If you dropped 15K, then I would hope your account is well into 6 figures. If not, then you're trading way too large, especially for someone who hasn't got it figured out yet.
@lindq, Good point. E.g. drop 15K on a 30K account would send the stress level through the roof. @ts, Trading methodology must be established over a period of time. If you are tinkering with your method then you must cut down your position size.
Oh, it was because I had attempted to pyramid down. But I was trading on the wrong thing. I had another thread in the futures forum about it. So basically, I scrambled as soon as I found out. But yes, to answer the question. But it wasn't a loss that I didn't feel either.
LOL.. I did have second thoughts after posting because it really is just a waste of time on my part. But seriously, can this really be true? I mean if this one trade is a loss of 15k, and sure, he says he averaged into it twice. But even if we assume a typical trade would net him 5k, how does this compare to the fact that he said he made about 4k a month? How is this one trade so much bigger, worth an entire month, even before it was averaged into? And even if this one trade is just massively different than all the others, still, at the numbers he is throwing around, you would assume he is at the level where he is keeping charts. You don't get to the level of supposedly making 4k a month without keeping charts that you go over. He says he is keeping notes, but then he says he doesn't know how he draws his lines? What kinds of notes is he keeping? If he was to say he randomly clicks and it works out, I would almost believe that more than to say he is actually keeping notes, but miraculously, no charts. We have too many of these brand new posters with these outrageous stories and then everyone wastes their time, and then the poster is gone.
There's something distinctly wrong when your last remaining trade in week 50 represents the difference between a profitable year and a flat year. Without knowing more its impossible to be more specific.
Eh? I'm not sure how you got the idea that this trade made the difference between a profitable year and flat... I have been unprofitable all year if that makes a difference... Not to single you out but having started browsing different threads, I'm getting the feeling that a lot of people here are so used to dealing with bad members that automatically, everyone new is suspect and needs to spill their life story and all to validate themselves to a bunch of random strangers. It's really discouraging to see. But to those who helped me in the last few days, I appreciate it. I have taken your advice and will be applying it.
OP, if you're looking for trade ideas, check out TastyTrade and if you're interested in chart patterns, Tim Knight goes over charting based trade ideas everyday on a show called Trading the Close or www.slopeofhope.com. It won't make you rich overnight, but I think it's a good place to start. Bottom line regardless of your method, trade small until you are consistently profitable over months, not days. Nail the mechanics before you increase trade size. That's why I prefer algorithmic trading over discretionary. It's so much more objective.
I love the TastyTrade team! Tom and Tony are so approachable and if you email them, they respond even on weekends - even if it's stupid questions. They were the ones that got me interested in trading. Actually, thanks for reminding me, prior to doing all this, I did follow the way Tom taught Case in selling premium. Small profits as you pointed out but it was a lot steadier. I definitely need to revisit that. I'll go through Tim's stuff as well (I did not know about that website you linked). It has been a while... don't know why I stopped following them... Thanks for the reminder and the link!