Green almost nearly fcking day in Feb and March with very low risk. Once you have spent thousands of hours, then you'll realize what a real edge is. I've been through a lot. Blow-ups, losses. ups and downs. It's been a very long journey. So, I'm saying it's all possible. Just keep workin' at it and improving by learning from your mistakes. Don't be discouraged. Now that i can make low 4 figures days. I'm still waiting for my 5 figure days. Even if I don't make 5 figure days yet, I still eagerly waiting for 6 figures months. It's coming... Hopefully in a year or so.. Until then, I feel like i'm UNDERPERFORMING! There are traders I know making 5 figures days regularly. And one trader just made 6 figures THIS WEEK! What's impressive was that it wasn't one big gamble trade with super huge size. He was green every single day this week and each day up 5 figures consistently. He's been green every single day for the last 34+ days in a row with many days that are 5 figures. That's a real edge. I'm in awe! Never jealous of this trader. I like to see people succeed. It's a motivating for me. But I think he's trading a much bigger retail account than mine. hehe. I'll get there... Just need to UP my game to that level. Not there yet. Mind you, he's a RETAIL trader. Not prop or anything. The sky is the limit. Work hard. Work smart. Be humble. Constantly improving!
Be honest with yourself...Since the Covid blowup from the Feb highs, and the massive price ranges since then, you have been acing it. What if we went back to 2017-type volatility, where the ES ranged 10 points per day and the risk was zero? Would your system still work? Think of that, and plan ahead for the days where we will soon be back at 2017-type doldrums. PRESERVE YOUR CAPITAL!
I know where you are coming from and thinking. That would normally be true for other traders. but my style is DIFFERENT. Very different. Since you are talking about honesty, most of my profits came from trading for profits as small as 1 penny/share!!! Yep, you read that right. 1 penny/share profits. This is only possible with the recent $0 commission revolution. Thank goodness! I owe much of my profits to $0 commission brokers. Today I captured 4-5 pennies/shares, which is on the high side. Since I scalp SUPER HIGH volume thick stocks, I just trade with size. So, in all honesty, I did NOT really benefit from the high volatility the last 2 months like some people did. I just apply my bread-and-butter scalping style with BIG SIZE. That's it. Even if volatility was to collaspe, I'm assuming there will stocks that move 1-5 cents somewhere? In fact, I would think my profits will be even BETTER than now since I'll move up my learning curve and continue to improve where I will aim for 10-30cents moves. I'm still net positive just capturing 1 cents move. In fact, I now make more money than I ever did in my old days trying to capture trends and doing all kinds of stuff. That was my big realization. I don't need a super trend to make money. In fact, I do slightly better in flat and range bound markets. I'm still not that good with trend trading yet. I'm still learning how to trend trade. But once I add trend trading into my toolkit, I think that will take me to the NEXT LEVEL. Especially with size capturing points not just cents. Unless you think stocks will no longer make 1 cents moves.. If that's the case then I would admit I can't make profit. As long as there is a move at least of 1 penny then I can and will make money for my particular style. As I continue to scale my size, that 1-5 cents steady profits will result in bigger and bigger profits daily. Instead of $1K-$2K of steady profits it will be $5K of steady profits. But I'm constantly evolving and incorporating new styles... Don't underestimate the power of DELIBERATE PRACTICE combined with the GROWTH MINDSET. It can move mountains. The human spirit is undefeatable. Skills compound over time. Read the "Compound Effect" and Anders Ericsson work on Deliberate Practice.
Scalping is the way! Least amount of risk and most steady profits. Trend trading is hard... I'm still learning trend trading. You sound like a trend trader...
As for the trend trading? Mreh, it will all be painfully clear when I decide to update my journal. It is pathetic. In the meanwhile, just keep doing what you do, and good on you. Both you and @sstheo are my heroes for beating their own trading demons.
For years, I was a stupid countertrend trader. Short the highs and buying crashing stocks. That was the MAIN cause my account blow-ups. I would be up , up, and up. Then one big countertrend trade would wipe me out! In some cases blow up the entire account. That was a bad trading demons that took me years to kill! I knew what to do but I couldn't help myself. I would have 70%-80% win rate but still be net down?! WHAT THE HECK?! It's because I would made money on individual trades but one big loss would wipe out everything. That was a really bad demon. That's when I realized if I got rid of my bad countertrend habits I can still get to keep the 70% win rate and nice winnings but none of the blow-ups. And here I am.. No blow ups just steady profits. I still buy extreme dips but with better risk management. My other trading demon is not cutting losses fast. Now I get out when I'm wrong. Even if I'm right 70-80% of the time there are times that I'm wrong. That's when I have to force myself to get out. That's the best advice for any developing trader. Cut your losses. Cut your losses. Cut your losses.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. If I were you, I try something different, like swing trade. I couldn't make it day trading but found my niche swinging options.