Why I am writing Confessions of a Recovering Trader

Update: I, for one, am surprised by the poll numbers (on your right) till now. I expected more of you to be bearish rather than bullish? What gives??

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Dear readers, expect the part two of Confessions of a Recovering Trader sometime later today. I am writing this post to keep a log of how I suffered and eventually got out of the trading slump (hopefully!). Let's not kid ourselves here....I am sure this is not the last trading slump I will ever have. So, this will hopefully turn out to be a nice reference for the future. And I know there are a lot of you newbie traders out there frustrated by your losses in the past couple of weeks. Hopefully, this post will be of some use to all of you too. As for the more experienced or better traders than me, I welcome any advice on how to recover from shattered confidence or you sharing your experiences.

When I started writing this post, I had no intention of turning it into a series. But as I started putting my thoughts on "paper", I realized I had a lot to say and there is only so much that I can write in one sitting, hence the multiple posts. Who would have thought that writing about your mistakes and failures could be so draining? :)

Enjoy the Sunday with your family and friends!
 

Confessions of a recovering trader Part 1

As I started to write this, it came to my attention that this is the 50th post of this 3 week old blog. Trust me, dear readers, I wish this post was written in happier circumstances. Actually, strike that off....the circumstances are still happy. We should never let our trading emotions or results define our lives. So, let me rephrase that....I wish this post was written in a happier part of my trading life.

Firstly, since this is still a new blog and to truly get this post, you readers have to understand where I am coming from, let me start off with a short introduction. I hope the regular readers would forgive me for digressing. Dear readers, like most of you, I am not a full time trader. I trade a four figure account. I dream of the day I could have enough in my trading account to bid adieu to the blasted pattern day trader rule but that's not going to happen anytime in the near future. Like most of you, I started by losing money but I didn't give up and learnt from my mistakes, hopefully like most of you too. For more on this, please click on the label introduction to your right. I still make stupid mistakes. I am nowhere as good a trader as I want to be and I know I can be. I have improved enough to be up over 170% last year after commissions. And no, I dont trade penny stocks. Yes, all you readers who trade with a small account, knows commissions are perhaps the biggest drawback of trading with a small account. I started this blog finally three weeks ago to fulfill my long held, but always neglected, goal/plan of starting a trading journal. The aim of this journal is to make me grow and improve as a trader, and if you readers can benefit from my experiences, all the more better. I have nothing to sell you and don't ask you for anything. Even if I am up 100% the next month (I wish!), I am not going to charge you for sharing my stock picks or watchlist. And since I have nothing to sell, I have nothing to hide! I am brutally honest about my shortcomings as a trader and my losses. In fact, every week, I report my account status after commissions. How many blogs do you know who do that?

Which brings us to this post. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I have been in, and still am, in my worst trading slump for over a year. I refuse to offer the market conditions as an excuse. As short term traders, we are supposed to make money ever week, irrespective of whether the market is up or down. I blame myself. I made stupid mistakes, mistakes I thought I had grown past. But as all you readers who have traded for a decent amount of time now, market has a way of bitch slapping you and showing you your place as soon as you start showing the slightest signs of arrogance of overconfidence.

But more on that and how the lack of confidence has affected my trading, and how I am trying, sometimes desperately, to overcome this slump tomorrow. Its late now and the bourbon in my hand demands my full attention....I hope you readers will join me in my journey to become a better trader.

Take care and good luck trading!

P.S.: I would appreciate it, if you readers, could take a moment to answer the poll on the top right. Thanks!