GG, I really wish you good luck in your new endeavors. Trading is ALWAYS difficult even for those who think they have it all figure out or whatever. It will always be challenging. Don't be fooled by the sucksters saying it's easy and how they are pulling in the dough right and left. Statistically that's very unlikely or even outright lies. It's possible but not with the typical small account. And if you equity curve is in a nonstop downward trend, then maybe it's time to stop and reassess and get some form of employment for income. The worst thing is for you to keep trying when you are not in the right frame of mind and get into more debt or worst yet bankruptcy over what? wanting to trading? Get real. Come on. I'm not just directing at you. I include myself in this and as well as many others. For me it's more about opportunity cost than just $. I'm making OK but I wonder if it's worth it sometimes. Until I'm able to consistently pull out more way more $ than I would at any other jobs, I would always have this lingering thoughts whether trading is worth it. Else it's only of marginal value. Maybe entertainment. But one should think of trading as a biz. Not entertainment. It might be "heroic" or whatever to stick it to the end. It's a very appealing and romantic concept. But life doesn't work that way. But I don't think you or me or anyone on ET for that matter should do that. Cutting your losses in trading as well as in life choices is a GOOD PHILOSOPHY to follow! You want to go to the brink and be able to come back. Not fall into the abyss and never to recover again. That would be way more tragic than trying to see if you can ever make it a s trader. It's not as glamourous as you think. It's just work. And the most challenging work. One suggestion for you is to go back to every single trades(!!!) you have ever made and analyzed what went wrong. That's what's turned me around. If you don't know what you did wrong then you can have unlimited capital and still be losing for an entire lifetime... good luck! trader99
Here is something that has always puzzled me. Some people think about the markets endlessly to figure out what will be the best way to trade (me). Some people feel like they can't figure out anything that works (me). Well look how easy it is to trade bad. I'd be very pleased if I traded the opposite of my trades and got the opposite of these results in just a few days. If it's so hard to find something that works, why can ANYONE lose money so easily?! A big loser like myself didn't sit down and study the markets to find the best losing system. Here are the stats of my 7 trades: Total Commissions: $33.60 Total # Trades: 7 Average Holding Period: 0:11:22 Average Win (Points): 2.25 Average Win (Dollars): $112.50 Win Rate: 14.29% <------------- HA Average Loss (Points): 1.75 Average Loss (Dollars): $87.50 Loss Rate: 85.71% <-------- LMAO Total Dollar Gain/Loss: -$412.50 Net Dollar Gain/Loss: -$446.10 Expectancy (Points): -1.18 Expectancy (Dollars): -$58.93
You are right about traders not talking about the darkside and internal battle that happens with trading, partly because they are afraid to look like they are failing in the eyes of others. Anyway when I say mentor I mean someone you can sit next to or be in contact with more then just emails. Obviously it comes down to how each individual trades a signal, but it could be of great help to be sitting next to someone to keep you on the right path or guide you in the right direction again. Kind of like Forrest Gump and the braces on his leg. At first it seems like overkill to have your hand held but after a little while it is no longer hand holding and your actions become second nature. Then you turn into Forrest Gump after the braces get taken off. It just seems like you need the braces right now to hold you in the right direction for a little bit.
* I'm fairly confident in saying that your entry is not precise enough for a 1.75 point ES stop. * You must either accept more risk(larger stop loss) or you must improve entry by only entering on precise prices that are clearly defined by current market supports or resistances. When the market is making a down move, attempt to sell resistance. When the market is in an upmove, attempt to trade long at pullbacks to support levels. Otherwise, you will get shaken out of the moves with a 1.75 point stop.
