Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Back to blogging

I've had a hard go of it over the last 2 years. I changed my trading style from stock screening and longer term swing trading, to day trading futures. I went from working with my wife in a high paying job, to trading for an income for the entire family. My trading account went from a tidy and comfortable amount of money to about the amount that I started trading 7 years ago. My ego deflated. My trading sucked.

I've recently started pulling things together. I went back to work, and my wife recently joined me. I no longer need to trade for the mortgage payment each month (which I found to be incredibly stressful). I can take my time and take only the best trades.

I'm still making foolish mistakes. I think they're residual emotional problems from the pressure I felt to make money. I'm making fewer of them, but they're still there.

It's funny. I read dozens of trading books that harped on psychological issues in trading. I thought they were all silly. I never made emotional mistakes when I was trading for fun.

But when I needed the money, holy cow, I made every mistake I had read about (and some that I can add to my own book some day). I began to hate blogging because every day seemed like more of a failure than the last. I wasn't motivated to let folks know how stupid I was being. No one wants to read about a trader who loses money. I certainly didn't want to write about one.

I think I'm more ready for that now. I think I might be able to keep some traders from making the same mistakes that I have. I hope that my struggles with my emotions in the trading world will maybe help a few of you out there make better decisions than I did.

Friday, January 14, 2011

I'm Back!

I've been away for a while. OK, I actually haven't been "away". I still live in Omaha, Nebraska. I still have access to the internet. I still trade.

But I've been on a bit of a journey over the last year. I hope to detail that journey here over the next couple of months with the intent of encouraging others out there who may be experiencing some of the same things that I experienced when I decided to begin trading full time.

Last month, Charles Kirk encouraged me to share what I've learned with my readers. I fully intended to begin blogging again on January 1st, but time got away from me and my laziness overcame me. I find it hard to comprehend the time and effort that guys like Charles must put in to their websites on a daily basis. I'm pathetic.

So, for the new year, I plan to regularly contribute to the blog. Hopefully I'll be able to encourage you with some of the things I've done (and am doing) right and prevent you from making some of the same boneheaded mistakes that I've made as well.