The start of March was madness. Since the PSEi broke down MA100, my trades began to follow through.
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PSEi Daily Chart as of April 20, 2018
iZS happened start of March 2018
Welcome to the bear market!
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I was in denial from the bullrun of Jan to Feb. My strategy was still in 'bullish mode' even if the market is going down.
I was doing a lot of errors. I encountered series of losses, revenge-trading my way to get back what I've lost.
I was overtrading PLUS my trading pysche was fucked up.
There were trades that I put TOO MUCH allocation, ending up LOSING A LOT.
To make my journey more transparent, I'm sharing my mid-March realized loss:
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| March 16, 2018 Total Loss: PHP -47,509.50 |
I started 2018 with PHP 108,000.
I ended week 8 of 2018 with PHP 170,344.65.
My realized loss on week 11 (March 16) was PHP -47,509.50.
From +57% gain end of Feb, it went down to only +13% by March.
I gave back my gains to the market. Superman syndrome happened after Feb, then makabawi syndrome on March.
A perfect recipe for disaster.
REALIZATIONS:
- When the market is bearish, trade setups only for downtrend plays. Do not go against the trend.
There's no sense using uptrend plays in bearish market (except for outliers). - Be defensive all the time.
- When there are no tradeable setups, it's much better not to trade.
Capital preservation should be top priority. Staying in cash is still a position. - Manage risk the right way. Do not put heavy allocation especially when the setup is not good.
Allocate only acceptable volume so when the stock goes otherwise, the risk is bearable. - Trade when ready and available. Since I'm still employed, I find it challenging to manage my trades.
There were a lot of impulse trades and some were executed via mobile. - When experiencing a losing streak, manage negative emotions. Break the habit loop of overthinking and do something that will make me happy. Life is still good outside the stock market.
- Patiently wait for a 'bread and butter' setup.
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The battle must continue. I need to at least survive during this bear market. If I can make some profits for the whole duration of the bear season, that will be an achievement. By then I can easily decide whether I can transition into fulltime trading. Let's see until end of 2018.
Sharing some of my significant trades lately:
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| $VUL bounce / momentum play |
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| $NOW bounce play |
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| $NOW momentum on 3rd day of bounce |
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$VITA Round 1 & Round 2
Multiyr-high / breakout play
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Do I consider myself as profitable?
I don't think so. A consistent and profitable trader is the one who losses small but can get winning trades consistently. No rushing to get results. No jackpots. Patiently waiting for the quality trades.
I'm not yet profitable.
I'm still learning.
But soon enough, I will get there.
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More to follow.
