Hi Grahal. I somewhat feel similar. I actually stopped trading any automated strategies as I feel many are not suited for live trading. The money management in 95% of all codes here are not managed properly, and should be at least x 10 in the initially account. I studied a lot this past year as I was not profitable, in Manuel or automated trading. It about to turn, at least in Manuel trading. So I’ll stick to that and use Proorder to backtest and not live trade. I think it has to do with ones expectations of how much ROI you would like, or hope for. When seeing the many codes here with +250-500% ROI over 2 years you are easily fooled. Just one example.
Pathfinder DAX- the most popular code here. it’s recommended to trade with 10000 euro, however every SL is placed at least 350-600 points away, and accumulating positions. with just one position a proper MM should say 1% risk- that’s 35000-60000 points=35000-60000 euro for the initial account! Some trade with a 4000-5000 euro account- risking 10-15% per position!!!!- that’s stressing! Pathfinder lost in one trade I think it was February around 5-6% of the equity in one trade(350 euro). I also came to the conclusion that saisonal traidng is a very curvefitting mechanism and It was implemented wrong in pathfinder(IMHO). It can be there, but I feel it needed to be implemented to protect your equity and not to profit your gains. It’s not a disrespect to Reiner or anything. In fact I think he did a very good job on pathfinder- but as I recall it was developed for ETF’s which is not leveraged, CFD’s are. in EFT’s he’s expectations was 25% ROI. You can always argue that the indicators stops the trade and so on, and in the end, it up to one self to decide how to trade. So this is just in my own humble opinion- to risky.
Anyway I think when professional trades recommend only to risk 0.5-1% of equity per trade, there are some truth in that, never the less your feeling about it. When you risk 10% in an automatic code- it stresses you out.
Also I had to adjust my perception of what to expect in ROI. down from 500% a year to measly 25%.. that it. If you can make persistent 25%- 3 year in a row, Goldman Sachs has a golden position for you 😉 .. yes yes I know you hear about traders making 100%.. even a 1000%.. it just not persistence. it luck, and they won’t tell you when they lose.
My guess is that you are not relaxing because you are risking more that your gut feeling tells you. I have 2-3 strategies that I believe in here. all making only small but persistence winnings- they still run in demo. one from ALE one from Maz and one from Doc trading.
Some good books for the psychology in trading, that should be read by all traders- they also come in audio format:
Trading in the Zone, Mark Douglas(Classic)- I identified my self in every stages of this book- it a real eye opener!
The little book of behavioral investing
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Edwin Lefhvre (Classic)
Cheers Kasper
