Hi All, I feel like a few of the traders here on ET are at this stage in their development or have passed it. I am just curious how you guys dealt with it. So, I started this thread back on Dec 5, 2016 just a few weeks before a personal family tragedy hit us. https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/need-advice.304928/ Anyhow, here I am in Aug 2018. I'm a significantly BETTER trader than I was back in Dec 5, 2016. I'm actually net profitable on most of my recent trades. I've developed and expanded in several directions. I got rid(for the most part) most of bad trading habits. I practiced a lot and made significant money and progress in sim. Now I'm making decent to great money in my REAL accounts. Catching great moves. Some with size/huge leverage across different instruments(futures & cryptos). There are days where I make more than my entire day of my consulting biz. Most recently, I made in one trade in my real account that approaches what I would make in an entire month. Now, I don't expect that to be the norm. But the possibility is out there. More importantly, I cut cut losses faster than before. In my most recent run, my biggest winner is 10x my recent loser on actual money. I mean this is not the long-term average(yet) but just to show I have the discipline to ride winners and cut losers. It's a sign of good trading habit. I feel like there's a semblance of an edge. Cautiously optimistic. So, this is exciting time for me! I feel like I'm at the edge of endless possibilities. I would never imagine I would be here back in 2016 or definitely not in 2001-2003(my first try/ foray into day trading & prop trading). Since 2003 I went back into corporate world, grad school, then moved up the corporate ladder, have a family, etc. For those of you who are noobs, yes, it can be done. It takes a long, long, long time. At least for me it did. Is it worth it? It's up to you. There is always opportunity cost to everything. I did it full-time for only a few years. The rest of the time I did it on and off in between corporate jobs. I think that's the safest route. Because to make a living from this requires a lot of skills, patience, and capital. One must have to have a backup plan and develop other career skills and assets to pay your bills. Yet, I feel like there's still so much more to develop. From a consistent loser(to be honest that's what I was) to now a decent trader, it was a treacherous journey with so many disappointments. These last few months have been a dramatic change and positive development. I feel like one always need to develop more edges in your toolbox. There's always room for improvements. This is a field where the learning and improvement are never-ending. Which is fun, exciting, but also daunting. How did the consistently profitable traders who make a decent living deal with the uncertainties? I mean even when you have an edge the future is unpredictable as we all know. You make some. You lose some. As long as your winners are bigger than your losers in the long run then you are fine. Or the best antidote is to always have other stable source of income and trade on the side forever... I'm at a stage where I feel it makes sense to scale... I have tiptoed into scaling.. Just curious. Thanks in advance.
People never realize the monotony of trading. Making money is exciting but can you go say in and day out with the same repetitive discipline and bot get bored when market is slow or you are accumulating losses. Clayton Kershaw can be as laser focused and disciplined in the 7th inning as much as he is in the 1st inning. This is where traders sometimes fail, burning out their discipline and looking to stay from their usual product or approach for more juice action. Staying on point when you really want to stay is your next hurdle for longevity.
That's why I track multiple markets not one. I trade/watch NQ, NG, ZW, GC, CL, JPY, VIX, and a few cryptos. I do that to ensure there's always so action going on. I don't trade out of boredom. If there's nothing going on then I focus on my consulting biz....
that is why it is important to tailor your style to your personality i am very impatient so i left my highly profitable position trading in 2007 and entered day trading little realizing that i would take 10 years to make money. now i trade 5 min for 5-10 ticks and loving it. i used to hold positions for 3 months or more ....and that was terribly boring because this was and is my main activity. today in one hour i made 111 usd .....so i feel i am making efficient use of my intelligence and time
Underlying changes but your system or approach might not. Anyone can pitch a perfect inning but how many pitch a perfect game. That is your next hurdle. Keep up the performance over the next month, quarter, year, lifetime....
when i started trading 10 years back, i had decided what sort of trader i wanted to become...i have, after a long journey, achieved that goal. now i am going to enjoy my success but of course, trading is a work in progress...always
no profession i had rental income since 1996 from a complex family owned which has been just been sold....i am an aeronautical maintenance engineer, never did a job i have always been trading position trading medium term 3-6 months but ten years back got into day trading....this is undoubtedly the best profession money wise but also the toughest and most competitive
This is exactly why I don't understand "ES only traders" or "CL only traders" I too trade about 10 different futures markets and only trade them when they get interesting.