't work that way.

Jeff

[LeTiss]

From that point I upped my stakes to £50 units when scalping. Reds where appearing everywhere, started panacking and it once went in play, got even more rabbit in the headlights and lost £50 in one go. I made completely different descions than I normally would as the stakes were so high and the reds so big.

This is the major reason why I've been against newbies playing around scalping in practice mode. Because when you start playing with real money and then upping your stakes even further......your heart pumps faster, your hands start to sweat, your brain becomes scrambled and the air is blue with your bad language.

It's not easy remaining calm and composed when the stake levels take you out of your comfort zone, but remember this is a trade, not a gamble, so if I'm not prepared to have a £50 punt on this horse, then don't let it go 'in play' - red up, take the loss and move onto the next market, because £50 scalps requires some sensational trades to recover £50, especially for those still learning what this game is all about

Good luck

[NeilSpence]

Today was the first day I had used £50 stakes and it certainly gave me a different perspective of what a red looks like. It certianly got me focsed and that is what I needed. Whther I stop the in play gambling, who knows but I know my scalping has improved if nothing more than making sure I only enter at the right times. Instead of having to enter 5-10 trades I can now only enter once and make the same amount.
Hopefully I am getting somehwere but the underlying issue is still there

[Iron]

This is the major reason why I've been against newbies playing around scalping in practice mode. Because when you start playing with real money and then upping your stakes even further......your heart pumps faster, your hands start to sweat, your brain becomes scrambled and the air is blue with your bad language.

I hear what you're saying, but there's another way of looking at practice mode.

I was watching an interview with Mark Douglas yesterday in which he said that paper trading is valuable because it shows you what you can achieve with discipline. Hopefully, the beginner will think, 'I have satisfied myself that, despite the losing trades, I can make a nice long-term income from this if I maintain iron discipline'. By contrast, if he goes straight in with real money, his emotions may cause him to trade without discipline from the outset, and he may never gain faith in the value of trading with discipline.

Jeff

[Iron]

A friend of mine quit smoking at New Year a couple of years ago. There were underlying issues there though - it was significant that he refused to bet with me that he'd stay off the fags. He said he didn't gamble. However, it's not really a bet if you're certain of the outcome. Rather predictably, he was soon smoking again.

He hadn't made a cast iron commitment never to smoke again - if he had, he'd have taken my money without hesitation - and it was just a matter of time before his inner chimp had him back on the fags (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Chimp-Parad ... 009193558X if you don't know what I mean by an inner chimp). Similarly, the fact that you say that there are underlying issues suggests to me that it's a question of when you crack, not if. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Jeff

Hopefully I am getting somehwere but the underlying issue is still there

[NeilSpence]

I agree that the answer at the minute is when, but hopefully I can overcome it before it happens and then it will just click and all fall into place. As Mark Douglas also says you dont need to spend more time looking at strategies etc, you have to spend nmore time looking at yourself. Thats where the problem is.

[Iron]

I agree re. the problem lying within. BTW, I'd recommend having a look at that inner chimp book. It's basically about overcoming self-sabotage. Ronnie O'Sullivan credits the author with turning his game around.

Jeff