Starting on May 13, 2014, I will begin a public challenge. Inspired in part by one of the best trading related tweets of this past week, where an experienced trader said that he tells new traders âto take $10k, light it on fire in your backyard and if that doesnât bother you, then you might make it.â Most of us have heard it said at one time or another that before one can hope to win at trading, he needs to learn how to lose. So I have decided to put myself to the test, to demonstrate publicly just how good a loser I am. For the sake of this demonstration, I will be trading a $10,000 stock account. WARNING: It's a big internet. If you are offended by degenerate gambling, or if you are prone to offering unsolicited advice on subjects about which you know little or nothing, or if you are pathologically tone-deaf to sarcasm, then you would be well-advised to go and start your own journal. No need to muck up mine. And please do not quote this entire post if you feel compelled to post a reply or response. DISCLAIMER: I exist for entertainment purposes only - specifically, for my own entertainment. All trade ideas are my opinions only. I don't know jack. I trade in stock of a lot of junk companies that have no business being in business. Do your own due diligence. I have never been, nor am I now, nor do I intend to be a vendor of trading advice/education services. If you too want to learn to how to lose, do it on your own, or go find yourself a Guru, but leave me out of it. Any similarity to other failed traders is unavoidable. Idiots risk being called out directly by drownpruf. FAQâs WTF is the purpose of this challenge? Ostensibly to blow up a $10k trading account in an astonishingly brief period of time in as few trades as possible. Why would you try to loose money? Lose! L-O-S-E money, not âlooseâ money. I mean, we all make the occasional typo, but this is too much. Even people for whom English is a second language know that it is "lose" and not "loose." What trading strategies will you be employing? If it ainât broke, donât fix it. The easiest way to lose would be by employing the tried and true methods of both the recreational retail trader, and also those of such illustrious trading firms as Amaranth Advisors, LTCM, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers: over-leveraging, buying high and selling low, letting losers run and cutting profits short, and of course, that old stand-by: Averaging down, because as we all know, if losers do nothing else, âlosers average losers.â Why stocks? Nearly everyone (note I said "nearly everyone," and not simply, "everyone") on ET argues that it easier to make money trading futures and forex than it is trading stocks. I am trying to lose money. Why would I want to make it hard on myself by trading such easy to profit from instruments as futures and forex? Will you set weekly profit figures? I donât even know what that means. Do you really believe you will be success? It is a rare and reckless talent indeed who can blow up a $10K account quickly and in just a few trades, and I doubt that I am capable of that sort of over-achievement. I am prepared to amend the challenge to unlimited trades and a six or twelve month time period if I fail to reach my goal by my third trade. How will we know you actually did the trades and lost the money, and that this isnât just another hindsight narcissistic trading forum fantasy thread? I will use a TD Ameritrade account, which will allow me to share my trades with a link to TDâs mytrades website. So long as the mods have no objections, I will post the link at the time of my first trade, and then any and all who wish to follow along can do so in real time. How often will you trade? Doing this in just a few trades is unrealistic. Six months or a year also unrealistic. I do want positive progress toward my goal after the first three trades. I donât expect a trade each and every day. Maybe not even every week. I need to be circumspect with my trade selection. I do not want to risk moving my equity adversely in relation to my real goal. I must rely on habits that make the task easier. Behavior that would make success more difficult is to be avoided. The first trade may be as soon as the next trading day. It may be days, even weeks away. Are you a vegetarian? No. While I admit that I am, for health reasons, intrigued by the lifestyle, I currently remain an omnivore, though I waver at times in my commitment to the meats.
An ET member with a good sense of humor, I like that. Best of luck Lotto P.S.: Expect a great deal of pure BS from the usual suspects, of course...
Lotto means government lottery in some languages. May I suggest you determine a maximum position size : it would be a shame that you reach the goal on price vibrations.
Intriguing post. But I have to wonder: does losing all this money really prove that you have what it takes to be a trader? I'm very leary of people who say things like "he hasn't paid his dues.". What fucking dues? If somebody is qualified to do a job, he's already paid plenty of "dues." People who feel like everybody has to go some extra mile, like putting up with hazing when they're the rookie on a job or blowing an account or two before they become a "real trader", strike me as exactly the sort of mediocrities who, usually with good reason, doubt their own worthiness in certain positions. They can't accept the fact that some people are just extraordinarily talented or maybe just better prepared than most because they took the initiative to prepare themselves for the job. I don't buy the whole "you haven't earned it until you've suffered" bullshit. Some people choose to "suffer" by working smarter, not harder.
Can you please link us to your instagram page or at least your sisters? Trading is cool, but fast cars and hot chicks is cooler. Wish you success on your endeavor.
Yet another bore scatting in the journal section I see. I'm a psychiatrist you know, drop me a line...
+1 OP, simple trivial question, why do you want to throw 10k out of the window. if you don't know what to do with it, go give it to your favourite charity organisation and at least help some people who need it. this thread is ridiculous.
Can you beat 3 trades in about 4 days? That was accomplished just last week on this very website. That was futures and options, so "vive la difference", I guess. Maybe you could post a video of you actually lighting the 10k on fire? I've also heard that if you just wipe your ass with it directly, the market will sometimes give you a free pass to the velvet rope section of trading success.