Trade Team

Last week I wrote a comment on a friend's blog. Luckily he found it of use and kindly put it up as a blog post of its own, you can read it here if you're interested. On this occasion, I haven't reblogged his post as it felt silly to have three versions of exactly the same thing rattling around the internet. However, the exercise got me thinking about the continuing struggles we all go through when learning to trade and things I'd like to do to combat them.

trader / athlete

I often think of traders as aspiring professional athletes; hours and hours per day training, extremely strict routines, diet, mindset, psychology, studying etc. But the difference between the two professions is the distinct lack of support even professional traders have. Athletes have coaches for technique, coaches for strategy, coaches for routine, dieticians, physios, psychotherapists, training partners and teammates at their disposal every day! Even hedge funds and investment banks don't provide this kind of support to their traders.

I rarely mention it here but I was an amateur boxer for many years and I am now (after quite some time off) training at an MMA gym with an idea to compete at some point in the future. At my gym, I have unlimited lessons, 3 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coaches, an MMA coach, a Muay Thai coach, a Boxing coach, a Wrestling coach, a Judo coach and a Strength and Conditioning coach. I get one-to-one coaching for an hour a week and I have 200+ training partners and 50+ teammates (those who are looking to pursue fighting). For all this, I pay £230 per month (the private sessions are what drive the cost up). But even so, this is extremely cheap when you think of all the support that is available to me.

Having said all this, what I would say is that in terms of progress, every part is equally important. You, of course, need your coaches to instruct you but you have to have your training partners to drill with and teammates to encourage you. Without them, you wouldn't last long. It's a hard sport that is designed to make you quit, a bit like trading really.

trade team

As traders, I doubt we will ever be able to get the same amount of support that is available to sportsmen and women but like my trading coach has always said, we could be far more effective in the way we utilise each other. I think much of what is lost in trading is the comradeship of a team, too often we fall into a slightly competitive mindset with each other, most likely due to the nature of the game we play. 

When I wrote my comment on my friend's blog I wanted to be his teammate. I wanted him to feel like someone had his back and would go to war with him. This is the feeling you get when you're in a fight team, you train with each other, you sweat together, struggle together and win together. We're honest when someone's doing something wrong, encouraging when they're doing something right and playfully competitive when you're able to be.

Going forward I would like to pursue this idea of building a "trade-team". A band of traders who go to war together. It's great to share victories and commiserate losses, however, I feel often when you need the support is when you're in the trade. In the midst, is often when you most need an objective friend, to either encourage you to continue with the game plan or tell you it is no longer working and to change tactics.

If anyone is interested in this trade team mentality drop me a comment below.

Fear Beats Greed (catalyst)

there's a catalyst(s) in here somewhere

So Wednesday evening we had quite a few events; US monthly budget statement, which came out worse than expected, then, of course, the 3 hour US press conference.

Rex was banging on about Syria...

then Russia...

and finally, Trump came along talked about the USD...

the catalysts

The above events had the effect of killing the USD (it has since recovered much of its loss) but there was quite a lot going on here and felt I needed to revisit them and identify the individual effects and causes.

NB: When trying to identify catalysts what I am looking for is events that that will trigger either weaken (fear) or strengthen (greed) the status quo.

1. US monthly budget statement: worse than expected is "technically" bearish for the USD but this is not a highly watched or volatile event, the numbers weren't drastically off so really was very low impact. Not a catalyst.
2.  Assad/Syria: War uncertainty,  to me this means Gold, Bonds, JPY and USD should appreciate and stocks should suffer. This is definitely a "negative" catalyst, war triggers uncertainty and fear and weakens the status quo.
3. Russia Relations: Uncertainty, even, fear of war. Again to me this means Gold, Bonds, JPY and USD should appreciate and stocks should suffer. This is another "negative" catalyst, uncertainty/fear over the status quo.
4. Trump wanting a weaker USD: This a funny one as there is clearly a winner and loser. This is dovish for the USD and positive for stocks. Ultimately this is best seen as a "positive" catalyst for stocks, as it creates some sort of stability (strengthens the status quo) and hence greed.

fear beats greed

As the title and subtitle state, the rule I use to help digest events is; "fear beats greed".Ultimately most investors in Wall Street and Main Street alike are here to make long-term gains for their pensions, retirements etc. They have worked hard and saved that hard earned money diligently. They (clients and fund managers) will always be scared of losing their initial capital, so when an event hits the market that causes "fear"/ threatens the status quo, they will almost always switch to a capital preservation approach where capital will be less exposed to risk. As such my feeling from the events above is that Gold, Bonds, JPY and USD should appreciate and stocks will probably suffer. 

