TradeOutLoud

10 Trading Resolutions For The New Year

Filed Under: Trading | | Anka Metcalf

At this seasonal time of renewal, change and re commitment—this is the perfect time to evaluate our trading results and a time to make new resolutions.

An old saying comes to mind:

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

It is an old management adage that makes a lot of sense especially in trading. Unless you measure something you don’t know if it is getting better or worse.

Here’s my list.

1. Manage the tendency to overtrade. What is overtrading? It is the act of excessive buying or selling of a security in a defined period of time by increasing the risk limit. A lot of beginning traders find themselves over trading and the sooner they find out that in this career the more disciplined you are and the more successful you are the better it is for the trader’s future. Discipline is what it takes to make it to the next level.

2. Cut your losers and let your winners run. You often hear this but how are you actually applying it? Losing trades are inevitable, they happen; there is no trader, no high frequency trading computer on the planet that only racks 100% winners, losing is part of the game. It’s important to cut your losses before they develop into a red stream of losing trades and starts damaging your accounts. Never add to a losing trade. This requires discipline (again). On the other hand when you have a winning, profitable trade it is important to let the profits run, do not be tempted to close the trade too soon on the first pullback, give it room to develop, give it room to breathe.

3. Keep a trading journal. If you are not already keeping a journal I suggest you start. Keeping a record of all your trades offers the best trading strategy self analysis. It will give you an inside look into your trading strategies, habits and behavior. By thoroughly documenting your trades you can reveal things that you are probably not aware of.

4. Trade the chart. If you are an equity trader the news at times might be already build in the price. If you are a currency trader things stand a little differently. Economic releases are the catalysts for market moves so it is important to pay attention to news releases throughout the world and have an action plan ready.

5. Choose your timeframe wisely. Choose your timeframes depending on your style of trading. Here are my thoughts from trading markets for over 10 years.

  • If you are a currency trader, I always teach my students to stay away from the noisy intraday charts and take a step back and look at the longer time frames for many reasons but the most important are: it brings more clarity and it is easier to identify the trend, volatility and spread.
  • If you are an equity or futures trader it truly comes down to your style but also you need to pay attention to the time frame on which the pattern developed on (gap traders focus on the 1 and 2 min charts, trend traders on 5 and 15 min charts, swing trader on the 1 hour and daily chart, core trader weekly chart, etc)

6. Responsibility. Take responsibility for your own trading decisions and trading results.

7. Have a diversified portfolio. Diversification is key. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Diversification reduces risk and maximizes returns by investing in different instruments or market sectors. The results will be asymmetrical and less volatile which is good for the portfolio.

8. Adhere to your own trading / investment plan. If you do not have one, it is time to develop one that will encompass your entire trading routine. Having a well detailed plan will reduce stress and emotions from trading.

9. Education. Always strive to improve your trading education. Self improvement goes hand in hand with New Year’s resolutions. Make it your goal for 2014 to learn something new to enhance your trading; there is always room for more and always something new to learn. Whether you want to learn how to trade globally, study another strategy, improve your investment technique or just take on another instrument.

10. Follow your own trading rules. The bottom line is that we as traders need to get ready for 2014, and one of the best resolutions I can think of is to follow our own trading rules.

Happy Holidays!

TradeOutLoud Team

 

About The Author

Anka Metcalf

CEO/Founder TradeOutLoud.com

CFTC REQUIRED RISK DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

TradeOutLoud LLC, its employees and/or affiliates shall under no circumstance be liable to any user, client, visitor and/or third-party for any losses of any kind including but not limited to: trading losses, lost profits or other damages. All information provided by TradeOutLoud.com website, blogs, emails, social media – past, present and future) is for education purpose only. TradeOutLoud LLC is not a registered advisory firm. TradeOutLoud LLC is not responsible or liable in any way for any content delivered via any of our services, emails, website, social media, blogs, articles or any publication of any kind. Although we provide rules for user conduct and postings, we do not control and are not responsible for what users post, transmit or share on the service and are not responsible for any inaccurate, offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable content you may encounter on the service. The Company is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user. Sharing, re-transmission and/or copying of TradeOutLoud LLC information, trades, comments, portfolio performance, passwords (on other websites, chat rooms, social media, blogs, etc) or any other TradeOutLoud LLC materials is expressly prohibited and it is subject to copyrights owned by TradeOutLoud LLC and protected by copyright laws of the United States – Immediate termination to the service will occur and any infringement will result in legal action. All Trading Signals and ongoing trade management delivered via private Twitter streams, direct messaging, email, or other means of communication are for educational purposes and should not be construed as a trade recommendation or investment advice of any kind. We are not registered or licensed, if you feel the need to seek advice consult your financial planner, adviser or broker.

CFTC Rule 4.1

U.S. Government Required Disclaimer: Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Futures, options, stocks, ETF’s trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures and options markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose. This website is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell futures, stocks, ETF’s or options. This website is intended for educational purposes only. We are not registered investment advisers and in no way associated with any FINRA broker/dealer. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Simulated Trading

Hypothetical performance results have many inherent limitations, some of which are described below. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown; in fact, there are frequently sharp differences between hypothetical performance results and the actual results subsequently achieved by any particular trading program. One of the limitations of hypothetical performance results is that they are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, hypothetical trading does not involve financial risk, and no hypothetical trading record can completely account for the impact of financial risk of actual trading. for example, the ability to withstand losses or to adhere to a particular trading program in spite of trading losses are material points which can also adversely affect actual trading results. There are numerous other factors related to the markets Last updated June 13, 2019, in general or to the implementation of any specific trading program which cannot be fully accounted for in the preparation of hypothetical performance results and all of which can adversely affect trading results. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown in any simulation. In fact, there are frequently sharp differences between hypothetical performance results and the actual results subsequently achieved by any trading program. One of the limitations of hypothetical performance results is that they are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, hypothetical trading does not involve financial risk of actual trading. For example, the ability to withstand losses or to adhere to a particular trading program in spite of trading losses is material points which can also adversely affect trading results. There are numerous other factors related to the markets in general or to the implementation of any specific trading program which cannot be fully accounted for in the preparation of hypothetical performance results and all of which can adversely affect actual trading results. Futures, Stocks, ETF’s, and options trading have large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the Forex, Futures, Equities, ETF’s and Options markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose. This website is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell Forex, equities, futures or options. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this web site. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not indicative of future results. All trades, set-ups, patterns, charts, etc., discussed in this advertisement and the product materials including website, chatroom and TradeOutLoud Twitter stream(s) are for illustrative purposes only and not to be construed as specific advisory recommendations. All ideas and material presented are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or TradeOutLoud LLC or any affiliates and or employees. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results. For the avoidance of any doubt, TradeOutLoud LLC and any associated companies, or employees, do not hold themselves out as Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”). Given this representation, all information and material provided by the TradeOutLoud LLC and any associated companies, or employees, is for educational purposes only and should not be considered specific investment advice.

Risk Disclosure Statement

Copyright © 2010-2020 TradeOutLoud LLC. All Rights Reserved
Designed and Developed by Wp Supports
Risk Disclosure Statement   |   Privacy Policy