Hi All,
Hope you all had a good day trading & did better than me. First post but hope to be a regular contributor. After a bit of advice or few pointers though.
This afternoon I was scalping single points. done ok upto 5.20 at Newmarket.
Then I screwed up. Backed the 2nd fave at 4 with an auto offset of 1. This was done just before it drifted like a steam train out to 5.3. I closed the deal at 4.8 & lost £6.61. Now can anyone tell me if there were any pointers that I should have been looking for to notice that drift. I don't have a large bank (£230) so all I'm trying to do at the moment is clear a tenner a day. The majority of my bets are successful allbeit small returns. But generally I tend to do good, then one race totally screws me up (ie. turns most if not all profits into losses). Upto this loss, I'd traded 3 races & had returns of £2, £2.50 & 5.50. But as usual, the single loss is ALWAYS higher than my highest win and quite often totally wipes out profit for the day putting me into a loss situation.
My bank was originally £400, but owing to mistakes & learning curves I took a few big knocks, added to my occasional failures have left me in the position I'm currently in. Now I'm battling to get back to my original bank, which I'm still confident is doable, if I can eliminate the few occasions when I screw up.
Often I make 10+ trades & everything goes sweet, gentle profit - then somehow the screwup occurs and I end up tearing my hair out. I've analysed & over analysed, given myself rules for every occasion etc. Now its getting where I'm so careful that sometimes just to make the first deal means I've already missed half a dozen opportunities, and filled with trepidation and probably over analysis just trying to avoid the one screw up that wrecks the days trading.
Any pointers greatly appreciated.
A little advice required
Its probably down to lack of discipline. Not getting out when deep down I know I should. Which is probably down to why I beat myself up so much after taking the loss - knowing that I should have known better.
Ah well, a new day today - hopefully no ****ups.
Good luck to you all.
Ah well, a new day today - hopefully no ****ups.
Good luck to you all.
Hey GPalmer,
You pretty much answered your own question, you’re not cutting your losses quick enough and/or not getting a good entry point. It's all down to experience and how well you can read the markets.
Unfortunately I have no magic tips.
As for today’s trading, I thought there was more money about then the last few days and I had an ok day although the last few races saw me go from near £200 profit to finish on £120, so bad ending.
You pretty much answered your own question, you’re not cutting your losses quick enough and/or not getting a good entry point. It's all down to experience and how well you can read the markets.
Unfortunately I have no magic tips.
As for today’s trading, I thought there was more money about then the last few days and I had an ok day although the last few races saw me go from near £200 profit to finish on £120, so bad ending.
I have a 3k bank but I'd say I use from £600 to £1500 dependng on the odds and the money in the market, I have extra incase I have a big loss from a internet/betfair crash. Becasue that's happened twice now and wiped my bank out.
If I was using a £200 bank I would expect to return about £20-30 a day.
If I was using a £200 bank I would expect to return about £20-30 a day.
Maybe I'm actually getting somewhere with this software, apart from the usual single mistake which cost me £9.04, every other deal went the following...
Won £1.42
Won £3.41
Won £3.45
Won £4.76
Won £4.60
I've changed from doing an auto offset and now put the deals in manually. This is probably one of my better days even with the big knock I took on one of the deals.
Now I'm frightened of putting another deal in today in case I screw it all up and take another big knock.
Hell, its probably a quirk and it'll all be back to normal after today with the usual losses & more screwups
Won £1.42
Won £3.41
Won £3.45
Won £4.76
Won £4.60
I've changed from doing an auto offset and now put the deals in manually. This is probably one of my better days even with the big knock I took on one of the deals.
Now I'm frightened of putting another deal in today in case I screw it all up and take another big knock.
Hell, its probably a quirk and it'll all be back to normal after today with the usual losses & more screwups
It is impossible to trade without taking a loss every now and again. The trick that good traders have is that they know this and just take their losses and move on.