Weekly System (for 2 Year Plan)

overview

In my last post, I talked about my 2-year goal and outlined a very broad system: plan my trade, trade my plan, manage my trade, record my trade, build my numbers up and learn my KPIs.

This a nice sound bite but actually, it provides very little in the way nourishment or sustenance for the tired trader/investor at the end of each day. What follows is a breakdown of what actually needs to be done. To clarify this information is in my TTP and SBP but is not as clear or concise as it is here, I will print this off.

weekend system

The weekend marks the start of my trading week and is when I do the majority of my work. There are 4  major jobs which consist of 9 tasks, I find I need to take a short break between each job.

Week to week my energy levels differ, so it is hard to specify an exact time to as when this work should be completed. What I can say though is that in order of preference they would be 1, Saturday Morning, 2 Saturday Afternoon, 3. Sunday Morning, 4 Sunday Afternoon, 5 Sunday Evening,

job 1: markets

1. Monitor the MOTR (Momentum and Trend) of each market (approx 40) (MOTR)
2. Find potential W1 and MN trades (MN, W1 candle setups with momentum)

3. Define where the MOTR Matrix is heading to across the markets.

job 2: trades

4. Update profiles,  add those with matching MOTR, remove those without (D1 long/short watchlist)
5. Review profiles for setups (D1 long/short watchlist)
6. Review potential trades, do they pass all your requirements (ie pin bar tail at least 60% of candle)

job 3: review

7. Review trade sheet and journals if appropriate. This needn't take ages. Just a weekly check-in to take stock and remind yourself of your KPIs.

job 4: broader themes

8. Research economic data due for the upcoming week.
9. Be aware of the current themes (FTWeekend and MoneyWeek).

daily system

Each evening I have 3 jobs consisting of 5 tasks.

job 1: themes

1. Stay abreast of news developments (twitter and FX street app)

job 2: trades

2. manage open positions (end-of-day).
3. Check for new D1 trades in Long and Short Profiles (end-of-day).
4. Review potential trades, ensure they match trade criteria.

job 3: record

5. Record closed trades (Journal and Trade Sheet)

2 Year Plan (2017)

This post is picking up from a broader post I wrote on my private blog so unfortunately, you won't be able to read it. However I will happily share the gist of it here; I was a little low, mainly due to the time of year (family stuff). While over the long-term I was feeling a little uninspired about my future direction. I have since set myself some new goals/systems to follow and feel far more motivated.

The setting of these new personal goals/systems felt most empowering so it seemed like a good idea to repeat the process here in regards to my trading/investing, even if this process just means reaffirming old goals I've neglected or forgotten.

quick update

At the end of 2016, I mentioned that I felt that my actions in the market were now probably better described as Long-Term Trading / Short-Term Investing and this is very much the vein in which I wish to continue.

The act of changing my trading timeframe has been most liberating because it has suddenly freed me from three internal pressures.

1. Time: Trading longer-term you have more time to do your job correctly (plan trades, manage them and record them correctly). 
2. Hope: When trading short-term you forever flirt with the hope that your actions may produce an income. Longer-term you simply can't believe in this lie, so don't have the internal psychological pressure of false hope. 
3. Expectations: Very much linked to "Hope" but deserves its own category.  When trading short term you expect to be making more trades and hence more returns. This is extremely unhelpful because this produces expectations that are very hard to live up to.  Trading once a month the most you can hope for in your wildest dreams is a 2-3% return and that's only if it is traded perfectly and does exactly what your plan predicted on the upside. This is still a big return to live up to but nothing like the 6-trade-per-day day trader who could be looking at 4-5% a day in "hoped for" profits.

the long-term goal/system

I like all those on the trading courses I've attended have my coach's words rattling in my head. To paraphrase he said something like: "if you can make small consistent gains with limited drawdowns and document your progress correctly, I will help find you capital".

Now I don't think for a moment that this will happen for me because he will probably have retired by the time I'm anywhere near achieving his statement.  But the idea is a good one; trading/investing successfully is extremely difficult, so why are we all trying to see how high we can piss up the wall when hitting the toilet bowl is all that is required?

