Currency Trading Information



LifeHealthInsurance.ca

How To Handle A String Of Losses


Everybody hates to lose and unfortunately no one is blessed with the ability of foresight, therefore losses are an unavoidable part of trading. When we enter a trade we will either be right, or wrong, and even if we broke-even we'd still be classed as being wrong - as nobody enters into a trade just to break-even! When unsuccessful traders encounter a string of losses they begin to engage in self-destructive patterns that help them escape the pain they are experiencing.

In this article we bring to light these self-destructive actions that can help you realize what you are doing before it takes hold of your physical health. If you find yourself already engaged in these patterns hopefully this article can help you to get you back on track as quickly as possible.

The Destructive Patterns

If you find yourself caught in a string of losses or a bad performing week/month be sure to monitor your behavior. It is during this time that you will be at your most vulnerable. You will begin to indulge in activities that at first seem harmless, but upon excessive use (or in time), begin to cause physical damage to your health.

Ask yourself the following question: during during drawdown periods do I find myself over-indulging in these activities:

> Food (especially junk food - eg. chocolate, ice-cream, chips)?

> Sex (includes viewing pornography)?

> Alcohol?

> Drugs (includes excessive smoking)?

> Laziness (find it difficult to wake up in the morning)?

> Entertainment?

All of the above taken in excessive doses can be detrimental to your own physical health (some even in small doses!).

These activities above during your losing period are only covering up the pain of confronting the true issue, and your body tries to rid the emotional pain by trying to "fix" it with physical pleasures. Unfortunately it is going about it in the wrong way, so what should you do?

Firstly... REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND STOP IT!

You need to realize what you're doing and you need to STOP doing it immediately! You can either decide to stop, or you'll be forced to stop when your body eventually breaks down and prevents you from any form of movement. It will be much more beneficial to you in the long-term if you can decide to stop *NOW*.

Once you have stopped you now need to figure out a way to solve the pain - not by cutting out or neglecting it, but by staring it in the face. Bring your problems out into the light, be honest with yourself. There can be no growth without pain, you are experiencing the emotional pain, now it is time to find the error and therefore your growth.

Begin Your Review

The review process begins in two separate areas: You & Your System. Here are some checklists for you to go through to find out where the problem could lie:

"YOUR SYSTEM" CHECKLIST

> Was your system thoroughly tested prior to trading it (or paper traded if you do not have the capacity to programme your system into backtesting software)?

> Did you test with out-of-sample data?

> Do you even have a system???? If you do not, how do you even know if the method that you are trading is even profitable??

> Is your system's code correct?

> Did you over-optimize your system? (what have we discussed about over-indulging?)

> Did you paper trade your system prior to placing capital on it?

> Did you trade with a small amount of capital prior to placing the rest of your funds on it?

> Do you know the system's limitations?

> Did you properly drill your system? (see our blog article on why I am the system designer from hell)

"YOU" CHECKLIST

> Is the current drawdown you are exhibiting with your system normal?

> Are you comfortable with your system's historical drawdown performance?

> Are you fully aware of the risks involved with your system and the instrument(s) you are trading?

> Are you trading with funds that you are comfortable risking?

> Are you relying too heavily on your performance?

> Have you set realistic goals?

As you can see there are generally two areas that you need to explore: the mechanical aspect - your system - and the emotional aspect - you. Both can be responsible for making the way you feel the way you do. It will either be an error on the system's side with how the system was tested and/or programmed, or it can be your own psychological profile not being comfortable with the system's performance.

Your Answers = Change = Your Growth

What steps should we now take? Now that we have begun a corrective process where we have stopped the evil nature of our over-indulging ways to take control we should continue our "corrective nature" by invoking our findings and taking ACTION in correcting our errors.

If the problem was mechanical - fix it, if the problem was emotional either go about setting up new thought patterns, or change your current system. The answers lie in whether you need to expand your knowledge in system development, or whether you need to grow emotionally as a person.

Unfortunately there is no easy road, and even if there was everybody would be doing it. Hopefully this article has made you ponder over some of your behaviors during drawdown periods, be sure to keep an eye on yourself and as always take care of your body, because there's no use in making all the money in the world when you don't have the physical capacity to enjoy it.

Ryan Sheehy is the author of http://www.currencysecrets.com where you will find more free articles and resources on forex trading. You can also subscribe for free to their monthly newsletter.


MORE RESOURCES:

The Excitement of Online Foreign Currency Trading
CountingPips
In fact, foreign currency trading is one of the biggest financial markets today. It's the internet and the speed which information can be at a trader's ...



CBC.ca

Euro stronger in currency trading as Greek lifeline emerges
Corporate FX
The euro made headway against the dollar and other major currencies this morning (March 16th) as European finance ministers knitted a lifeline to support ...
Euro Weakens as EU Finance Ministers Spar Over Aid to GreeceBusinessWeek
Dollar falls at end of week as Greece debt worries easeXinhua
Dollar falls against euro amid rumors of Greek aid planFinancial Express Bangladesh

all 2,398 news articles »


Currency trading has become accessible, but it's a bad bet for the average Joe
Dallas Morning News
Today, there are 13 currency-specific mutual funds and 36 ETFs that specialize in currency trading. The amount of money in these funds has increased from ...



US Currency Wars With China Looms
24/7 Wall St. (blog)
China is unwilling to let the value of the yuan “float” and be determined though the normal forces of trade and currency trading. If the American government ...

and more »


Currensee: The Facebook of Currency Trading Gets $8 Million
BloggingStocks (blog)
The growth of Facebook has been stunning, as the site has more than 400 million active users and is second only to Yahoo! (YHOO) in terms of traffic. ...

and more »


Michigan Business Review - MLive.com

Currency trading company in Grand Rapids is runaway global success
Michigan Business Review - MLive.com
GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP — One “pip” at a time, a small business born out of the desire to make currency trading easier has grown into an industry giant. ...



BigNews.biz (press release)

Forex currency trading system offers day trading software that guarantees results
News Broadcast
A Forex currency trading system that consistently produces results is worth its weight in gold. Guaranteed spreads of at least 100 to 200 pips daily, ...
FOREX.com Analysts Predict Choppy Seas Ahead for Traders in Second Quarter 2010PR Newswire (press release)
FOREX.com: FOREX.com Analysts Predict Choppy Seas Ahead for Traders in Second ...MyNewsdesk (press release)

all 18 news articles »


How Regulators Plan To Limit Leverage, And Make Retail Currency Trading Go The ...
The Business Insider
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed rules that would reduce the amount of borrowed funds that retail investors can use when investing in ...

and more »


Times Online

Euro Falls Most Since January as Leaders Spar Over Greece Aid
BusinessWeek
... than ever,” said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at FOREX.com, a unit of online currency trading firm Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey. ...
Ruble Regains '08 Level Versus EuroThe Moscow Times
Roundup: Dollar rises at end of week on Greece debt worriesistockAnalyst.com (press release)
Euro Falls on Concern Greece Will Struggle to Resolve DeficitBloomberg
Benzinga
all 2,458 news articles »


Canada's Flaherty Says Currency Is 'Competitive'
BusinessWeek
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency, trading the closest to parity with its US counterpart since July 2008, ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006