P and D, Very sorry to hear about capital shrinking. I been there more than once and it stings. As someone who aposolutly loves to trade I have had to pick myself up and dust myself off and take a good hard look as to why I failed in the past. For me at least it seemed that I overtraded as I wanted to be trading or in the mix Take a look at my journal, http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99082&perpage=6&pagenumber=3 If you still want to trade and you think the way I trade fits your style then let me know and we can set up an instant message and I will let you know in real time what I am trading for a few weeks. Perhaps seeing someone else will spure some new ideas and assist in keeping your losses low and your winners high. As you will see I am consistant in how I trade. If your all done then I would seriously think about if you really should turn "trades" into "investments". Holding out hoping that a trade will turn your way may not be the best use of your capital IMHO. with the tax advantages of IRAs and Roths you may be best off using that capital to reduce taxes and or get a higher rate of return. Best of Luck to you Bob
my advice even though i'm a new trader in the wonderful world of currencry trading. cash out, buy a couple packs of condoms and a ticket to thailand... asian chicks always put a smile on my face
Wow, thanks for the kind remarks and support. I know I'm not the first to screw up and make a post like this. I've seen and read quite a few. I know a few people personally who failed as well. Looking back in time, the most successful position trades were when the market REALLY dumps. Picking quality stocks and companies on the cheap with a decent dividend and sit on them and not try and time things. Trading shit stocks or momentum stocks too has burned me. Not letting winners run and taking profits too soon. Sitting on losing positions too long.ETC... Then Warren Buffet comes in my head and I hear buy and hold. Then you see some shit positions become shittier. Then I think average down but I don't want to commit more capital to the same stock and remain diversified. It comes back and you kick yourself...but NEVER buy into its momentum. Then I say fuck this and stocks and play the index etf's like qqqq vs. qid. DDM vs. DXD. Maybe try and scalp them. I buy the dip and don't let the rally run to maximize gains. Then I say this market is fucked long term anyway and I don't want to be long anything. Yes, I thought the market was overpriced to start the year. I shorted the DOW starting in January. Looked like a champ late Febuary. I covered for a sizeable gain. I say short the next pop. Well, that 23 Day straight bull run in the Spring killed me. Rather have it choppy like it is now... I know financials are fucked in the Spring and feel the need to short banks. I go short BIG time on CFC at one point like $41 and also WM. I actually short WM the day before earnings...The bastards beat. Still hiding their problems before it became public as it is now. I sit on the damn position and watch these fraction, penny moves higher losing like $50 every penny higher and see it at $44. I hold the short position. I get back to even and cover glad to be out...You the the rest of story. I have CFC pegged too and about 1000 shares short at @$39. The bitch is falling. Cramer fuckbag comes on and says BUY. Motherfucker causes a mid-day spike to $42. I hold position. It comes back down and I get out. Rumors of a god damn MER buyout too! Then you see these M&A takeovers and I say screw shorting anything. Man, I could list a ton more examples...It was disgusting to watch everything up everyday being short. Then I short again first cross at 14k DOW in July. Oh yeah got this one!, August gets bad(I'm happy). August 17th is the big one and flush out day. Futures are tanking275 overnight. Japan is gonna raise rates too. Motherfucking FED steps in. F'd ME good. I am gonna cover on the big one 87' style, longs get fucked and this creates an ultimate time to pick up bargain stocks. The crash doesn't happen. Now you have to buy a weaker dip.... Then there are some IPO stocks I really like like VMW. I know it will be huge like GOOG. I pussy out and don't go large. Thing doubles but my strategy wouldn't of let it run and would of took profits early anyway. Man, so many more to mention. I am not looking forward to tax season to see some trades. I can't lie. I love the markets and finance. I love following financial news. I like watching about 40 tickers trade from 8AM-8PM. Shit I check overnight right now as well and China. Man, do I want a global crash. I want blood and lots of it over there....I want a max global breakdown in the next year. I am doom and gloom in irrational markets like this. Same feelings I had in 00'. PEople were like buy TECH! I said are you fucking crazy at these prices? Then 9-11 happened. No one gave a shit about the markets. Time passed and then I saw the $$$ signs and potential in the market. You say man a lot of people got wiped out, what a great time to BUY! BUY the fear and uncertainty, it will pay off! I don't have much money to play since fresh out of college practically and just started working. Markets are kind of dead. I sit on positions and get frustrated and sell good stocks I had at bargain levels WAY too early. Shit, we were all still scared still. Now I'm working a sweet gig job, making money on the side in a side home based business supplementing my income, plus swing/position trading. Life ain't too bad. I'm banking money in my Ameritrade account, maxing my ROTH, maxing my company 401k. Sacraficing new car, house, etc for the time being... I save over six figures cash. I say fuck you job, I quit, I want FREEDOM. I'm gonna trade! Well cut that in half and here I am. No job, no benefits, still student loan debt (YES, I should pay off!) I think well if I die, I don't have to re-pay...lol. I can beat the 3.25% in the market...LOL. I still drive the same POS car, want to buy a condo (I am waiting for foreclosures, still think too pricey market). But hey, it could be worse...And I have half banked still. But I need to hustle and get money flowing again and get a LIFE back to normal. Sorry for the rant, probably need to sleep. BTW, American Gangster was good.