Now to be fair I have been following my plan, but I have noticed a drift in direction and purpose. This is interesting because it links to an article I read the other day. Its premise was: systems are better than goals. It reasoned that a goal for most of the time is in a failure state and that feels pretty bad to most people. And I would agree with this entirely.

So my goal displayed in a very broad system would be: plan my trade, trade my plan, manage my trade, record my trade, build my numbers up and learn my KPIs so they can tell me what I need to work on.

Good quality data is invaluable, data doesn't care about "winners" or "losers" it only cares about accurately recorded numbers.  And because I've recorded my numbers correctly I know that my hit rate is currently 39% and due to some terribly managed trades, due to not letting my profits run, my expectancy is 0.1%, but there's my work! If I'm taking 20 trades a year I should be expecting to make 2% a year.  In a year I want to improve my trade management and hopefully push this to around 4% and I know this is possible because when I average out my gross MFE I'm hitting 1.87%. Hopefully in my second year, I can push a little further, eventually, the dream would be 15%+ PA.

In order to achieve this goal, I will need a daily and weekly system in place but I'll save that for another day. 

Get The Facts - Make Your Own Opinions

frustration

Frankly, I've found the last 3 months a complete ball ache.

I'm frustrated and pissed off with every kind of media be it, mainstream, alternative, political, financial or social as almost all are providing very little in the way of quality content. Couple this with the fact that all the market commentators I respect have written three months of "if/but/maybe" articles, I've decided only two things can be happening. 1.no one has a clue. 2. no one's got the balls to say what they believe. And it is my belief that as much as this is not helping me, the reader, it's not helping the writer either.

the unhelpful need to be right

Last week I fell into the same trap as those I am beseeching to change; I wrote an "if/but/maybe" piece of my own. I have since taken it down because it is the antipathy of what I hate: it was safe. I gave myself a get out clauses. You know why it felt awful?  It was because as a trader you don't have the luxury of deciding whether you'll be right or wrong. You own it and manage it and guess what? it doesn't matter! So why do we care whether we write a piece that turns out to be correct or incorrect? 

the same could be said for writing

I guess this behaviour is human but the point I'm trying to make is it's not useful behaviour. Actually, I would go so far as to say it's verging on dangerous. It's behaviour that makes you believe you can fabricate a reality that does exist: you can't be right and wrong at the same time; this kind of behaviour makes you think you can. 

The fact that trading is binary is what makes it beautiful, beautifully painful sometimes. But it is also the best way to learn. If you don't follow-through you're just the guy at the end of the night with clean trousers on, everyone's got clean trousers on (journalists), successful traders aren't everyone; so it stands to reason that some part of being successful is being the guy who shits himself (which I'm going to try and do in the following post).

the importance of doing your own work

My rant above could easily be seen as avoidance, and thinking about it I probably did fall into this trap at points throughout the last few months, however, I still believe in what is written above.

It's vitally important to be consistent in your actions: A trader owns his decision and manages it. If he starts practising alternative behaviour in other areas of his life he lives in danger of bringing that into his trading (this might be why most journalists are not good traders). So this post is as much a pledge to myself to write this blog as a trader, not a journalist. 

This brings me onto one final point. Along time ago I walked past an old Victorian warehouse around the back of Tate Modern in London. Carved on the doorway were the words "Facts not Opinions".

I loved this and took a photo of it (which of course I can't find). I even used it as my screen saver for awhile. I need to get back to this way of thinking, particularly when filtering what news I am choosing to eat. Analysis and opinion are like complex carbohydrates, delicious but cause all kinds of drama. Facts are boring but safe, they make it easier to form your own thoughts.

Start of Year Update... 2017: Be The Gatherer

Apologies for my prolonged silence, since starting the day job I have had to adapt the ways and times I go about trading.

I am now starting to view my trading almost as "short-term investing". Often when seeing an entry I think "would I hold this for the next 3-6 months?

charts

I now use W1 and MN charts for building my primary positions. I want MN stochastic to have crossed in the direction that I am trading and for price to be at a MN/W1 area of supply/demand, with a nice candle pattern. I feel I am then trading with long-term momentum, at good supply/demand imbalances with a stronger signal. During the week I try to monitor the daily charts of pairs I am already in to see if I can add or build to them but this isn't always possible.

prep

My technical prep is done over the weekend (MOTR etc) but I now spend a lot more time throughout the week reading and pondering on geo-political and macro events, which are now the basis of almost all my trade ideas. My main sources are MoneyWeek, Pippa Malmgren and ZeroHedge.

setups

I am currently not finding perfectly matched MOTR (momentum and trend) pairs useful. The reason being is that I am often ready to trade a pair before MOTR is completely lined up. Having said this I always try to match an idea to the strength/weakness matrix.

