You guys are trying to predict what the markets going to do. Based on what’s happening in the world. Watch the market… It’s showing you what it’s doing.
We all know that we’re supposed to use the stop loss. We all know that we’re supposed to calculate our risk. That were supposed to have a plan and be clear about what we’re doing in our trades. We all know this… So why do we take trades and not do this? What’s going on that has us throw all caution to the wind, and then end in disaster? Emotions! Yet when you work on your trading you focus on the charts and the strategies, etc. in the MARKET and not on YOURSELF and dealing with your emotions. Just a thought…
You should take a break here. Maybe a quarter mili is cheap. You could always lose more. After such a loss, your primitive brain gets triggered - the fight or flight response. Emotions will take over and it can cloud your judgement. You might think that you've lost a lot and now you'll want to make it back. One bad mistake after another, it can cascade and you can go bankrupt very quickly. You won't even be aware of it until you blow your whole account and you'll question yourself afterwards "how the hell did this happen?". It's all past now. The only thing you can control is the present and what you do now. In my opinion, you have two options: 1.) Continue trading. Lose more, perhaps blow whole account 2)Take some time off. Don't come back to trading for as long as you feel risk averse and have a desire to win, because you are guaranteed to lose. The other problem is, we don't know your background. Are you a seasoned trader, or just somebody who rode out this 10-year bull run and made a ton of money from his long term investments or any other endeavor. I assume you have little to no trading experience(You thought there was NO CHANCE)... I thought the same thing when i started out, and you quickly realize that ANYTHING can and it WILL happen.
I’m curious - do a lot of you hold shorts overnight in this environment? That seems to be by far the biggest risk factor when it comes to big losses like OP is describing. Everything else (intraday, options) has been very stable as far as risk management is concerned.
I've had a close look at the trade and there's some good lessons there. Position sizing Exiting trades when you get an exit signal or use a stop loss Not adding to a losing trade without a strict exit. Making an allowance for market manipulation. Assessing all the possibilities which forms part of your risk management. Avoid being hypnotised and married to one direction.
I'm seeing far too many people questioning Max's background, how long he's traded, how he f'd up with this assumption that the critic never makes errors, or has never had a lapse in judgment and reason that led to some hefty losses. Maybe some of these guys are that good, but I sincerely doubt it. Instead, it's refreshing to see someone actually post a mea culpa when a trade turned to s*** because most of what I see on this site are guys who completely disappear when they are flat out wrong OR only the winners posting after their winning day or winning streak with no acknowledgment that there are some losses they have to take occasionally that offset those gains. So kudos to Max. He's always been one of the stand up guys around here.
Max,you clearly learned a shitload,and you didnt need 6 pages of our wisdom to prove it..Your simple chart shows it.... Paul Tudor Jones wrote that many think he simply nails the top or bottom on the first shot,but the truth is that after the 10th try(stopped out 9 times) he finally gets it right.... Trading a market where the ATR has quadrupled along with historical vol going from 13 to 90 requires "special attention".... Its that simple...
You saw this one sooner Max... and you didn't listen dammit. I told you this on March 24th because I saw it (felt it) coming. You know I'm not kicking you when you're down brother, and man I feel your pain.. but you ARE NOT A NOOB. You f'n know better. Know what happens next? The revenge trade. Don't do it Max. This chop will tear you up if you use size and leverage. You gotta walk away Max, or you're gonna f around and lose more. Listen, if you want my advice... lets wait for a pullback. Oh we're gonna get one don't worry... a good one. We'll find ya a couple solid long plays that get oversold in the downdraft and ride them back up. It'll be easy to pick a few. I already know which stocks, and they'll bounce hard. You'll get it all back and then some. We just need that sell-off. And its coming, don't worry. Stay away from oil too. Its not going anywhere unless its lower. I said it was a crowded trade at $30 and its a crowded trade now.
As someone who has lost more than that, let me share my thoughts. I suspect you already know this, so this is for others reading the forums. I believe are you right, not wrong. You just got the timing wrong. Timing is everything. The problem is not that you got it wrong, it's that you got greedy. You had an extremely strong conviction, and therefore you went all in. It went against you, and now you have to eat some humble pie. It happens to the best of us. I was told by an old friend that every career trader must go through at least 3 wipeouts. 3 wipeouts. Let me repeat that... 3 wipeouts Tomorrow is another day