Archive for March, 2010
Do You Trade Your E mini Account, or Does it Trade You?
March 25th, 2010 | 
Author: It is not uncommon to hear trading educators describe e mini trading as part art and part science. In my opinion, nothing could be farther from the truth. Trading is about probability and consistency in thought. That’s a difficult pill for many to swallow; but it is, nonetheless, the essence of e mini trading.
Great traders take high probability trades consistently and pass on low probability trades. The Hollywood notion of the high-stakes trader taking big-time risks and consistently winning is a folly. Traders who consistently risk too much usually end up broke. For this reason, novice traders should not buy into the notion that trading is a get rich quick proposition. It isn’t. Yet late-night infomercials trumpet the million dollar a year potential that exists in day trading.
The name of the game is low risk, high probability trading day in and day out. This is only possible when a trader has complete control of his trading from a psychological point of view. Quite simply, good traders trade only the chart in front of them. They do not trade the economic news, the talking heads on the financial news networks, or rumors that are found daily on the Internet chat boards.
How does a trader become consistent?
It is not uncommon for inexperienced traders to have several losing trades in succession. The natural result of this experience is to worry about the amount of money in their futures trading account, and this is precisely when the problems begin because the trader tends to lose sight of sound trading technique and risk management in order to get his account back to where he started the day. No one likes to lose money. But there are two ways to approach this problem:
- An experienced trader continues to trade with sound technique no matter what his trading results may be. He or she knows that there are no 100% guaranteed trades out there and even though he or she has chosen high probability trades, he or she has come out on the wrong side of the probability equation.
- And inexperienced trader often times makes adjustments in his trading style in an attempt to get caught up to his opening balance. These adjustments may include trading at a higher number of contracts or taking lower probability trades hoping they will “work out.” This is, of course, the recipe for account meltdown. Over trading and taking a higher risk trades is not the answer to the problem. Yet it is precisely what I have observed over many years of watching novice traders who fall behind.
The ability to maintain self-discipline under duress is a trait all good traders possess. I suppose some people are born with this self-discipline, but I suspect that most good traders learn this trade through experience. There is no need to panic after a sequence of unsuccessful trades. If the trader took good trades, high probability trades, and losses he or she must understand that this is part of trading. Even the best setups have a probability component that includes losing.
What is the answer to this problem?
As hard as it may seem to swallow, the answer to a sequence of losing trades is to continue doing what you’re doing; that is to say the trader must continue trading a reasonable number of contracts on high probability trades. Changing your trading style to accommodate the balance in your futures trading account is not the answer. Yet, even among experienced traders I see this phenomena.
The exact opposite of the above situation can be true also. Imagine a trader who puts together several very profitable trades. In this situation, there are two possible outcomes:
- An experienced trader continues to trade with the same methodology as usual. He or she realizes that stringing together a few good trades means nothing except he or she has taken high probability trades and the probability of the trades has been true.
- And inexperienced trader may suffer from the delusion that he or she is having a “hot” day and trade more contracts or take lower probability trades with the thought that he or she is on a winning streak. There are no winning streaks and e mini trading.
The point here is a simple one; you have to trade the chart in front of you consistently regardless of the outcome of your trades. If you are taking high probability trades and losing, that is an integral part of the trading game. Of course, losing several trades in succession can affect your trading account balance; we do not trade our account balance; we trade the chart in front of us.
Posted in E-mini Day Trading, Emini Trading, Trading Account | 
Tags: E-mini Day Trading, Emini Trading, Trading Account | 
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