I restrict my trading to the AM. I'm out the PM. My rule to know when to quite is when the clock hits noon.
Fraid of the bears. Its bearseason after 12:00 I remember losing 300K on a single day, leverage can be your friend or your worst nightmare My limit is 300-400K max loss for one day before I throw in the towel although I have only had that happen once. Remember things could go wrong fast and quick, 300K could turn into 2-3 million really fast if you do not have discipline.
I'll usually quit for the day when the risk manager and one of the larger traders drag me kicking and screaming out of the office and lock the door. Though sometimes they'll forget to lock my account so I can log back in from home. That's what really makes em mad.
To the OP. Ask yourself the same question, but apply it to a single trade. If you're losing on a trade, how far back do you let the market take you? If you're up on a trade, how far do you let your profits run? How far do you let the market come back before taking profits? You have to manage your risk on every trade, know how much you're willing to lose and to give back, before you enter the trade. Depending on how you manage each trade you have to manage your day. A guy trading for small and frequent profits avoiding a big unfrequent loss, picking up pennies and dimes in front of the steam roller; has to manage his daily pnl in a every different manner from a guy taking frecuent small hits in hope for a home run... [san petersburg paradox] How you manage your risk depends on how you perceive risk, that's why you're the only one who can answer your question.
Simply put, you are a good trader. But you are undisciplined, so set your trading software you lock you out from trading the rest of the day. It's your job to figure out the point of no return.
When you are tired When volume is consistently low When your usual setups are simply not working When the trend changes every five minutes When you have hit your max loss limit When something more important comes up Just a few scenarios. Anek
I usually quit or reduce my trading size to 1/10 when... ...I reach my avrg. daily $-target (i.e. Let´s say avrg. winning day is 2000$, market opens with a gap and I short the whole way down with a 5:1 RRR, giving me 2000$ in only one hour) ...I am down and not able to adjust. (i.e. I am long but the market is edging down and I KNOW that it´s time to switch but I can´t pull the trigger) ...I feel like I´m the best daytrader who has ever existed. (i.e I´m starting to overtrade with bad RRR)
Something out of left field. Many traders are good at poker, and many find that poker develops and/or uses many of the same money management skills. Poker is also good for developing patience in the face of unbelievably bad luck. Have a maximum loss level for the day, the week, the month and for the overall system. Once you have hit that level, go and hit your paperwork. Go and try and quantify the quality of your set-ups and find out which ones work the best and which are falling over. By stopping trading you are likely to still spend the down-time thinking about trading which will help you when you step back up to the plate. After you have analysed your strategy and system sufficiently - go and find a cheap game online that wont hurt you - and hit the tables.