2015 – The Year of the Binary Options Trader!
2015 – How Am I Going To Trade Binary Options Better?
Eh, another year has passed. Have we improved our trading, are we more conservative, more experienced? And most importantly, how’s the bottom line looking – Red or Green? But anyway, whether it was red or green, one thing we must do: improve.
New Year, Here We Come!
There are two types of traders: those who lost money in 2014 and those who made money. If you made money, it’s simple: just keep doing what you’re doing. You are part of an elite club of guys who make money from trading and you don’t want to lose your “membership”, trust me. You are probably a trader who acts based on logic, using clean rules, sound money management and of course, doesn’t let greed or fear stand in the way. Simply by doing the same thing this year, you will probably improve; things will become even clearer and your account balance will become prettier to look at. So keep on keeping on.
If you lost money, it’s time to turn things around 180 degrees and start becoming profitable but of course, that’s easier said than done. Just thinking: “A new year is starting so I am gonna be a better trader” doesn’t cut it; it’s just not enough. You have to actually do something in that direction. Find your weak spots, detach yourself and look at your trading as if it wasn’t yours. Imagine what you would say if you would see your 2014 account history without knowing it was yours. That’s an exercise which I do almost every year and most of the times I say to myself: “You are a moron” whether I made money or not that year. And the reason why I say that is because I am still not at peace with my trading, meaning I still make mistakes. Maybe the bottom line is Green, but especially during the year that just passed, I changed my strategy many times, I took some trades which didn’t fit my rules and even worse, I let greed get the better of me. Yes, many times I saw price tumbling south or skyrocketing and I said “Oh come on, I’m going to join the move to make some quick cash”… and most of the times I ended up Out of the Money as the market immediately reversed. So for this year, my main goal is to take control of my trading and eliminate emotions as much as possible. To be honest, I’m under a lot of stress when I trade and I’m always thinking about the money I can lose or gain so I am going to try to reduce that stress, The way to do that is to trust the strategy I’m trading and to keep things on track: if it doesn’t fit the rules, I don’t take the trade. This means I will have less trades and hence, less stress.
The thing I’ve noticed throughout 2014 was that I always felt the need to be in a trade and this of course meant that I am exposing my account to an unnecessary risk. The market is full of noise and I don’t want to trade that noise, I don’t have to trade every move of an asset… but although I know that, as soon as I open my charts I forget about logic and I start “drooling” for a trade. I guess that’s the main thing I want to eliminate in 2015: overtrading. I’m gonna set clear daily, weekly and monthly targets and once these are met, I am going to stop trading… you know “Plan the trade and trade the plan”. I want a more businesslike approach and I don’t want to worry anymore about missing good trades. Heck, if I’ve met my goal of say 3 In the Money trades for the day, just stop and don’t think about other opportunities that I might miss that day.
2015 – The Year of Planning the Trade and Trading the Plan
Plan something in the beginning of the year and stick to that plan. Apply it without straying from the path and your trading will improve. That’s my resolution for this New Year and I hope I can stick to it. For the most part of 2014 I tested, traded and planned meticulously what I am going to do in 2015. Now all that’s left for me to do is apply that plan… hopefully once 2015 is over I won’t look back at my trading and say “Dude, you’re still a moron” ;)