Sure, the other traders have been right more than I have over the past few weeks, and I have no shame in admitting that. But allowing them to influence my way of thinking has never worked out for me in the past and therefore I doubt that it will start working out now. Not because they are wrong, but because my personal trading style differs from other people’s.

I have been in the situation before where I copied the trades of a phenomenally successful trader, lost a ton of money, and watched as he banked profits on the very same trades I stopped out of. This was because his way of trading was vastly different to mine. Therefore I need to stick to my own method and rules.

A few years ago someone told me that I should “trade with my eyes”. What this means is that you need to trade charts and ignore whatever the news and other people are saying. If you have levels that you are trading, stick to them. Do not let the fear or confidence of others influence the way that you make decisions.

Stick to your rules and trade the setup that you see.

As a practical example; I was short ACL (Arcelor Mittal) with a target of R19.00 and I closed it early because I allowed myself to be influenced by someone else. I can’t blame anyone for this other than myself and therefore must take responsibility for it and learn the lesson made available from the experience.

Trader Petri