Best Day Ever(Almost)

I have changed the way I trade in the last few days. I was getting tired of entering trades only to see them go against me, and having to cut out because the markets have such big moves that you just dont know if, or where, they will stop. So I have changed my entry points a bit. After a few difficult days I was starting to see good results, and was becoming more confident. Todays trading felt awesome, I was making more money per race, and wasnt putting myself in difficult positions. with 1 race left to go, I had made over £30 using £35 stakes, and was already composing this post in my mind. So, onto the last race, where I seemed to forget everything I had learned, and basically went to pieces, discipline-wise. One draw back to my new style of trading is that if I'm not totally on the ball, and things go against me, I can be looking at a bigger red than what I am used to, very quickly. I put in a trade at a stupid entry point, where the market promptly went against me big time.Did I stay calm, focused, look at the other runners, take in all available information? No. Did I cut out quickly and without emotion, at any of the exit points available to me? No. I just sat there, and hoped, until the red became too big for me to bear, where I cut out for a £15 loss.
Tiredness was probably a factor, as well as greed and fear of "messing up" my best ever PnL. Even though I have made progress, I still need to change my mindset a lot, with regard to losses. Maybe I should go and see a sports psychologist or something because there seems to be a mental block that I cant get over.

Dont take it personally

Does it ever seem like the markets have it in for you? That they are just waiting for you to enter your trade and then go against it? I have felt like this at times over the last couple of weeks, as I keep getting caught out by unexpected fast moves. Obviously I know on an intellectual level that the market is impersonal and uncaring, just doing its own thing with no regard for what most of us are doing. But on an emotional level it is hard not to feel sometimes that the markets are targeting you specifically and just waiting to pounce on your ill-timed trade. This is not a good mindset for your trading as you will feel anger towards the markets, which will lower your concentration and block out the information you need to take in, as well as perhaps making you start not to care about your results, or end up putting in unthinking trades in an attempt to get back your losses. This is something I am going to have be wary of.

I only managed to trade the 2 evening meetings yesterday, but I did ok, making about a tenner. I usually find the evening meetings easier to trade, less spoofers, slightly less volatile. The only problem is the crazy guy who every now and then sticks in huge back bets near to the off, but I managed to stay clear of him last night.

March so far

I havent posted much recently, as I haven't been able to trade much so far this month, had to go away for a few days, and the days I have traded I have really found it quite difficult. It feels so random and swingy, and it seems that every trade goes against me. I know this isnt the case, so it must be partly a mental thing, and maybe that is affecting my trading. I have definitely lost something from my trading , and I'm not sure what it is.After last months consistency, I was looking for the same again, but I dont think thats going to happen this month. To try and keep things positive though, I am still in profit for the month. I have also started looking at trading the greyhounds in the mornings and have had some success there so far.
Will just have to keep grinding away, and hope some sort of penny drops as to where I am going wrong

February Summary

Ive got to be pleased with this months results, only 1 losing day, and I feel like I have made big strides forward in consistency and discipline. I am still hitting some big losses sometimes, from entering the market at the wrong time, but even my bad days are still ending up in profit, I am taking the losses well, and I am not going in play. I have started tidying up my positions when it hits 1 minute to the off, and am aiming to not open any new positions after that, as I have been caught out too many times by the unpredictable movements, and there is also the added danger of being caught in play.

Heres my PnL for the month


And the average win and loss per day


I raised my stakes to £35 for the last few days of the month, and that will account for some of the reasons why my average loss was increasing, but I am still hitting too many large losses for my liking. I know that stopping trading earlier will help lower this.

My strike rate



I did find the second half of the month a bit more of a struggle, with more losing races.

I know that there are still areas I can improve on( concentration, patience, dedication, controlling my greed and sometimes boredom) but this month has been a real encouragement.

Think Happy Thoughts

I was reading my old blog posts, and was surprised at how negative I sound sometimes.Well, maybe not surprised, as I am negative a lot of the time, but I didn't think it had come across in the blog. I was trying to describe the problems and feelings that trading brings, maybe I need to find something else to blog about. If I am not going to do negative posts about trading, and I don't want the blog to just become a daily PnL report, what am I going to write about? I dont know yet.

Things have been going great this month though, I have upped my stakes to £35 in the last 2 days, will do a monthly report soon.

Raging

Last two days have felt like a bit of a struggle compared to earlier in the month. It feels like there is a bit less money in the markets, and they are a bit more unpredictable. I have found myself hitting a few more losing races, and my anger has been building. Its stupid to get angry, I know, but its been happening quite a lot as I perceive the market turning on me. I try to take a minute after each losing race to feel calm and accept the loss, and this does help, but when something like today happens, I end up just exploding. Things were going along ok, then I hit a £3.25 loss when trying to lay a horse close to the off time, as it looked to be drifting, but it came back in, as they often do. a couple of races later, I saw a horse drifting a bit close to the off time, so I thought " this time, I am not going to get caught out laying it when its obviously going to just come back in, so I will back it!!"
of course, it went through the price so I thought, " well, it will still come in, so I will back it again!!!".
Price continues out, and there's a few seconds before off time, so I did a final back waiting for it to come back in, it never did, and I took a £7.57 loss just before the race started. At least I didn't go in play I suppose. I was absolutely raging. Stupid to be so angry over something I have no control over, and the things I did have control over, ie entry and exit points, were done to the best of my abilities. I think I was extra angry because this is my first losing day this month, and everything had been going really well up to now. I need to make sure that I deal with this, accept it, and keep trading the way I have been.

A good week.

Trading has carried on in the same manner as I left off in my last post, and I am really happy with the way things are going at the moment. If someone was to ask me what has changed in the last couple of weeks, I wouldn't be able to tell them, but something obviously has, and I have hit a new level of consistency. I think all the things I have been learning over the last few months are finally becoming part of my subconscious, the thought processes needed to trade successfully are being ingrained.
Mark Douglas was right when he said no-one can tell you how to trade. Stock phrases like "cut your losses" and " let your profits run" are kind of obvious, but to actually understand what they mean in a real trading context, you need to experience the situations for yourself, experience the feelings that a losing trade gives you, and get over the emotional response. I think maybe that has been the leap forward I have made, a lessening in the fear, along with more trust in myself to do the required action in each situation. You would think that fear would be a good response to have, it would stop you from over-exposing yourself to the market, but it actually stops you from taking opportunities that present themselves. If you take more opportunities as they come, and deal with each one appropriately, without hesitation or emotion, whether its cutting out, closing, or letting it run, then you should be well on the way to learning how to trade.