I traded over 16,000 shares today and lost about $100 dollars before commissions which cost another $100. I am new and felt like I controlled my risk fairly well but I know I am an idiot for trading so much... I just need some advice to get my frequency down.... alot! I typically trade too many shares but haven't lost big (this was my largest down day) and know i could do so much better if I let my foot off the gas pedal.... advice?
stop trading for one week,if you feel desperate and missing trading like anything.It means you addicted to trading.You are not trading for profit,but for fun and excitement,and will loose all your capital soon.Need to trade 100 shares for 8 weeks,see if you brave enough to do it
First of all, losing $100 trading 16,000 shares is not bad, in fact, I would call that good. Most people lose money. The ones that make it usually follow this cycle: lose money, tread water, become profitable, become REALLY profitable. The more screen time you get the better. Trade your ass off and manage risk. Give yourself daily loss limits. If you are trading 100 share lots $100-150 a day is about right. When (if) you start making money double your shares and add 30-50% to your loss limit. Rinse and repeat. If you want even more risk management, if you get up a good amount by mid day, give yourself a 10,20, or 30% rule -- meaning if at highs you are up $1000, and lose $300 (30%) stop trading for the day. This way you can keep adding to your profits but also lock some up if things get bad. PS. If you really want to cut back trading, only trade first 2 hours and last hour unless a major rally, selloff happens mid day and buy call of duty.
You could always blow up your first account and let the psychological havoc that ensues condition you to only trade when your set up is almost perfect... not that I would know about that ;-) An example of what I would consider an "almost perfect" set-up would be directional bias based on macroeconomic data combined with an extreme value on a technical indicator like a daily RSI (or broken resistance, whatever floats your TA boat). Specifically I had winner selling the USD/JPY with that set-up. Didn't think twice about it.