21 years old saved up about 5 thousand read some books my ear went CHA CHING!!! and dollar signs sparkled in my eyes bought a rather nice computer set up in my room all i have left is..... a really nice computer and a much more humble respect for the market I had it all planned out what i was going to do where i was going to relocate hahaha anyways point is i lost that 5k in a week everything i read to not do, i did. it was just a mess of emotions to be honest first came greed (s&p e-minis by the way) made about 300 my first trade in a matter of minutes then i thought "well gosh i wonder how much i can make in an hour" lost the 300 tried to get them back got a little bit back wanted to end the day on a good note gave it another try ended up losing more. story of my life back to tending tables it was for me How ever i am not deterred by the "incident" if anything i saw it as a rather expensive tuition now i am just trying to keep on learning both strategy and how to handle those never before felt emotions. i wont stop this is what ive grown to love and i hope to one day be sucessfull at it.
Never ran it to zero ... I don't use margin. My very first account ... I put about $8K in and played Penny Stocks ... I bought in too high and averaged down to $800 and had like 57,000 shares ... it ran to over a dollar and I regrouped $5500 ... after lost weight and lotsa worry. A few years later I made a series of very bad mistakes in the stock market again with real money and ran a 1 Mil+ $ account down to just under $300K ... That was a pretty tough "blow up" of an account. I have caught myself in similar stupid patterns and just learned to step away and stop trading till my head clears. It happens less and less and costs less with each lesson of frailty and failure to follow rules I know.
So far I have made consistant gains. Have not blown up yet. Going on 5 months now. I want to get to the point where I will be confident to leverage myself out and make a nice living. I have been setting myself up and studying my game plan for years now though.
Good for you. But be sure to keep a tight leash on the ego because before ya know it it's gonna get into your head. Trust me, I've been there and done that and it doesn't end with "Happily ever after." Once you found your edge, it's not the time to leverage yourself to the hilt. Instead, you should spend your time honing your money management skills. One is offense; the other defense. For those who have been playing this game for some time will tell you the latter requires a greater skill of the two.
As has been said so often.. EVERY aspect of trading that works is well documented.. You can assemble EVERYTHING... system, money management.. etc. THE real challenge is what no one can teach/give you... following a plan, day-in day-out with the markets trying to change your mind all the time by varying how much you leave on the table. So the best traders are able to completely go flat mentally at the end of the day rather than carry the stuff in their heads to bed, and into the next day.. That is what is tough.. and no, automation works only for a limited part of the picture and thankfully that is the more important side.. Money Management.. BUT you can still override that in your MOM.
Nice to meet you saliva. Do you make a consistant sole income from trading? My money management skills are the foundation of my trading edge. I always have room for improvement there, but it is pretty solid right now. Thanks for your concern. My plan is not to leverage myself to the hilt - I am not a greedy trader, just what I am comfortable with.
If your question is for real ... the stupid patterns are as follows: 1) I get bored and break my trading experience and trade rule sets. 2) I get excited and break my trading experience and trade rule sets. 3) I break my trading rule sets 4) Lastly when I deviate from my trade rule sets I try things like Martingales or averaging up or down. I have had great success with them and great failures so it is tempting. When they are put into rule sets they work fine however ... as long as flip rules are solid.
so the next day one will trade to break even with the day before, one will never get those 2 days back,but one could benefit from the lesson, does one,that would be evolutionary or evolving,nothing stays the same ,if it's not getting worse 'it's getting better