Dude, couldnt resist. Normally would let it pass. Further I couldnt give a fk for what others say about the no. of posts i have made nor my 'popularity' here. You obviously posted here like an alcoholic at an AA meeting seeking help so subconsciously youre looking for someone to slap some sense into you. You wont get that from the other touchy-feely shit from posts above (no offense) so here goes. Take it FWIW. 1 overtrading. itching to pull the trigger. love the excitement of going into a new trade. adrenalin junkie. not relaxed, pressure to be profitable. compulsive. 2 lack BASIC skills. not proficient in the fundamentals. have you even mastered position trading: reading, riding a trend. Were u profitable? Can u follow a plan? 3 mastered basic money mngt eg adhere to stop loss? 4 how are your eye-hand coordination skills? are your good at VIDEO GAMES (what is NEVER touched upon in success as a DTrader)? are your reflexes as slow as a sloth? 5 mental part. u sound BURNED OUT. u need to feel good about yourself, see yourself as a winner: "I rule the fkin markets!!!" Other: LOL at u blaming PDT. That is not your problem. Trade less can mean more profitable. Trading futures, LOL. With the leverage - have u mastered even stocks yet ? (that said some stocks behave more & more like commodities nowadays) You are addicted, dude - you need to step away from the markets for a while or at least trade smaller size - without the pressure of size & leverage. Not saying u aint made of the right stuff w/out seeing you, knowing your makeup, personality etc. Tell us a bit more about your background: education: science/arts? good at video games etc? whats your motivation for being a daytrader? etc... With tough love, RunningBare
I can take tough criticism; I don't mind. I will come back later today and reply more, but just had to say a couple quick things. -I do NOT blame PDT or anyone else for my failures. Would I have failed anyway without PDT? Quite possibly. I'm just saying that they were an additional factor that did not help. I am totally responsible for what I do. -I agree trading futures (leveraged instrument) as a loser trader is stupid. But I'm desperate and PDT limits my options. I know there are SSFs, but aren't those like very illiquid? -As far as being addicted, that's a grey area. I'm not addicted to anything else. I'm not an alcoholic or drug addict. Anyone who is successful at anything could be viewed as addicted when they were struggling to win. Success takes a lot of effort. Do I focus on trading a lot? Yes. Someone who is out of shape (physically) might say I'm addicted to weight lifting/diet because I keep track of everything I eat every day. But have fun being in perfect shape without doing that. So I'm just saying that there can be a fine line between being addicted and dedicated.
I'm with you today in a way, I just spent months researching trading before going to work by watching headlines in the morning, then I traded on paper for a couple of weeks, seemed ok, then I tried trading with the real account for a couple of weeks. After days of technical troubles, driving myself to work instead of vanpooling, getting up two hours early, refining the selection process endlessly, I found myself sitting in front of the screen this morning too tired and messed up to trade!! The result of 6 months of work is just me sitting there so wiped out I can't think!! Max
Geeshh... What's going on with traders like you. I know for fact based on a message here in the past...your from the New England area. I'm assuming somewhere nearby or in Boston. Go to the below link and review the message post history of some of those ET members... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14470 If any one of those traders sounds like they are doing ok in this market... get off your lazy ass and send him/her a private message and ask for help. They don't have to become your mentor...just ask if you can stop by their home and watch them trade. During the downtime...ask questions...take notes. After the market close...take him/her out to dinner as a thank you and ask more questions...you foot the dinner bill. Take one day off from posting at EliteTrader and do the above. If you've already done this...I've apologize for my above comments. I'm beginning to think the problem here is not that your not a successful trader... the issue here is that you don't want to be a successful trader... The above statement is based on how you post here at EliteTrader. The world's most successful trader can come to your home and show you for a whole week...how it is done... as soon as he/she leaves... traders like you will remain in disbelief and go back to your old trading methods...the same methods that are depleting your wallet. Further...I second the message posts from running_bare and cornholetrading to you. The last 5 losing traders I've met...4 of them had something in common... deep down on a subconscious level...they did not want to succeed. The other one was simply applying stock strategies to the Eminis...which is a no no. Last of all...I use the word Lazy Ass in context that I don't think you have gotten help in live realtime during market conditions with someone looking over your shoulder or vice versa after traders have suggested you do so. Take a break from this discussion forum...go over another traders home and watch and learn. If you have good trade setups but for some reason your unable to execute the plan... then we are back to something I said earlier... you don't want to succeed on a subconscious level and that's what you need to fix. NihabaAshi