I have been immersed in trading for the past year. And it's finally time for me to move on. It's been a great journey. I learned alot about myself, and improved as a person. I faced failure more times than I can remember, and picked myself up again, each time becoming better. My understanding of persistence has certainly grown through this. The past month I experienced what it's like to go up 20%, and then all the way back down to break even. My funding has run out, and so has my confidence that my approach is something that can be considered predictably profitable. I am on the fourth iteration, now break even instead of negative. I have no doubt that if I kept going I would find a better way to profitability eventually. Most people spend years on it. Or maybe it's a statistically expected drawdown. But that really doesn't matter to me anymore. The negative impact on my life is too great. I'm spending my days obsessing over patterns and strategies, instead of people and real life. If I'm being honest with myself, the answers to my life were always to be found within, in actualizing my character. And no amount of green P&L's could ever replace that. My obsession with trading was more about avoiding my issues that made getting a normal job difficult, and finding a way to make millions from the comfort of my bedroom. I am someone who hates giving up with a passion, so this is difficult. I have always believed that success lies beneath my feet if I will dig deep enough to reach it. But in my case, it feels like taking a good step forward, and finally leaving behind a crutch in my life that was never meant to be. I have no regrets, and I'm proud of myself for taking each leap of faith instead of playing it safe. I'm sure there are some of you for whom trading is a positive part of your life, and I wish you all good luck. May the move be ever in your favor.
a few points food for thought - 1) short term trading is a waste of time and the time frame gets ever more crowded by robots.. so giving up is a wise move... i'd not even call it a 'give up'.. 'strategic shift' sounds better 2) I have posted about financial freedom before... yeah focus on having a real life outside of the market... the market is doing it for you with NDX performing at 12.5%.. why even bother with anything fancy. 3) but, the lessons you have learned from trading will still be of great value going forward, because of the ups/downs you have experienced and you will, hopefully, be able to withstand the ups/downs to capture the 12.5%.... this is easier said than done, and most people, even if they know it's 12.5% for the past 30+ years, they still cannot capture that going forward, the next time my pro boys knock it down lol. Have fun, enjoy life, let the market make you rich!
"up and down 20% in a month" "funding has run out" "negative impact on my life" Sounds to me like you were probably very undercapitalized and taking wayyyy too much risk to compensate. In this situation, failure is practically guaranteed. 20% movement in 1 month is just insane. 2% per month is a good starting point. It is very hard to do this sustainably if you don't have a few hundred Ks to play with (IMO) . Good on you for realizing it wouldn't work, hopefully you got out before too much damage was done. You can always come back later with more money and a better plan.
One year is nothing. Anything worthwhile takes many years to reach any non-neophyte level. Sounds like you were just excited to make money from your bed room, your enthusiasm or puzzle-solving/analysis part of trading wasn't at the required level.
This is so insulting to so many people here, including myself, that I am at a loss for words. Try profit, BE, profit, BE, loss, BE, profit, loss, BE, loss. And the circle keeps turning. If it was truly your passion, you'd keep at it. I keep at it, and keep at it, and keep at it. Of the two frogs in the bucket of milk trying to escape, I'm the one who keeps paddling the milk to find a way out. Eventually it will churn to butter and I will find my purchase to escape the bucket. I will not be the one who gives up and drowns in the milk.
This is my feeling about how trading with regards to my life. No need to be insulted. I'm not continuing because it's not my true passion. If it's yours, keep the fuck at it.
If yer going to give a farewell message, at least thank the people here who have helped you or something? Is this a "goodbye forum" message? It seems that way. *shrugs* Not sure if you were looking for input here or whatever. Otherwise, why post what you did?
I agree with @dozu888, good luck and best wishes. If you ever want to come back and try trading again, my humble suggestion is to make sure you are well capitalize and manage your trade size carefully (Kelly). Assuming you find a strategy with positive return, being able to compound the return during good time to cushion the inevitable drawdown is the key for long term success. Anyone who needs all the profits to put food on the table will eventually fail.
This is the second "I am done with this" post in a short while where people say that their account is depleted. Hard to understand why people put hard earned money on the line when there are so many options available nowadays. Gambling?
to me the absolute amount of the account is not much of an issue... if you actually have an edge you can trade 1 share and grow that account fast enough. the problem is finding that edge and there isn't any... over the course of 20 years in the market I have met in person or remotely, hundreds of traders, can count on one hand those who make enough for a living, which is inline with the industrial stats.... 1% makes enough for a living... this IS a waste of time... and charts are not that interesting to look at. if you have to play zero sum, sports betting and horse racing should have higher dumb to smart money ratio.... and watching the horses run or athletes compete are definitely more interesting.