Not Following the Rules Can Hurt!
April 28, 2006 by Trader Rich
I am attaching a PDF file that includes all of my trades this week with date/time, P/L, max drawdown, max run-up, and important commentary about the trade including whether I followed the rules.
While I was putting this together, I realized that I failed to follow the rules 50% of the time. Do you know how many pips I lost because I didn't FOLLOW THE RULES?
113
How many pips did it cost me for following the rules?
43
This doesn't count the fact that I failed to follow the rules today in my GBP/USD trade that cost me 30 pips or more!
If I would have followed the rules 100% of the time, I would be about even.
I take full responsibility for my trades and blame only myself. I should also note that though this trading system has rules, it is discretionary.
Here is the file:
Forex Trade Report 28/04/2006,00:08 11.74 Kb
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Well, here a question for you, Rich. You’ve dropped a ton of money getting your education, as who hasn’t in the beginning. One can speculate about the motives of a mentor, whether that mentor be a college professor, a football coach or whatever. But–there ARE a few good mentors out there–so I’m sorry it was your luck to bump into the one(s) that didn’t serve you well. But I’m sorrier still when I see traders losing money consistently. That’s sad indeed, when it isn’t necessary. Let’s face the reality of forex: only 5% or less make consistent money, and those 5% over time end up making a LOT of money. And where doesn’t all that money come from? You and me, my friend, the other ninety-five percent. Man, for those that do well, talk about easy pickings! Not to take away from your good work, but too often I see you flogging yourself for all to see. In that kind of trading frame of mind, the outcome is almost predictable.
Ah, well. If I see your trading turning around consistently–then I’ll know you found your mentor. Good trading.
Excuse the mispells in my post. Bit of a hurry.
Yes, it is true that I have been flogged quite a bit. The reality is that though I have lost money, it hasn’t been more than $2000. That to me is not a lot for the over 6 months of experience I have received. The $1000 for a mentor is also money that I feel is well spent even though the results have not been realized yet.
The goal of this site is to be truthful and honest. I can tell all of you that though I have thought about not posting a losing trade in my trade history because of fear from criticism, I never did not post it. I feel strongly that if you cannot be honest with others, you cannot be honest with yourself and therefore you will never learn.
As always I appreciate all the comments that come in and hope that I can and others can learn from this. If after 2 years, I’m still posting crap about losing, then shoot me down because I should not be doing this. I am not without faults in my trading (specifically with randomly trying things with real money, emotional trades, overtrades, and all the rest) but after 6+ months, I still have confidence I can do this for a living. It’s not going to be easy but think of all the hope it will give others if I can manage to beat the odds.