Quote from: shmadz on January 04, 2014, 06:23:47 PM

I vaguely remember seeing this thread earlier in December, but I quickly dismissed and ignored and missed out on some interesting discussion. I'm glad it got a little play today and that I was able to catch up.

I'm simply posting in here to make it easier for me to come back here and re-read this stuff every time I make a few winning trades and my ego needs a little reality check.

Quote from: sgbett on December 09, 2013, 11:00:25 PM

This experience taught me so much about bitcoin, and more importantly about myself, what my greed and fear looked like, how they affected me. Why I did the things I did.

^this^ part especially speaks to me. I'm still trying to understand the *why* of the actions I take, but I am starting to understand why I feel so anxious when the price is going up and why I feel calm when it's crashing. This recent revelation about myself has allowed me to now solidify a position that I feel comfortable with moving forward (as long as we don't break through $4000 range before May - In which case, I'm sure the anxiety attacks will resume, though I hope I will be better equipped to rationally analyze the reasons for my feelings and be able to adjust my position accordingly)

--as to the OP question, I actually did sell. and I went through a swirling range of emotions that caused me to buy back in at 850, sell again at 950-999 range, and then I was lucky enough to get those coins back through a tranche from 800 all the way down to 450. That wasn't smart, educated, or well-advised. It was an emotionally driven series of moves made through panic and fear that caused me real-life physical and emotional distress.

This time I was lucky. I will not be doing that again.

I trade most effectively from a state of equanimity. I no longer try to sell all and buy everything back later at a lower price. The emotional swings start to kick in and stupid decisions are made. Been there, done that ... many times over. Doesn't matter what market - equities, futures, currencies or Bitcoin. What I've learnt is that if I can't remain cool, unemotional, detached, then I need to just stay out of the trade.