I think one of my weaknesses is daytrading. I lose money consistently trying to make money intraday. The largest gains have been made through multi-week /month holdings. This is why my IRA outperforms my "trading" portfolio.
I lost money trading BKS which was weak today. I set a stop, lowered it, and lost more money while I bought the same stock in my IRA at a lower price, and held it. I know BKS will be a winner, but I fear holding stocks in my "trading" portfolio because I'll get stuck with it.
I would likely outperform by treating my trading portfolio for now on as a swing portfolio. If I feel the need to set a tight stop, I would do best to avoid that trade.
I have adjusted how I use charts now (using no indicators) and it has helped me 'see' the markets better.
In general, I have picked many winners but still sell them far too early, even when I know they are going up... seeming to sabotage my own longer term timeframe when I make the purchase.
The trading style that best suits me is a lot more boring. Daytrading provides a great deal of excitement when I enter a trade. I need to forego the excitement of trading. Excitement equals losses. Trading emotionally after a loss tends to result in bad decisions as well. Once I determine a stock has support and is rising. I can enter and exit if the support level fails. But my timeframe needs to be longer and I need to be willing to leave a trade alone once I've determined it is suitable and meets all my criteria.
Keeping the size small makes it easier to leave it. To improve:
1) make fewer, better trades
2) keep trades on until support fails -- do not take quick profits or change spontaneously
3) lower position size.
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