Sorry, this may be thereaputic. I think I went through a couple months ago but tried trading again. I'm a bagholder now in many stocks and some etf's. Probably the worst portfolio out there. Down a ton. Trading has started to consume my life too much. When you are not consistently making money, I guess it sucks. I fall in the 90% failed category. I had a successful business out of home and did well. Saved a lot and tried trading again full time. Need to regroup and REALLY get a job, benefits, 401k going again. I really loved working out of home for 5 years. Shit some days I don't get dressed. Gotta make some changes. To some its pathetic being on the computer all day but its the freedom I had to do and trade. When I'm not making $$$ consistently, it eats away at me. I gave this almost 1 year and its not working. I should of stuck just with the index trading.... I will now go back to the 9-5 routine. Actually its been 4 years. A job will suck. I'm 29 so there is still time. Seeing a six figure savings cut in half blows big time. I'm getting the fuck out of the house and going to see American Gangter right now with a friend. He's actually unemployed now thanks to Countrywide so misery loves company. Gonna miss ET. I tried trading, failed, deal with it, don't beat self up, and move on. I go down along with others I guess. I'm not liquidating positions yet until I have to. Always kept 20k cash on sidelines. I have 50k in positions that will just fluctaute daily. Will try not to check them constantly. Will check back in later. I'm another loser...
<i>"I'm 29 so there is still time."</i> Still time for anything. You haven't even scratched 30 years old yet. Trust me... this will seem a lot less significant in the future to you than it does right now. You'll be perfectly fine
Good luck regrouping, maybe you can slowly inch back into trading at a later point when you feel financially and mentally more comfortable. Even if you only spend an hour adjusting positions each night it can be profitable and keep a door open for you to get back into it fulltime.
I agree with this sentiment. You have a long way. Our failures are what set us up for our successes. We fall so we can get back up again. Take comfort in the fact that many people who have been successful have had hard times in the beginning. I wish you well.
Duude, keep the chin up. The 90% failure rate is lower than the successful traders (of which it is said that 99% + blow up at least once in their careers). Look at is as a learning experience. You're 29, plenty of time to regroup. And there is no reason to leave ET. You'll just be one of the 90% of posters that are not full-time traders.
I have failed so many times in my life that I have really stopped being upset about it. And I mean failed. But out of each failure has come my best success. Truthfully. I never once would have imagined being the person I am now from where I started, but I am always amazed and astounded at the path that has been laid before me. Do not be afraid to fail, but also do not be afraid to succeed. And it happens to lots of us. Why do you think Victor is so beloved on this board? He reminds us that failure is never final, and I think we all take heart in that. If you never fail, what then is your success worth? Good luck to you.
Funy how the small guy accepts it and packs up and the Hedge Fund professionals move down the road and start a "new" trading fund called the Market Aligned Dimension fund aka. MAD fund. Better still if your trading fund was large enough your Wall Street and DC $ supported golf buddies would setup a recovery fund to buy all the bad trades CDOs, SIVs and anything else that you have so you can stay in business. Opps they are doing that.