Hello Jdesey, My post is reasonable because an a day to day hour to hour ES futures market trader who is VERY responsible for making my own account grow. I have come to realization, ONLY me can help me. Other traders input is considered and rationalized and evaluated and tested, of course, but I do my trading to what makes me sane, not what some damn trading book, or theory states or some lying ass Trading Guru who is not trading real money, just talking theory. Let me tell you something, ALL trading theory is bullshit. So I applaud you for keep on going and trying stuff. Your ANALYSIS of your results rather win or lose, is important data for yourself. Keep trying stuff that "may" work. In trading, Losses is the ONLY teacher. All Trading Teachers are Scammers and Liars and Trading Conspiracy Theories Scammers!!
If you add up the time spent on everything trading related, most day traders are probably making less than you would make just working at a fast food restaurant...minus any meal discounts. I think they did a study on what percentage of day traders make money and then what percentage of day make enough to live on. The numbers are pretty bad. So you're not going to swoop in and start scalping for millions. Nobody is. There's algos that are going to be way ahead of you. It would be like trying to beat stockfish at chess . You're also not going to outsmart the market by placing your stops just right. The only way you can beat the market is by patience...and understanding market principles. If you're trading options even worse...timing is everything and without a deep understanding of standard deviations and IV, you'll never get the timing right. I would start by forgetting about earning a living through trading.... If you have less than 100k you are basically just wasting your time. Stop with the stop loss orders. They are for amateurs. Buy only what you're willing to hold and average down. Favor ETFs over companies Manage risk by size not by price.
Make a journal here at Trading of the Elite... doesn't have to be a lengthy diary analysis....just write down what you bought, time, price sold, and % profit/loss The power of writing is like the power of prayer.....I know it seems trivial, but its effects can be profound
Would you give us examples of how to do that? I assume you are referring to position size. How many positions are too many/too few? Is there a process to rebalance?
Yeah, put a cap on how much capital you want to risk in any trade. You can determine risk as total capital or capital at risk based on standard deviation.
When you say capital at risk I assume you mean the position size because you don't take losses.You are willing to hold or add all the way down hoping for an eventual recovery. With the odd exception. What is your version of sharpe?
Of course hold...maybe you can size down but the always felt counter intuitive to me...selling at a loss versus buying at a discount. Even DFV said if you're not getting a few BK's then you aren't risking enough....he is a value trader though not a swing trader. With swing trading I try to catch the bottom of the swing and hold. What's the point of selling before the swing?