You will have better results with high probability, low subjectivity trade set-ups. Stop trying so hard. I obviously mean trend-following. For a stock, buy if all the following apply - its main index is rising the market main stock indices are rising the 20EMA of both stock and index are above the respective 50EMA the 50EMA of both stock and index are above the respective 200EMA the 50EMA of both stock and index are sloping upwards Set your stop below the most recent swing low. If this is impracticably far away, set the SL at 2 x ATR14 below entry. No profit targets. Pyramid the winners as soon as they break even. Keep at it.
(Tough love ahead) Here is what I read: - I dream of getting rich quick - I listened to some marketing BS - I had a lucky trade that made a bundle - I then traded without concern for position size or loss management and lost everything - I paper traded 90 transactions in the space of 8 weeks on a 2.5K account - I am planning to trade with borrowed money All of the above are red flags. The best returns are in fact steady but modest without losses. They is always NOT to lose money and position size is key to avoiding catastrophic losses. What you trade you should be willing to lose and not have to worry about except kick yourself for being a damn fool. More is less - back here in Belgium my bank probably considers me a very active trader. I have 250 transactions since the beginning of this year (whereby an open and close are considered one transaction). My account is much larger than 2.5K - my costs are not above 5% of my account value. In my mother's and family accounts I manage the costs are not higher than 1.2% of the value of the account. The learning curve is perpetual - the big danger always is that you go in too deep and lose everything.
Why can't he simply buy only the stocks that will rise a minimum of 20 percent each day and for sure not buy any stocks that will lose him money? Money management? Bet it all.. let her rip... preferably on maximum margin.
With apologies for what may come across to you as an "unhelpful" response (though it isn't intended that way), your problem is that you haven't yet identified what it is that you need: you mistakenly think it's "reassurance". Actually it's very basic education about what trading is, and how it works.
Keep paper trading until you are consistently profitable. Putting "skin in the game" does not make a bad strategy or poor trading behavior better; all you're going to do is get poorer.
In that order: 1) Back-test your strategy with historical data, many years at least. 2) Paper trading in real-time. 3) If 2 doesn't work, go back to 1. If 2 is working for many consecutive months, go to 4. 4) Trade with real money but with minimum size. 5) if 4 doesn't work, go back to 1. If 4 is working for many consecutive months, go to 6. 6) Keep trading with real money by increasing your size. 7) Collect and enjoy!