Due to not knowing if I'm going to be in a good state to trade each evening, my mindset is, "get in tentatively when you can and start building" rather than, "wait for perfection" because "I could well miss the move".

The day job and the exhaustion it can create means that I'm sure if I'm going to feel good enough to trade each evening. So I would rather save my major entries for the weekend. I guess this is the price I have to pay. My hope is, with experience and practice that I  might be able to average down in the future.

metaphor

I'm seeing trading and investing as a metaphor of the Hunter/Gatherers of past.

The Trader is the Hunter: spending huge amounts of time and energy stalking prey, setting traps and failing often.
The Investor (long-term trader) is a Gatherer: She simply walks through the fields each day and notices what is beginning to germinate, flower, bloom or wither. She knows what is going to feed her today and has a good idea of what is going to feed her in the coming months.

summary

I feel I am relating strongly to the gatherer. I want to get in slowly when a market is germinating (turning), I want to add to my position as it begins to flower (trends) and take profit once it's bloomed (begins to turn again),  I use momentum to help me predict the seasons, the timings aren't precise but that's quite nice as it takes much of the pressure off "being perfect" which was something that flagged up strongly in my Tharp Report. 

Geopolitics & Trading Sentiment

Over the past few months my coach (Paul Wallace) has been emphasising the importance of geo-politics. He recommended I read Barton Biggs - Wealth, War and Wisdom -  and believe it or not I'm finding that a "geopolitical framework" is starting to crystallise. What follows are my thoughts to date.

my framework

My basic concept is really very simple; the market is more or less in one of two states.

1. Uncertainty (supply): Uncertainty of course exists in all markets. What I mean by "uncertainty" is an "opaque" risk / one that is becoming increasingly difficult to define and size. These events often build progressively, think pre Brexit, the 2008 GFC or 2015 crude supply glut. 
2. Stabilised Uncertainty (demand): Uncertainty still exists but it has been stabilised by an event or action, making a "transparent" risk that is easier to measure. Think post Brexit Carney /BoE promising £150B in QE, the Fed delivering $700B in QE in March 2009, Or in January 2016 simply the news that OPEC were finally talking about reducing crude output.

What is important here is news doesn't necessarily need to be particularly uplifting or downbeat, just less bad or good than it was previously. Biggs uses the Battle of Midway as an example. Despite WWII being far from over, the US Navy defeating the Japanese Navy was better news than had came before (Pearl Harbour). This marked the lows of the US stock market and the start of its recovery during that period.

brexit example

certainty - a predictive state

My final thought on sentiment is that I think it's fair to say that markets are always moving towards some kind of climax, this I see as two kinds of certainty.

1. Certain optimism: when the market and main street get to the point of believing something is genuinely amazing, the market is often overbought/topping. (Bonds and Equities)
2. Certain pessimism: when the market and main street get to the point of believing something is completely doomed, it is often oversold/bottoming. (Crude)

When things are at their unimaginable best/worst, there's really very little room for markets to climax further. Working on the Biggs premise that you only need slightly better/worse news than previously to turn a market, you can start to preempt tops and bottoms. Such as the DotCom bubble in 2000 or oil lows in 2016.

To be clear I'm not suggesting that one would trade "certainty", I see it more as a preemptive tool to start preparing for options in the other direction, if and when they are confirmed by events and price action. Actually it was this very thought coupled with a few events and technicals that made me want to get long crude last week.

summary

To me there is a catalyst that gets everyones' knickers in a twist, causing "uncertainty"(supply), then there is a "stabiliser". This doesn't eliminate uncertainty but creates a "stabilised uncertainty"(demand) that markets can rise in. Finally as a predictive tool I believe listening and looking out for when the market/world is in "certain" optimism or pessimism is a very useful tool to start preparing for a top or bottom.

Maybe my views will change again in time but at least for now this is how I believe markets work. What I like about this is that I have always believed markets move due to supply and demand. From a technical perspective I think I have a relatively good grasp of this but on a sentiment front this has always been lacking. Identifying what supply (uncertainty) and demand (stabilised uncertainty) look or feel like has strengthened my commitment to my strategy as it is starting to flow through the market in a more holistically way.