Sorry but I think what you say is total bullshit. Out of failure comes success? I dont think so. We hopefully learn from failure and try to do it better next time, BUT how has "out of each favor come your best success"??? Another failure....another failure.....another failure? Is that what you mean? I dont think that is a meaningful pursuit of life. Dude, you do what you want to do but I dont think this is the right advice to give to the OP. Even if it hurts I want to give the OP an honest but maybe brutal answer: Trading is not for everyone!!! If you tried, even more than once, and you failed at this venture then maybe you should really think about GETTING OUT of this business and do something else. You are under 30 and still can do a lot of stuff, but dont become like tons of people in here: Fail again and again and again and they still think they got the ability/emotional strength....obviously they dont. Dont hang on to your failures of life. Move on and do something else. Search for the thing that you really excel in. Good luck!!!
As I stated in my earlier post, my best adivce to you is to get out of this business because you have clearly proven that this does not work for you. Trading is not for everyone (and certainly not for 90% of the people here at ET, either). Other people may be soft on you, pat on your back and tell you "sorry dude, just get some more funds, and try again". Sorry but I think this is pathetic. Those are the same guys who re-fund their accounts time and again. A cardinal mistake to do in gambling and trading (I use the gambling=trading analogy here because I think most "traders" here at ET approach trading as a gamble). You took your chances and you lost your stake. I think you should move on in life seek some other opportunities outside the trading arena. You are under 30. Do you want to end up like so many losers here at ET? They are probably between 20-50, have not ventured into anything meaningful in life, funded their accounts again and again, but have the audacity to challenge and attack people with a proven track record of success. This is pathetic. There is so much more in life. Leverage up your skills (which are obviously not trading) and utilize those talents!!! Good luck!!!
Totally agree, regarding your portfolio, if you dont have the ability to take a serious look at your holdings and can justifying staying in then better liquidate all RIGHT NOW or BETTER ask someone knowledgable to have a look. To operate on hope and luck is what got you into this situation!!!!
I strongly disagree, we should NOT ask ourselves first whether we have a passion in trading. Its ok to pursue your passion in life but in trading it does not matter whether you have a passion or not UNLESS you are able to master the game and trade profitably. Passion is important but the first thing you should ask yourself is this: Why should I be successful the next time around although I have now a proven track record of failure in this business. This is what you should ask yourself. If you cant come up with an answer then turn your back to this business and pursue something else!!! It does not matter whether you have a passion for something that you suck at, cause you will be inevitably forced to exit.
Odds are? What a bullshit. You mean I can now take couple darts, throw them at the stock list on my wall and odds are I will be up by the end of this year WITH THIS MARKET VOLATILITY, WITH ALL SUBPRIME, SIV issues, inflation risks, low dollar looming around? GREAT ADVICE. This is why I love to check out ET, so entertaining. You are surely the bigger loser than the OP. He at least took an honest look at himself and determined this is not the right thing for him. You are still light years behind....
Pumper, I do not mean to offend, but I get a notion you might have become way too emotional about the markets. Maybe it has even become an addiction like gambling can become an addition. IMHO there is a big difference between hoping the markets finally succumb to your own macro economic opinion or rather reading the signals the markets are giving that might give clues of further direction. Again, don't take this personal, but I think I often saw you participate in threads like "Shorting BIDU/GOOG/RIMM etc. @ $XZY" or "Buying CROX/WCG after tanking 50%". You might get lucky in these, you might not. To me, it just sounds like going to Las Vegas and betting on black or red. Reflect on what went wrong, because there is always money to be made in the markets. If you are (and want to remain) a momentum trader I can recommend Dan Zanger's website and newsletter. I believe it costs something like $39 a month but it (especially the archive and chatroom) is worth gold. I am not affiliated with them but I believe they offer a good job of teaching the ropes trading momentum names emotionlessly WITH the trend, letting winners run and having strict rules of cutting losses quickly. Also, Dan is a big advocate of remaining in cash in periods of uncertainty and whippy markets. Get your personal life sorted out, do some research and reading, realize what went wrong.. and sooner or later you can definitely come back and come back stronger than before.