I have made those same mistakes again and again making several good trades then making one trade that goes against me and not getting out early enough and seeing the position get worse and worse by the second just hoping it might improve. I hope I am getting some where with this trading game but I keep making one big mistake that takes me backwards having made several good trades.
Looking forward to the summer racing now lots of opportunities so hopefully I will put less pressure on myself and start to make some money again
I have made those same mistakes again and again making several good trades then making one trade that goes against me and not getting out early enough and seeing the position get worse and worse by the second just hoping it might improve. I hope I am getting some where with this trading game but I keep making one big mistake that takes me backwards having made several good trades.
Looking forward to the summer racing now lots of opportunities so hopefully I will put less pressure on myself and start to make some money again
I actually thought I wasn't doing too good overall cuz I've been battling with this for several months. But taking into account I hit a lowpoint with my bank of £185 several weeks ago - and over the weekend managed to hit £240. Ok, it ain't 'loadsa money', but for me its success.
Whenever I hit a bad deal, I tend to over-analyse and try to find a reason for what went wrong, so that I can create a rule so's I don't do it again. I've been in the habit of doing that since I started. Trouble is, I've created so many rules and pretty much changed most of them within a few days because something that failed one day doesn't mean to say it was a bad trade.
I'll carry on with the same systems I used over the weekend for the rest of the week & see how it goes.
Initially, I sorta looked on this as black and white. There were either good trades or bad. A bad trade lost money and visa versa. But when you see even the best have bad days, this ain't no exact science.
Anyway, thanks for the replies and good luck to trading this week.
Graham
Whenever I hit a bad deal, I tend to over-analyse and try to find a reason for what went wrong, so that I can create a rule so's I don't do it again. I've been in the habit of doing that since I started. Trouble is, I've created so many rules and pretty much changed most of them within a few days because something that failed one day doesn't mean to say it was a bad trade.
I'll carry on with the same systems I used over the weekend for the rest of the week & see how it goes.
Initially, I sorta looked on this as black and white. There were either good trades or bad. A bad trade lost money and visa versa. But when you see even the best have bad days, this ain't no exact science.
Anyway, thanks for the replies and good luck to trading this week.
Graham
-
TraderGray
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:59 pm
Somebody asked me once to define a good and bad trade. I realised at that time that I actually hadn’t really thought about it and figured that I really ought to have some sound idea anyway or, perhaps, I shouldn’t be trading at all.
Anyway, I came up with this and posted it on my blog…
A good trade is when you do everything right for the current conditions, whether there is a profit or loss at the end of it. If you do everything right then most of the time you will see a profit or, at worst, a very minimal loss.
A bad trade is when you break the necessary disciplines. You will find, in most cases, these will end as losses which will be bigger than your wins. If you do all the wrong things then expect your trading bank to disappear quickly.
I didn’t get too many adverse comments so I guess I was on the right track. Maybe the forum users will advise me accordingly.
Anyway, I came up with this and posted it on my blog…
A good trade is when you do everything right for the current conditions, whether there is a profit or loss at the end of it. If you do everything right then most of the time you will see a profit or, at worst, a very minimal loss.
A bad trade is when you break the necessary disciplines. You will find, in most cases, these will end as losses which will be bigger than your wins. If you do all the wrong things then expect your trading bank to disappear quickly.
I didn’t get too many adverse comments so I guess I was on the right track. Maybe the forum users will advise me accordingly.
Yep, its taken a while to sink in, but I now realise you can do a 'good' trade and still lose money. As you say, as long as the loss is minimal and all pointers were correct at the time of trade.
It ain't always gonna go your way, but as long as the system you use gives a majority of profitable trades and your able to minimise the loss makers.
After feeling like I've nearly been to hell & back doing this, I'm starting to feel another glimmer of excitement - hopefully not too short lived
Graham
It ain't always gonna go your way, but as long as the system you use gives a majority of profitable trades and your able to minimise the loss makers.
After feeling like I've nearly been to hell & back doing this, I'm starting to feel another glimmer of excitement - hopefully not too short lived
Graham