A Retail's Day Trading Experiment

Discussion in 'Trading' started by ironchef, Sep 20, 2023.

  1. padutrader

    padutrader

    i agree if you cant make money in paper trading........then you cant do it live

    there is another option you can look at and that is one road i liked for me personally......it gives you some incentive without risking much money.......it allows you to learn.....i am talking about prop firms like Topstep Trader and a few others......this is a compromise and tests you emotionally because get a big reward
     
    #21     Sep 20, 2023
    ironchef likes this.
  2. ironchef

    ironchef

    1. I use a notional $50K per trade. Every day I review half a dozen stocks, pick two when market opens and trade one with that $50K.
    3. Mental hard stop when enter.
    4. Exit: No target except something similar to trailing stop.
    6. Going live: See my general reply.
    7. Yes and no, no need to break rule, after all it is paper trade. :D
     
    #22     Sep 20, 2023
  3. padutrader

    padutrader

    tweaking is like optimization.......it will never end.....apologise for the bluntness of that comment

    i know the agony of such an activity......i tweaked for 2 decades
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2023
    #23     Sep 20, 2023
  4. ironchef

    ironchef

    IMO I agree with you sir.

    However, win rate is < 50%. The reason of 84.5% daily win rate came from catching one or two good run almost every day.
     
    #24     Sep 20, 2023
  5. ironchef

    ironchef

    Agree and appreciate your other comments and will make adjustment if I continue to paper trade. Here I will comment on the above.

    I trade options for almost a decade and had drawdown of more than 30% on many occasions. so am use to it. The thing I am not used to is the rapid fire instant decision making in day trading.

    Sisyphus endeavor. :banghead::banghead::banghead:
     
    #25     Sep 20, 2023
  6. deaddog

    deaddog

    You didn't mention position size.
    I day traded a similar sized account a few (Many) years back. (Time flies when you're having fun)
    I'd risk around 1% of the account per trade but I was waiting on set-ups and only made 2 or 3 trades per day.

    I curious as to why you are day trading? You said you are retired, gotta be better things to do with your time than sit in front of a monitor. That's a job.
     
    #26     Sep 20, 2023
    ironchef likes this.
  7. ironchef

    ironchef

    1. Retail crack? No I am a retail day trade crackpot.

    2. Read my general comments: win rate < 50% but rescued by one or two good run most days. So, out of 1500, maybe about 50-60 good runs?

    3. I absolutely agree with you on focus on high R:R. The R:R of my directional option trades are >10, win rate < 30%.
     
    #27     Sep 20, 2023
  8. deaddog

    deaddog

    Missed you answer about position size as I was replying.
    200 risk on 50k must have awful hard stops.
    What is a mental hard stop?
     
    #28     Sep 20, 2023
  9. deaddog

    deaddog

    Must have awful tight stops
     
    #29     Sep 20, 2023
  10. ironchef

    ironchef

    @taowave said the same thing about why I wanted to day trade when I had a system for options and don't need the money.

    I failed at day trading a decade ago, trying to prove to myself that I am not a failure.
     
    #30     Sep 20, 2023