In the last couple of weeks the portfolio has pulled back from all-time-highs and September finished down -3%, after initially being up 10%. Drawdowns are the most frustrating and difficult part about trading, as it is much more difficult to watch hard earned profits disappear than it is to watch your equity grow. This where good money management and trading psychology come in to play (If you haven’t already, watch the videos on these here).
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As I discuss in my blog 3 Characteristics of winning traders , discipline is the most important trait you must develop in order to become a profitable trader. It is easy to panic when your equity starts falling and many start trading emotionally, breaking their own rules or just giving up. These are the traits of losing traders – avoid at all costs!
The thing people also struggle with is watching a profitable trade turn negative. I mention this again and again, but the key to being profitable is cutting losses early, and letting winning trades run! This comes at a price – you don’t know which trades are going to be truly big until its too late, so there will inevitably be some that start in the right direction but then turn sour and reverse quickly. This is part of the game, and you must learn to accept that (This is why stop losses are there!).
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Note: Since making this update, Oil has turn back and my position has been stopped out. However, I am still short natgas which dropped 3% and compensated for most of this loss.
