Yes! The day it happened, I had to stare at that -8% red graphic all day on TWS, was so disappointed at myself, It actually came down and I had a chance to cover for a profit, instead I got greedy and was holding out for more and it turned against me, and stupidly I just sat there and let the loss the grow.
Lesson learned, then? Personally I never let any freaking position go against me more than 2% of trading capital. Why? Because I learned the very hard way that a 20% loss in a single trade will ALWAYS start with a "small" 2% loss! Now go and sin no more! Just kidding, keep it up my friend.
Thank you, couldn't sleep at all that night, was so disappointed that I was repeating old habits that caused me to lose big money, thankfully the next day I got back $405, that helped, as I did not want losses to snowball like in the past.
Oh yeah, once these losses snowball game over, just getting back to even becomes mission impossible! That is why keeping losses small and manageable is soooooo important.
I trade only 3 times a week, this week only 2 times because of the holiday, last Friday's day trade won't reset until Monday.
Make less than 4 intraday trades in any given 5 trading day period and don't ask for a margin account. This will help you stay under the "radar"... The day trading rule was created to "protect" the day-traders. Total bullshit. But that's another story.
Good job, keep it up! About the loss - maybe you were not comfortable closing it because you were not prepared or you are not truly unemotional about your trade size. Whatever it is, I hope you prepare yourself for the next time. Welcome aboard!