Though others typed their similar stories out I'll do mine too since you're young and naïve just as I was when I started out at 7 years ago at 22. So I started in 2009, and 2014 was my first positive year. Of course then I thought I new things and lost most of my account at the end of 2015. Unless you have a mentor that will teach you how to consistently make money, you're on a long rough path especially juggling 2 other businesses. I was a part time trader too for a few years. I need near 100% focus for 3-5 hours to make a living out of day trading a futures index. From my 3 years part time & 3 years near full time of day trading, there is only 1 way I have found day trading can be done well. Books talk around it but I've never seen the method I'm using talked about. That's probably why it's so good, it's not in public domain, mind you I have read around 40 trading books and numerous websites. I also sort of stumbled upon the idea, and formulated it myself, no one told me, and it works like magic. But that's what makes a great trader - you have to find your own method, one you believe and one that works for you. That's why it takes so long. Like any biz it took 7 years to start to return $, and it's going to take me a while to get back the money I lost when I was younger and more inexperienced. Thankfully I have had a job for a few years so my expenses are all covered, but I have been living well under my means for years to save for my trading account. Just realized this thread is aged. Bleh.
Some will disagree with you. Money is made by entering and exiting the market, which is also called timing. One does not need much guidance in relation to the best timing, but one does need to ignore all the bullshit and silly ridiculous things that most people talk about, that, has absolutely nothing to do with making money daytrading. Price will "always" be doing one of three things - if one is not able to count to three, then one should not trade! Another "thing" that catches most is stop placement - using stops based on a set number of ticks, or cents, is one sure way to get fleeced! Some textbook stuff is ok, but only the pure basics - anything beyond that is monkey territory. As with all things in life, everything happens for a reason, so, it is just a matter of finding out what the reason/s are, and then having a simple defined process to make sure that when you "look", you actually "look" at what is required in order to make the best judgement possible - best judgement possible, as one can never be certain in an uncertain environment, nor does one need to be once one sticks to ones simple defined process! J_S
Still felt comfortable to trade forex as part time business only, because treat forex as full time if skill not supported, hence will messed up overall financial, and treat forex as full time business might will good if still having another source of income
You develop a very good Trading Plan you have back tested/forward tested(paper traded), start real time, if you drop a $1,000, you quit and never return to day trading. You have to trade like your life depends on it, cause your money is your life to exist, food, home etc...
Never return to day trading ?! I am sure you lost more than 1K before you've reached profitability. Agree for the plan. What's sad is that I didn't have one when I started. I changed my "rules" as I breathed. Plus I was looking for the holly grail ! That stuff that could catch each and every move in the market. A plan is like your avatar in this game. Without plan ... You're dead. Really ! No plan, no future there. A winner has already won before the battle. But till there is $$$ there is hope ^^
Yes. It's just a lucky streak. You broke the rule. You're doomed. Escape as fast and as far as you can !!! RUNnNnNnNnNnN '
You better believe I lost more than a grand as I didn't have outstanding mentors, I had snowball amount of books that were garbage, I went to seminars, folks took my money right and left to say they can teach me how to be profitable and even still I never took what they taught me and back tested it well enough. You back test like your life counts on it and you paper trade that way as well, if you don't results you need, you make changes to your Trading Plan till you can achieve positive gains. When you dropped the $25k, did you do everything possible not to lose that money? Were you completely ready to trade? Congrats on doing well now. I lost seven years of my life to get profitable, I was taking money from profits in stocks and other monies to stay at it, so for seven years where I would have been profitable in stocks, that account made nothing and futures were bankrupt each year, the no gain in stock account during the biggest Bull market ever at the time, I could have had several ties more than I have know in those accounts. Reasons I lost are very much like many who lose for years and only show losses as I never took it serious enough and never learned to program, I learned all the dumb things first like how to enter the S&Ps when in futures cause of the leverage, you need to learn risk first. There are extremely few that get into day trading with the intent on working hard to make a Trading Plan, many open an account and check past week on what worked then start at it and don't have a clue what to do after they get in.
It took me losing that money to know I was doing something wrong. Pretty bad. I had some success trading that way, but there is a much better way. I completely changed the way I trade now. Much easier/less stress (high probability).