hi rom, mate, yours is not an unusual experience. As we say here over and over, at least 90% of traders lose money. The market has to be that way, it makes a few rich and the majority poorer. Reckon you've got what it takes to get to be one of the 5-10%?
That being said, you can make money trading. Its an unusual occupation tho, for sure. Has taken me about 5 years from when i first dabbled and now I consistently make profits. Its more a passion than a job or a lifestyle. You'll put in more hours on this than any other job I ever knew. The seduction is the complexity of the game and the potentially unlimited rewards.... if you're able to manage the risk.
To get to your trading situation that you've described, I think of these sort of downturns as guerilla warfare. Its the market against all of us, long or short. Market has no friends, expects none. And its going to test your nads EVERY trade.
the technical bits are easy: how to enter a downturn, when and how to chase, when to stay out, what markets to trade that suit YOU best, knowing your edge etc etc... The psych bits are hard. It seems to me that stop placement (actual or mental) is technically and psychologically one of the hardest aspects, and sounds like thats whats getting to you. This is where the market screws most of us most of the time, is my guess. Every losing trade I've made over the last recent whatever has been from being stopped out either right on the point when the market reverses back in the direction of my trade, or very close to it. Its the guerilla warfare stuff. The obvious solution is to extend my stops but it takes big big nads to remain confident as your position gets redder and redder. This is especially true of the usa markets. Euros are a fraction more forgiving. To counter this situation, I've started calculating the potential loss between my entry and my PRECHOSEN stop before I enter the trade. I typically use some natural feature of the chart landscape to figure out where to place my stop, and use atr to assist in that. Volatile times require wider stops. Here's the kicker. If the distance between entry and stop is too great, I don't take the trade or I reduce my trade size. The classic calculation is not to take the trade if the $ value of the distance between entry and stop exceeds 2% of trading capital on each trade.
traders handle the fear aspect in different ways. Some are just disciplined, some actually write off the trade as a loss before they enter, other do freaky stuff like pretending they are watching someone else do the trade. Some fondle goats. Some spew. Even professional traders have a heart rate of about 140% their normal rate when in a trade. me.. i draw nipples on Prophets latest piccy!! lol.. screen is a mess.
the 2% rule is the key. Lose one trade or even a few and you've still got enough to come back again. Usually 2% is the sort of money you can get comfortable with. Sorry for rabbiting on, went to bed last night but couldn't sleep, ended up trading most of the night... again. good luck.
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