And my question would be, How many new traders wish they could be break even after 4 months? Most new traders get knocked out of the business by then because they lose all their capital. Goodpunk has no capital at risk! He is in a great position, learning how to trade with no money down and is breakeven, if not making some money. So why don't you guys worry about your own trading and leave the kid alone!
I have been reading this thread for a while too and finally decided to post my thoughts. From what I see most of the posts on this topic have been positive in terms of giving guidance and avoiding what to do ? What is wrong with this ? we are all trying to help each other out. Goodpunk what I did is after my last long loss streak is take a break from the market for a few weeks/months - revaluate your trading strategies and maybe for a week paper trade .. (most ppl dont agree but it worked for me )))) I think the good advice you are getting from the board is because we all have gone thru what you are going thru now and want to point you in the right direction so you do not get fed up and churn out ....
First of all he's been trading for around 6 months. People are just giving him good advice. Obviously his trading strategies are not working out. Nobody is telling him to quit trading, just find a different method. First of all scalping in this type of market and it being decimilized, only 1 or 2 percent of traders can be successful. On top of that he is trading really horrible scalping stocks in LU and NT. People have been telling him for months to choose different stocks, but he continues to trade these shitty stocks, just because he can trade 10000 shares with them. But what he can't seem to understand is, trading higher priced more volatile stocks, even if trading "only" 2000 share lots would get him the possibility of much higher returns. Although potentially much higher losses as well. But scalping stocks whose range of high and low is only a few pennies is frankly ridiculous. People have been telling him this for months. But he refuses to listen, thinking that if he just pursues on trading the way he is, he will eventually make money. Practicing does make people better, but not if they practice the wrong way. He could practice his current style of trading for 5 years, I gurantee he would not be successful. By success, I mean make a decent living, not a few thousand dollars. His strategy of scalping LU and NT frankly sucks. Say LU's ask is 2.70, and the bid is 2.69. The stock would have to go up 2 cents to make $33 after commissions and fees on a 10000 share lot. He trades this stock a lot of times daily, and it will not go up 2 cents most of the time, since the stocks high and low are only a few pennies apart. What will happen most of the time is that even if the stock goes up 1 penny, he would still lose like $66 after commissions, even though the stock broke "even." That's if the stock goes up, he will lose money. I don't have to explain what would happen if the stock went down. Anyway goodpunk, I don't want you to quit trading, just change your style which does not work. I think you can be successful, since you have the love of trading and the drive to succeed. But what I think you should do is take a couple of months off from HLV, and paper trade with some new strategies. Good luck!
Ok. First of all. I get charged on a per execution basis. The price is quite low. Lower than what most people would think. So purchasing 18,000 shares in one fill would cost me the same as if I purchased 1,000 shares, or 500, etc.. Alright, it's late......I'm going to bed and in the morning I'll post a reply for all.
Nice long post. But you should have read where he pays commision based on number of executions, not share number.
What I dont understand is how one can trade stocks that have 3 cent ranges, then think that it is remotely similar to trading stocks that have normal ranges. Trading LU, NT vs. IBM, MWD, CAT, KLAC, etc.. is night and day. What u learn from one has nothing to do with the other. Its like comparing school subject literature to chemistry. Just take a look at an intraday chart of LU, NT... there is nothing there. Reading the tape is impossible on those thick ass stocks ... u cant play relative strength, pairs, momentum, breakouts, futures correlation.. or any other typical daytrading strategy. The kid just needs to learn these things on his own.. no matter what we tell him he will do what he wants. The sad thing is that some people tell him that just because someone is breakeven after 5 months thats good.. its bullshit bro. You can only say that to someone that has a profitable strategy to begin with. What makes u think that in 2 months or 2 years from now u will turn the corner and consistently make $1k a week scalping? How will tomorrow be different from today. You can go on making $150 net the next 4 days in a row.. and then have 1 bad day and lose $500 and get upset.. putting u back to square one. Bro.. i've been through this shit before.. so have many other traders. Get a real job and then look for an edge.. dont piss your life away staring at a computer screen because what u are learning now will have 0 relevance to being successful in life. Imagine your next interview for your real job.. what are u gonna say about your daytrading stint. If they ask you why u left or what did u learn from it that u can contribute to your new job? Even if you go work on wall street no one would give a shit unless u put up big consistent numbers trading. Atleast with a normal job you can put something worthwhile on your resume and build yourself up to get an MBA or take your career to higher level. THe real job world is not that bad as u think... and remember u can always trade on the side. And regarding your firm HLV... it must be a pretty crappy firm if it has breakeven traders after half a year becoming team leaders and recruiting fresh blood to sacrifice. Remember the only thats making the real consistent money here is the one collecting the commisions. my 2 cents.
GoodPunk, I enjoy reading your journal. It's one of the few that I pay any attention to. A few questions, please: What are two of the highest priced stocks you are allowed to trade? You aren't charged commision on number of shares -- that's good. But it appears that each of your partial fills is considered an 'execution' Correct?
Trend Fader, I appreciate your concern. Let me tell you that there are plenty of people here that scalp LU, NT, ORCL, and QQQQ for a living. They make tons of money from it. But just because you can't trade them doesn't make them untradeable. Please, in the future, don't post anything derogatory about HLV. My firm has nothing to do with what I do. I was allowed to be a team leader because I posses qualities that would allow me to do so. Perhaps you don't understand that I can't trade that many stocks because I'm not trading my own money. Would I like to trade different stocks? Sure, who wouldn't? Soon I will be able to trade whatever I want. Look, this is what I want to do for a living. Respect that.
You're right. The only thing that's keeping me form being profitable is me. Time and experience will take care of that.