Trading too big is the source of the problem, not the solution!
If I'm already in a bad state from losses, bigger positions and more emotions is not the solution.
I need to dig out of the hole with a spoon, not a shovel. This is clockwork.
Small size. Keep emotions in check. Allow the system to work, with its statistical ups and downs.
Pay myself first. My system is proven to be profitable. Don't mess. Take those profits. Spoonful at a time. Single upon single.
Tight stop is the right stop. If my premise is wrong, cut. If it sets up again, and I've controlled my size, I'll have capital to try again.
So yesterday and today, nice green days. Climbing back to the top.
I realize, right before I tailspinned, I was becoming arrogant. Clear example: for the first time ever I showed people this trade journal. Arrogance is an enemy. I thought I was finally invincible, and the market reminded me I'm not.
I know that I can pluck money out of the market. I know my system is consistently profitable. But when I start showboating and trading outside the constraints, I get stung. Every time.
OK. So how am I staying in bounds? I'm trading in baby steps. Insultingly small positions (there's that arrogance again). Taking miniture profits at targets. Sticking to stops. It's working. I made a solid 5% today. It took me all day. Small position after small position.
The market still isn't easy. SPY has been above the 5dma for 14 days! And yet, trades are a struggle. Who is buying up here? But shorts are getting burned.
And there is rotation. Definitely the bottom is falling out of former hot stocks. Very common pattern these days is 3-6 months ago a huge climactic run. Then a drop and a flat base, like the end of a ski run. Then new breakdown. Those shorts aren't easy. They gap down and don't always stay down.
For the sake of my trading account, I welcome a serious consolidataion.
In my swing and LT accounts, I'm loving this climb.
