One of the things I've learned since starting this journal is the fallacy of starting with 1 contract. Since I need x dollars to get by each month, anything less than that means I have to borrow more money to get by. For several months I was doing the 1-2 contract trades in hopes of building confidence. The theory was you can always scale up a successful strategy in the future. Unfortunately, since my bank account was still dropping, with each passing month I felt more pressure to get bigger. When I finally increased size, I had a couple of hits to my bank account (major car repair +2,200 out of pocket), daughter hit by another car (car rental +1,000 out of pocket, insurance deductible +500 out of pocket). I felt tons more pressure to make it happen. This led to me losing control and having a big losing day. In short, I think it's better to go up to a minimum size you need to get by and put a little aside to grow the account over time. Had I done that, the pressure I was feeling would have gone down over time instead of up. Now that I've jumped through hoops to get money from just about every source short of selling my home, I decided to resume my trading with 3 contracts. At this size if I have continued modest success, I should be able to cash flow and put a little aside. Then when I want to add another contract it'll happen because the balance has grown and I'm ready for the next step.
2 days of trading and very few opportunities to make money. One change I made was trading times at some of your suggestions. For what I do only the first 2 hours and last 2 hours make sense to enter positions. So once the 2 hour mark is hit I walk away and do something else. I've tried naps to catch up on sleep but it just makes it harder to sleep at the end of the day. Anyway, hopefully I'll see some good chances for making money soon. 2 day net +158.56
A couple of other personal notes. My hours at the store were cut to 5 days per-week from 6 due to the store not making much money. If our store is any indication of the US economy, then it dropped off the cliff in the past week. This gives me more time for rest and worry. To take my mind off life I found Eve Online. A roleplaying game for $15/mon.That gives me all the emotional release I need so that when I trade I only focus on making money. I call it my Calgon - "take me away". The last 2 days of trading have been emotion "free" , meaning I don't have any anxiety while trading. Just watch, wait, and execute. Another thing is my wife is behind my trading now. She realizes we can't get by from working harder. Even if I took on another 8hr crap job/day we'd still be going down the tubes financially. So trading is really the only thing separating us from being the 70+ year-old greeters at Walmart.
Hey Gutsy, I've been reading through your thread and a question popped up. Have you had any interaction with the 'Pro' that got you started in your investment strategy lately? I was curious if you had been able to meet with him to sharpen your skills more? Good luck, enjoy reading the thread.
Keep up with the good work gutsy. Remember our enemies is us. Manage the pressure and tilt. Always steer back when things get off track like on a snow road... don't let it slide. Tighten up the defense.
I relate to your situation and admire your determination gutsy. When you have success, remember how it felt and harvest that emotion(less) state for the next day. Good luck.
No, the guy moved to Jackson Hole, WY. His first name was Allen. I don't remember the last name. I think I could get it from a kid that did one of those career shadow days with him. I see the kid at nights once in a while. If he wanted to stay in touch he had my email and phone #. I really didn't get to know him or his family on a social level. It was all business from the time I arrived until I left. Only small talk was while eating lunch and that was mostly about sports. I didn't want him pissed at me for any reason so I steered clear of asking personal questions. My trading and his are not that close. He was more of a maniac. Buying and selling using hotkeys on a keyboard so many times that I couldn't keep track whether he was long or short the market (and I was watching the same market on another computer). I can't switch positions that fast and that's been one of my stumbling blocks. I can't keep the intense focus for hours like he did. Maybe if I ever get to where I only trade for a living it'll get easier, but not right now. He never used stops, just moved from long to short like it was nothing. I have to use stops to protect myself from myself. Someday maybe I can get the whole package together....at least I can dream.
good to hear, I think 40yotrader success was partly due to his wife was with him from the start http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=10237&perpage=6&pagenumber=20