Tharp Continued: Overcoming My Challenges

copyright K1 Dynamite hopefully I can channel my inner Fedor (right)

recap 

This is the third post in my Van Tharp series. Here are the links to posts 1 and 2.  On completing the Tharp Trader Test I was sent a personalised report stating my three strengths and three challenges. The challenges I face will be the focus here. Please forgive me if this turns into a rather lengthy post it's really meant more for my records and trading development...

my challenges

1. Need for External Confirmation: of ideas, your systems and beliefs, which can be detrimental to becoming a successful trader. You need inner confidence to trade consistently successfully. Read the Article “What Is Involved in Peak Performance Trading?”
2. New Ideas:  to apply to trading systems that are already working can screw things up.  Understanding the purpose of trading systems and their role in pulling money out of the markets. Read the Article “Paradigm Shifts for Trading Success”
3. Needing Excitement: Good trading tends to be boring. It is imperative that you have an outlet other than trading; excitement in trading is most often very expensive. Complete the “Compulsive Trader Test” 

challenge 1: peak performance trading

According to Tharp this requires each trader to have their own business plan.  I actually have worked on one with my coach Paul, which he calls a Strategic Business Plan.  Tharp recommends each plan has the following items.

• Your Vision, commitment is key to success, your vision is your dream life, write this out in detail, what are the "whys" in your life, this give real motivation, you'll know you have it right when you're so excited you feel you must do something right now ( written but will need a revisit as I haven't got that urgency yet!)
•  Your Purpose. Written
• Your Objectives. Written 
• Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses, based on real trading logs: Strengths: 1. Money management, 2. risk management, 3. good record keeping 4. Organized TTP and SBP written. Weaknesses:  Fear Based Trading: 1. Cutting winners early with discretionary exits out of fear instead of TTP exits (might need faster TSL method than fractals like 3 bar stop). 2. Cutting winners early by BE trailing too quickly out of reversal fear (fixed to 70% stop).  3. being lazy, not respecting spread (respect the spread! dickhead) 4. taking shit candle patterns too "creative" (write exact rules)  5. Not trading off S/D (improving now only using W1 and MN levels) 5. Buying high , selling low. (improving now only using W1 and MN levels)
• Thorough assessment of big picture of fundamentals. yes through STAM
• complete understanding of your beliefs about the market. Working on with Tharp exercise
• How to get empowering beliefs and mental states behind you.
• Documentation of system research, determining their effectiveness, no
• Procedures for maintaining discipline, yes but needs above work
• budget and cash flow, yes
• systems for back office record keeping. yes but needs time set aside
• worst case contingency,  yes
• System 1 compatible with big pic, yes
• System 2 also compatible with big pic, no
• System 3 counter big pic yes

challenge 2: paradigm shifts for trading success

Tharp says there are 4 major shifts to make they are...

1. Trading success has very little to do with what’s outside of you, Instead, you must determine who you are and what your objectives are. Once you have done that, you can design a trading system that fits you. Q Who are you and who do you choose to be? 
2. There is no Holy Grail in the markets outside of you. But there is a Holy Grail and that comes from developing a trading system that fits you. When you do this you can do much more than outperform the majority of market players. ...economists are beginning to say perhaps the markets are not efficient. And, perhaps by studying human frailties, one can begin to predict how the markets are not efficient. The field of behavioural finance has been born. Applying it means working on yourself to make sure you don’t have these inefficiencies. 
3. You don’t have to predict the market to make money. Instead, making money comes from controlling your exits. The golden rule of trading is “Let your profits run and cut your losses short.” What does that have to do with prediction? Absolutely nothing. Instead, it has everything to do with getting out of the markets using a systematic plan. Enough said! 
4. You don’t have to be right to make money. Instead, you must understand R-multiples, expectancy and opportunity.I understand this so not going into this...
5. Big money does not come from any of the factors that most investors and traders focus their attention upon. Instead, big money comes from having a position sizing strategy that is
   designed to meet your objectives. I understand this so not going into this...

