This is normal. Every trader does something like this in the beginning. $25k is not that bad compared to what a lot of people lost starting out. You are wrong about this, but you don't know it yet. This is "stage 2" of the normal trader progression path. Education is not going to help you nearly as much as you think it will. That doesn't mean it's useless, but it won't guarantee anything for you. Do you think you could pick up a book on poker and all of a sudden start winning against the best poker players in the world? No? Why not? Because poker is a contest played against other human beings who are trying to take your money. Trading is exactly the same thing. There is no step-by-step method to becoming a world class poker player, and there is no step-by-step method to becoming a successful daytrader either. You are going to have to consistently beat the vast majority of other participants in the market to make any kind of money in this game. Keep that in mind. You will never know for sure. This isn't like getting a degree from a university. If you are a person of average intelligence and work hard, you can get a degree from a university or a community college. That's because learning how to build a bridge, program a computer, or write an essay is actually fairly simple and repeatable, and many people can be taught how to do it. Every year our world produces millions of new engineers, doctors, and lawyers. We don't produce millions of new successful daytraders. It's not that type of activity. Yes, and no. There are lots who are just charlatans, there are some who are better - but none of them are going to have the magic answer for you. You have to have some talent, and then you have to put in a hell of a lot of hard work. And it's going to take time. A lot of time. It is a REALLY bad idea to rely on this to generate income given where you are at now. Yes. It's also possible to make a comfortable living as a professional actor or athlete. How many people can actually do it though? It's roughly the same thing. You can take courses and learn some methods which may help you, but in the end your success will hinge on your own talent, and your own internal psychological issues. It generally takes time to work through those things, and nobody can do it for you. I'm not saying that education is useless, but it is only the first step in a very, very long road you are going to have to travel. As I said, some education may help you especially if you know absolutely nothing. But some people are not cut out for this business. Let me ask you a question: would you rather make $100,000 a year as a trader, or $500,000 a year as the vice president of a company? If the answer is #2, quit now because you probably don't have the passion to put up with all the crap that you're going to have to go through to make it. If you don't actually love trading for its own sake but are just looking to put in a bit of effort and start making money, the chances of success are slim to none. That explains your losses. The e-minis are one of the worst markets in the world to trade. Any educator that tries to teach you to trade this crap is not for you. Try to find someone who will teach you to trade something else... there are a lot easier instruments out there. You have paid some tuition. The next step is going to determine how smart you are. If you continue to trade with real money now that you have sustained losses and realize that you don't know what you are doing, then you're not that bright. If you start trading on the simulator and never touch live money again until you become an expert on it, then you have some brains. It's up to you. This is wrong. It's like saying "Every time your opponent raises in poker when there are two kings on the flop, it means he's bluffing". That may be true sometimes, and not other times. Trading is the same thing. You have to learn how to read price action and interpret all of your signals in context. No book can teach you that, only many thousands of hours staring at the market all day. Most of them from writing books. Most books are not written for daytraders, and a lot of information on price patterns that they talk about is 30 years old and doesn't work intraday in today's markets. You'll have to study what is going on NOW in order to become successful, not what was written in some book. The only way to do that is to watch the market and observe. Do yourself a favor. Start trading on the simulator and don't get off until you are sure you can make money. You will know you are there when you don't have to ask any more questions. That means nothing. Just because you have accomplished every goal so far, doesn't mean that you can accomplish ANY goal. Let me ask you: what are your chances of making an NFL roster for the 2010 season? I'll tell you right now: ZERO. There are some things that you might not be suited for, and trading may be one of them. Not everything can be accomplished by everybody - keep that in mind. It doesn't mean that you won't succeed, but a LOT of very successful people from other walks of life have tried to become traders and failed miserably. The only advice I can give you is to realize how hard this is going to be, how long it's going to take, and to very strongly advise you to have a plan B. Also, don't risk one more cent of real capital until you are 100% certain that you know what you are doing. As for educators, you'll probably have to slog through a few of them - part of your talent as a trader is going to be knowing how to identify the good advice from the BS. If you expect someone to lead you to profits following a step-by-step easy-to-follow method, you're probably in for a big disappointment. That doesn't mean that you can't learn something from an educator, but the success or failure of this endeavor is not going to depend on the quality of your education - it's going to depend on you.
This is EXACTLY the type of realization that you need to start having more and more if you're going to be successful. Forget about what other people say or don't say about premarket activity or anything else. If they are telling you one thing but your eyes are telling you something else, then trust your eyes, not other people. If you notice something, you need to have faith in your ability to analyze and profit from it. Maybe you're seeing something that the vast majority of others are not. Forget about the books and the advice of other traders, just find your own setups that make sense to you.
Thanks for the extremely detailed reply. I appreciate your opinion, Sir! I've been working diligently to aquire the necessary information to trade. I really do like what you said, sim trade and get plenty of screen time. Valuable advice, Sir. May you prosper and be in health, metoo
No problems, good luck on your quest. Just remember to not listen to any advice unless it makes perfect sense to you... because a lot of it is wrong!
Thank goodness for that! Imagine if all market participants are successful, who will be gaining? This game can only have one outcome: the majority of the population gives money to the minority of the population. Like... we all can have that choice? There are many 1/2 million dollar salary jobs out there waiting for us? We all know... flipping hamburgers, $15000 a year. Technicians/teachers/fireman/etc... $30000 to $40000 a year. Experienced engineers/computer programmers... $70000 to $110000 a year... Lawyers/doctors/etc.. $150000+ a year. Director level or VP of a company... $200000+ a year + bonus. But how many of us, percentage-wise, can really squeeze up the corporate ladder to the Director/VP level? Company politics and chance encounters... it's not entirely up to you. A salary job is a salary job. You can calculate your income to the exact penny until the day you retire - if you don't get kicked out first. With trading... there are possibilities. Losing $25000 or gaining half a million in a year, it all depends on you.
I agree. What I was really trying to get at is the notion that a lot of people are in trading only for the money, and not because they actually like the idea of trading. I would suggest that those people have a lower probability of success.