Getting into the 5th week of my trading "career" (hobby) - have been working on my chops - posted in earlier threads about accidentally finding a trading style - not knowing what it was I called it "dancing with the devil" - have since been told it is something of a tape reader scalping approach. Experimented today - needed to find the limiting quantity of shares one can buy/sell in at a single price - was looking for a "big dog" and chose (AMD) - worked quantities up to 1,800 shares - did not seem to "choke" at volumes seen at about 45 minutes after opening today. Anyhow - I wasn't "tuned in" to the movement of the price as I should have been when throwing down these increasing quantities - just interested in seeing whether the orders filled quickly. My wife called to me "let's take out the dogs.." The price had started to move against me and by the time I looked back and closed out of the trade the P/L showed a loss of $700 - wow - kind of laughed to myself and thought that's what happens when you "day trade"..! So I took my big dog Sasha outside in the sunshine for a bit and just chilled with the doggo. Went back to my "trading studio" (cluttered corner of the dining room) to sneak in a few more minutes of trading - hey, (AMD) was looking bouncy/smooth/cyclic/fast. Here's the crazy part - after losing approximately $700 in a rather striking fashion I knew that all I had to do was settle down and "grind it out" - focus on the DOM/T&S and play close to the price. Within about 30 minutes of trading with 600 shares the P/L indicator was green and showing a positive $12 - good enough - stopped trading - needed to get back to work - emails, audits, and conference calls. My wife asked me as she set my bagel and coffee on the desk "Are you okay?" - answered her "ever wondered what it would be like to find out you can levitate?" - got a strange look.
I remember this sort of feeling. It was greatttttttt. Mind you, it's not Truth. But it was greattttt. Keep in mind that profitable trading is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Day-trading is *fun* -- but don't mistake it for profitable trading. ... ... ... ["Don't be a wet blanket!!" Okay. Okay.]
You are probably at the unconscious incompetence phase. One of the biggest reasons traders fail is overtrading, but you've been in the market for 3 weeks, alongside your day-job and you are already one with the markets, in complete flow, it feels like music to you and you do 60 trades in 15minutes. No comment. Anyways, you are probably a good candidate, looking at the way you took the loss. Most of us would get emotional, lose focus and pretty much subconsciously unaware draw down the account farther. The mindset you bring into the game is probably one of the most important components. You still need the skill though.
Sasha are you Russian i can second that.......now i make one or two trades a day...hold each for 15-30 min and make enough to earn a living. it is tempting to think that make more trades you make more......but that is a dream now i only increase my size as Brooks suggests and it has been working .for me.. you have to figure out what works for you
I don't like that feeling that you say you're getting, if you're a glutton for punishment you're going to enjoy getting rammed while your riding that high. Or worse you might go deer in the headlights. That's not good for PnL and is very degenerative behavior. If you're feeling that fear of loss/adrenaline rush then you're gambling or trading too big, trade smaller and don't average into a loss as that makes you more emotional. Try to come up with a trading system that makes it so you make enough money but is also boring for your risk tolerance. You want no emotions involved in trading which is hard but you have to get there. As warning and as example you might be cheering your position to go into your direction or or you might pray to your deity of choice and say that you're never going to make the same mistake again, you might get lucky but eventually the inevitable happens.... Lady Luck is a cruel mistress who is always "dancing with the devil" don't f with her because at some point she'll leave you without your money and without a wife. Haha. Also regardless of how hard you "focus" the market is going to do what it wants to do so you got lucky there. I wish you didn't, but you lived to fight another day. So I hope you learn something from it. Through pain, through suffering is how you learn. As you saw the 600 share position made you back the $700 loss so you should try to continue trading with that size instead of the 1800 share size. Pretty expensive way to find out if the market would take $95,274 position, like you made me question if this was real life. Also it's not the size of the boat that matters but how you use it. Either way wish you the best and welcome to E.T. there are some hidden gems here you just have to find them. There's also plenty of sarcasm, trolling/drama and sponsors so you'll never be bored here hahaha.
Do yourself a favor and start by studying how to properly trade including, how to use risk management, position sizing, stop losses among other things. I cringe when you express excitement at losing $700 and winning $12? Something is wrong here. It seems you have gambling fever. I suggest you read Stan Weinstein's book Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets. Paper trade only until, you actually learn to trade and can make monies. Atleast, you do not lose real monies in real time. Just my 2 cents.
%% That; and AMD does have a real good 52 week chart/super liquid. [2] Another very helpful question.AMD goes from $33 to 58/53 how much did we get from that 52 week move move???[That's a helpful general question+ i'm doing other tech trades...………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………...]
Have traded AMD in the past. Swing trading, your gain probably, will be smaller. However, compounding is faster. Trend following, you would probably, get a good chunk of that move and have larger gains. Most of my trades have been swing trading so, smaller gains on my stocks but, repeated over and over. Stocks I am trend following, I have not realized gains as the time period is way, way longer. Looking to take advantage of the long term capital gains tax rates, on top of that.
%% Good points. I don't really have a strong opinion on AMD now; except the best uptrends stay above 200dma + 50dma + make higher highs...…….. AMD has not cleared $60 in a good while. Un realized gains are much better than loss