After playing #事件合约 for a few months, what hurt the most wasn’t how much I lost, but that I didn’t have to lose that money at all.
At first, I just wanted to make a few hundred U a day and stop once I’d made enough. But after a few losing trades in a row, I forgot all about my plan, position sizing, and discipline. There was only one thought in my head: “One more try. I’ll stop once I’ve made it back.”
I lost on the first trade and wanted to make it back. I lost on the second and increased my position. Then I got it wrong again on the third, so I simply put all my remaining money on the line. I thought I was trying to break even, but really, I just couldn’t bring myself to accept the loss.
The worst part was that profits I’d scraped together trade by trade over several sleepless nights were wiped out in the final ten or fifteen minutes. Looking at my balance, I regretted not stopping sooner. But the next time I lost, I couldn’t help doing it all over again.
I switched from perpetuals to event trading because I wanted to spare myself some of the pain, but I ended up right back in the cycle of oversized positions, adding to losing trades, and getting carried away.
That’s why I’d rather use quantitative rules to keep my trading in check. They can be wrong, and they can have losing streaks. They don’t guarantee profits. But once the rules are set, no trade is opened unless the conditions are met; I trade only the amount I’m supposed to, and I stop when my stop-loss is hit. I don’t double down on the spur of the moment just because I can’t accept a loss.
The hardest part has never been staying disciplined while making money. It’s being able to accept that today is over after a string of losses.
Don’t let all the effort you put into those dozens of trades end up paying for the words, “I have to win it back.”
At first, I just wanted to make a few hundred U a day and stop once I’d made enough. But after a few losing trades in a row, I forgot all about my plan, position sizing, and discipline. There was only one thought in my head: “One more try. I’ll stop once I’ve made it back.”
I lost on the first trade and wanted to make it back. I lost on the second and increased my position. Then I got it wrong again on the third, so I simply put all my remaining money on the line. I thought I was trying to break even, but really, I just couldn’t bring myself to accept the loss.
The worst part was that profits I’d scraped together trade by trade over several sleepless nights were wiped out in the final ten or fifteen minutes. Looking at my balance, I regretted not stopping sooner. But the next time I lost, I couldn’t help doing it all over again.
I switched from perpetuals to event trading because I wanted to spare myself some of the pain, but I ended up right back in the cycle of oversized positions, adding to losing trades, and getting carried away.
That’s why I’d rather use quantitative rules to keep my trading in check. They can be wrong, and they can have losing streaks. They don’t guarantee profits. But once the rules are set, no trade is opened unless the conditions are met; I trade only the amount I’m supposed to, and I stop when my stop-loss is hit. I don’t double down on the spur of the moment just because I can’t accept a loss.
The hardest part has never been staying disciplined while making money. It’s being able to accept that today is over after a string of losses.
Don’t let all the effort you put into those dozens of trades end up paying for the words, “I have to win it back.”