How to Make Your Own Paradigm Shifts

copyright Van Tharp Institute

1. Examine who you are and what you are doing from multiple perspectives. your perspective, another involved person’s perspective, and the perspective of an outside observer watching what is going on during the event. If you were to continually observe yourself from perspectives two and three, then it would not take long at all to jump out of the box. A simple exercise you might do is to simply replay each day at the end of the day from the perspective of an outside observer. Amazing changes will occur in you when you do so.
2.  Examine your beliefs. Your beliefs might form a set of concentric circles. inner most are the ones you know are true. then think are true, might be true. then ones you have real doubts about... Tharp says: I think the beliefs that are probably the most damaging are the beliefs in the inner circle—those we know to be true. Spend time questioning those beliefs and you’ll begin to make major paradigm shifts. Try questioning one or two of your major assumptions about life that you know are true. What would life be like if those assumptions were not true? Questioning of this sort is what would be most profitable and evolutionary for most people.
3.  Notice your projections. Operate as if the world is a mirror to your own mind, then you will really begin to find out what your boxes are. And when you know where a box is, it is a simple step to get out of the box and make a paradigm shift.
4. Keep a daily journal of your emotions and experiences. Then read regularly in order to notice your paradigm shirts
5.  Meditate regularly. Simply pay attention to your breathing for twenty minutes. Think of breathing in as “inspiration,” for it very well may be that.

These five steps should help you to make immense paradigm shifts on a regular basis. Plan to do it for the next 30 days.

challenge 3: the compulsive trader

Tharp says: compulsiveness is perhaps the most serious of all trading problems. Gamblers Anonymous has recognized that for a compulsive gamblers, stocks, options and commodities are definitely gambling. 

There is then a set 20 questions based on a GA survey to see how compulsive you are. I scored a 6 out of 20. Despite being simple "yes/no" answers some questions I found surprisingly difficult, on these grey area ones I sided with a "yes".

Accordingly compulsive gamblers answer "yes" to seven or more questions. Most speculators will answer yes to one or two of these questions, while if you answer "yes" to six or more then you probably are not a successful trader (which I'm not). If you answer yes to 7 or more you have a problem. If you answer yes to 12 or more you are definitely compulsive about your trading.

what is a compulsive trader

Tharp says: Most people are at some level compulsive. Compulsive traders get a certain sense of "being alive" that comes only when they gamble or trade. They deny they have a problem.  Their lives are falling apart around them,  but they don't feel they have a problem. If you answered yes to 12 or more questions (even if it's only 5 or more) you might be moving in that direction. A compulsive trader will have lost much of the money they originally had for trading.

3 phases of a compulsive trader

1. short winning phase:  during which many compulsive traders develop elaborate systems for winning and tend to become very skilful of carrying them out.
2. the losing phase: once consumed by the action of trading, you begin to make mistakes and starts the losing phase. The compulsive trader,however, does not focus on the losses, but on getting his money back.
3. desperation phase: all the assets are gone. all sources of credit are gone but the compulsive trader is driven to continue maybe even doing illegal things.

dealing with compulsiveness

Tharp recommends his Peak Performance Course, of course he does. But there is a good introduction above from the Peak Performance Trading article... He says you need to

1. learn how to control your mental state, your urge for action. (again some good ideas are above in challenge 2)
2. learn to break the link of trading behaviour  that is set into action by environmental cues. So the second step involves finding all the cues that trigger compulsiveness and linking them to more appropriate behaviour, each cue must be found and neutralised (look to challenge 2 ideas)
3. you need to found outlets for your need for excitement (see challenge 2)
4. recognise that you will not win as long as you are compulsive about your investing. Since action is your primary motivation for investing or speculating , once you stop craving the action,  you may not want to do what it takes to be successful.  

My notes: I found the section quite disturbing. I scored a 6 on the test so had a mini melt down, thinking I was gambler and was ruining my family's life, I even called the wife at work to make sure I wasn't making her life hell. ha! 

I feel here I'm in catch 22. I love to worry and normally when something gets under my skin I break it down, but by doing that here I worry that I might be in denial as Tharp mentions above. arhhh!

Ultimately  I've decided I'm taking this as precautionary warning. In the danger of sounding in denial, I think I have some compulsive traits but I don't think I am very compulsive in the usual connotations. This is mainly because my coach who knows me well has classified me a FBT (fear based trader) as I'm extremely risk averse. So much so that I still refuse to trade real money until a turn a paper profit (7 years in). If anything I think I might be compulsive in my risk averseness! For instance often breaking trade plan rules to take discretionary exits or trailing stops too tight to reduce risk.