Total crap from the beginning to the end ! The only thing I can reassure your: you do not know what you doing. The learning curve for anyone who achieve something is years, many years, not weeks or month...
%% Good points , Mr Mac+ he could try cash investing stocks; could take 3-8 years , maybe , maybe not ,slightly faster LOL. Pay attention to 200 day moving average, for trades or cash investing.Remember the rule of 72.......; work 12 hours a day 6 days a week=72hours X 3-8 years. Not a prediction ,not bank insured.
Becoming a trader as stupidily as this may sound is kind of like a spiritual journey, testing and knowing yourself, pushed to emotional extremes, an 'alone journey' of frustration, until one pushes through to come out the other side, a winner in more sense than one. Generally speaking how long it takes is up to you, but most often a long time.
I suppose the most important skill to exercise right now is behavioral inhibitions, I’m going to deposit all my money, wake up observe the market and not trade for a week, I’m just going to write a hypothesis for targets, and watch each target play out, then I’m going back to paper trading. And of course withdrawing my money. I don’t use any technical indicators I just stare are the level two order flow and watch the minute candles form sometimes catching within pennies of the day high or low. Any technical study that is actually useful other than a 20, 50, or 200 day EMA?
I’ve had week where I repeatedly make 50-80% in minutes, and break even or lose 10-20%, but commissions on the weekly eat the rest of the profit.
This might sound pessimistic but if you trading with less than $25k, chances are the first 100-150% will be going towards fees. College takes most four years and yet you graduate with piece of paper in your hand to reduce the masses and you get that first job and they will have to train you to what you seldom learned in school. People who dream, most be dreaming all their life, those who conquer simple don't have time for nonsense, only have time for more research. Backtesting by many is 300 sample size, pro's is 20,000 plus sample size. You are light years from having knowledge enough to even be breakeven trader. "undivided attention" is 15 hours a week? were you joking? All my trading is through automation and yet I spend over 50 hours each week studying charts and back testing which I love to do. Coughing up a few trades? are you nuts? What did your method do in last 20 years and what is that sample size, what is the "mean" for protective stops, are they hard or loose. What are your expected drawdowns based on backtesting as in real time they always be much more. Do you think this guy fantasize of making it would be enough? Stop day dreaming and you have to know what to do before shit hits the fan or you be dead. This guy had the answers during a worn equipment flaw, perhaps if he had done a better pretrip inspection, might have found weakness in harness, but regardless, he knew what had to be done when going bad. You don't.
Paper trading also has its limits and real trading is hard work. If you can consistently score 8% a year you are a wonderful trader already. Such a return doubles your money every 6 years or so - its huge - dont get blindsided by the good/lucky times when you make more. If you lose 80% in a year - which cah happen if you make 80%+ in a year as well - you can wipe yourself out. What you are right in is to concentrate on a few things first and try and understand them and see if you can make them work in real. Generally it turns out to be less easy than it looks but not impossible study, learning and practice make perfect. You wont be perfect to start with and hence you musnt take risks that could make you lose 100% for the period of your steepest learning curve.