The first 2 years were unprofitable the last 3 years were profitable but I'm stuck in an 18 month long drawdown. I'm just too demoralized and tired of the stress to continue. The money I can easily make back but all the time wasted impulsively gambling and all the life wasted from the stress - that I will never regain. No regrets, however - I learned lots about myself and the market. And fortunately, I have more than enough money to make it as a swing trader and investor so I will try that path the reminder of the year.
I understand. You've lost your motivation and have become demoralized. Maybe this <a href="dhttp://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/on-the-floor-laughing-traders-are-having-a-new-kind-of-fun/238570/">article</a> in the Atlantic will help you to get some of your motivation back. It's entitled "On the Floor Laughing: Traders Are Having a New Kind of Fun". <blockquote>I need to find out why, of all the fledgling professionals I know, [my roommate] seems to be the only one genuinely delighted to go into the office every day.... They look less like they're working -- reading e-mails, say, or putting together a slide deck -- than calmly responding to a crisis... It's like a mission control center. The upshot is that there is a lot of energy on a trading floor. Go to a law firm, Silicon Valley startup, magazine, or corporate headquarters. Even if what they do there shakes the world, even if the staff practically sneezes vibrant creativity, still you can't escape that Office-y undercurrent, the unmistakable intimation of malaise you find wherever adults are stuck inside doing their homework. This place, on the other hand, feels like something closer to an active battleship. </blockquote> Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it?
I have absolutely zero interest in regaining my motivation to daytrade. I thank God for my protracted drawdown because this is exactly what I needed to quit and to get on the path of true success in this business: managing risk as a portfolio manager. Here are all the insane huge macro moves I missed the past decade because of being focused on DT: 2001-2003 one of the largest bear markets in history 2003-2008 one of the longest bull markets in history 2001-2011 the most insane bull run in commodities 2008-2009 the most insane volatility ever Huge moves in FX, dollar getting crushed against all currencies Huge moves in lots of stocks every year: AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, TZOO, LEH, BP, LULU, NFLX, and way too many stocks to list. If I were to ride any one of the above multi-year macro trends I'd would have made as much as I did DT with like 1/1000th the effort and 10 times more free time to enjoy life.
i like how this lpos curve fitted all the GOOD trades over the past decade. daytrading is hard and fun because you don't know about the future. heck if i knew, i'd but 2MM of AMZN or APPL right at the start of 2001.
thesniper, you need to take a long break from trading, a good 6-12 months at least. The break will be good for you, it'll let you clear your mind of all the stress that has built up. After taking the long break you can see how you feel about it and decide if you've got the motivation and proper strategy to get back into it. But U definitely need to get away from the business for now, put your mind on something completely different for a while, like maybe a hobby, long vacation, etc. it'll do you alot of good. Good Luck....
You stupid liar. or should I say, a bad liar. You said: You have traded for 5 years, first 2 years were unprofitable, the last 3 years were profitable, but you are NOW stuck in an 18 month long drawdown. 18 months are 1 and 1/2 years. If you take this time out of the last 3 years, you are left with 1 and 1/2 years of profitable trading. Where did the 3 years of profitable trading come from? Idiot.