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[politcat]

phobias are irrational and need to be hit head on. there is a school of thought in fear therapy that treats phobias by inundating the patient with whatever they fear.

example: a man who fears heights is taken higher and higher in a very tall structure that is exposed to the elements. the fear gets to a point where the patient is overwhelmed, the fear peaks and then subsides. the phobia is now gone for good.

here's my suggestion if you've suddenly been hit by the fear of "pulling the trigger." apply your trading system to a very short time frame, 1 minute or less (oanda has 5 second charts!). if your system is viable it should work with any time frame. however, if you think your system will not work on a short time frame use something like the 5/20 moving average cross (try it, it'll work).

set aside 1-3 hours during london/new york trading when you will devote yourself to taking each and every signal your system gives you on that time frame, without a second thought.

take 1 mini lot per trade, but it has to be done with real money. a demo account won't do!

you'll be risking very little on numerous trades and get rid of your fear for good!

[Lady Aphrael]

Thank you policat for this very important tip on overcoming the paralysing condition of not being able to "pull the trigger".

I can analyse the market quite well and most times understand what is happening only to freeze at the moment of placing my trade and then watch as the market runs away in my chosen direction.

I tend to second guess my original trading decision and system and either do not enter at all, too late or I get in the market in a bad position and suffer pullbacks.

I will be implementing your suggestions immediately and conquer this fear/phobia once and for all.

Thanks again and keep your suggestions coming. Newbies appreciate other traders struggles and words of wisdom.

Cheers

[Croesus]

Great tip policat!
That's right, fears must be faced and assimilated.

Merry Christmas!

[andrewmooton]

I've only been trading live since before christmas and fear of taking trades is something I experience nearly all the time especially after ive made a mistake.

For example, I went long on a 50% retracement, market was consolidating at the 50% level stochs crossed into buy mode and then went a few pips in the direction I thought it would. Then it fell back down to the 62% level causing me to get stopped out and carried on in its original direction.

If I was a little less agressive and waited for the 62% retrace it would have been a great trade.

Anyway, ever since that happened i've had a big fear problem, even though i'd say i'm about 80% accurate in my prediction of short term market direction.

But thankyou for your suggestion i'll try it and hope it works.

[Croesus]

Originally posted by andrewmooton
Anyway, ever since that happened i've had a big fear problem, even though i'd say i'm about 80% accurate in my prediction of short term market direction.

Hi Andrew!
That trade was full leveraged or a small one?

[bobnat]

Originally posted by andrewmooton

For example, I went long on a 50% retracement, market was consolidating at the 50% level stochs crossed into buy mode and then went a few pips in the direction I thought it would. Then it fell back down to the 62% level causing me to get stopped out and carried on in its original direction.

Andrew,

This is a great lesson. When you contemplate a trade, you have to think of what CAN happen, not what you WANT to happen. A .500 retracement and where was your stop? At the closest it should have been at the .786, not the 618.

Even .618 bounces have a very strong tendency to come back and test the 618, even going to the 786 before taking off. You need to make sure that your stop is no where near normal movement of the market. It's tempting to get in on a fib bounce and put your stop right under the fib. This allows you to maximize your position size. However, you get stopped out more often this way. Something to think about it.

Anyone got anything for an itchy trigger finger?

Nat

[pips4breakfast]

Nat makes an excellent point. Another way I have found to helping fear and countering placing stops to close is to say place 1/2 - 1/3 of the position you wish to take at the 50% retrace and if it goes back to 61.8% place the rest of your intended position allowing you to leave your stop lower with the same risk and getting an overall lower average cost. Worst case scenario is that it bounces in your favour off the 50% and you make half as much but you can always add to your position on pullbacks

p4b