I've been there. and understand your pain. Until you find another job, your priority is capital preservation and risk control. You cannot afford to take even one hit on shares gapping overnight against you. Don't even think about daytrading or penny stocks or even swing trading shares. Swing trade only high volume/high liquidity stocks/indices via weekly options. That way loss is limited to the price of the option. On any chart there are points where price explosions take place. I don't feel shy to go 4-8 strikes OTM as RR is the key here. Your only task is to find and trade them. Your system is your profit.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this but if not, it might be that you learn how to read charts and you broker providing just a fraction of date whats happening in the market. So you trying to read a chart and simply you getting wrong data and coming up with wrong conclusions what you see. Try getting independent data providers and see what the difference between what your broker offering and other companies.
I would add that you need to figure out how you will exit paper trading. What is the criterion? Paper trading without an exit goal is not really a plan so much as a holding pattern. Also consider that different styles, e.g. day versus swing, are better suited for different personalities and psychological makeups.
Bracket Orders - Could Your Trading Method use them? [Pros: 1. Bracket Orders have the advantage of “set and forget”. thru 10 Cons: 1 thru 6 https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/...-trading-method-use-them.349950/#post-5200404
Hello again. Here is an update. Up until 2 weeks ago everything was going very well, I had several consecutive winning days, mainly only scalping. On that Friday (2 weeks ago) I started the day kind of stressed. Had a minor win, followed by trades that I did not follow my rules at all, oversized, did not use proper risk management and ended up giving back everything I made during ALL past sessions. Looking back at my trades, even with the size, if I had applied proper stop losses under previous candle's low, the outcome would be totally different and they would be huge winners. But they weren't. Because all these if, would, should do not have any impact to the present. Following that, I have not been able to regain my confidence, not following a POA, despite having a decent strategy that actually WORKS. I look back at my trades and the potential outcome (trades that I actually took, not trades that I could have taken) and every single day I could end my day very positive, but I don't. And that happens, because I only scalp my winners, feeling immediately the need to flee, whereas I will always stay in a trade which goes opposite, until I am stopped out. Only in today's session, my AAPL and RBLX trades would be huge winners, being in them from almost the open, and both of which never went against me. I have a serious issue which I am really aware of, being unable to stay in my winning trades because of fear. I talk to a more experienced friend, he is always giving me good advice, but I am still unable to abide by that single rule, do not sell your winner short. It is so discouraging, analyzing my trades after the end of the session, and observing the potential they had. I don't know what to do. P.s: My PTA has not have had a single losing day in any trading session for a month now. But my PTA results are not transfarable live, sadly.
No, you actually don't have a decent strategy. You've been lying to yourself all along. Without legitimate position management you were 100% set up to fail.
Taking a real profit is good no matter what. From my experience, when your brain becomes like scrambled eggs, and you're second guessing all over the place, step back. Learn scaling in and out to protect from serious losses and keep winners happening. Cheers.
These are the trades I took yesterday and today. If you look at the charts, and see what I did, you will undoubtedly understand why I am failing every day.