What was part of your learning course? Other than actual trading...did you take any courses, mentors, tests????
You aren't able to learn trading on your own. You should get with a good vendor, take their course and then participate in their chatroom to bring you up to speed. Then you might try to branch out on your own, but I really wouldn't advise it until you really have your act together. Continuing to go it on your own will just be a disaster for you.
What??? You have 75 K left to trade 10 lots of ER2? If that's not gambling... You have to trade 1 lot... Period... whatever your remaining capital is.
I've been in your shoes. In my 20's I had a loosing streak that lasted more than 5 years. Not consistently loosing, but more like 1 step forward then 2 steps back. I was trying every indicator and oscillator under the sun. They all suck. The end result was I took 18 months off and focused on my day job. Didn't look at trading of any form what-so-ever for that whole period. Then for some reason I decided to give it another crack, without indicators. I focused on 2 very basic patterns, or some may say price actions. My win-loss rate was immediately 50/50. From there I tweaked and back tested the timing of my entry and exits for another 12 months or so and my results improved dramatically. Mind you I wasn't playing the ES either. Moral of the story, if you're not a compulsive gambler, walk away man. Get a day job. You'll be a better man for it.
You need to switch to position trading and spend more time having a quallity life. Thank you for your time.
It sruck me about the simalarity between yourself and myself so I decided to reply. I too had a high paying career that ended and had some money saved. It also has been 8 years. I too am 50 and am going through a divorce. I then joined the old Alltech/Domestic securities (SOES) bandits to trade. I never lost overall but did not make huge bucks. I also traded for 3 other firms for brief periods to learn new techniques but always came back to Domestic as they had a method that worked consistently --- until decimalization --- while the other firms style was more iffy. They closed down in 2006 and I am doing consulting work which pays well, and a few other things since then ---- But I will return to trading once the divorce is over. The moral of the story is: 1. you can't trade alone, especially in the beginning ---- you have to be a part of a firm and be willing to learn. It also gives you structure and daily feedback eg criticism. One of things that I think happened is that the money you had prevented you from trading with with focus. The money enabled "well not to worry I have this and tomorrow is another day, enjoy life". Which prevented you from adjusting as things did not work --- one must be flexible and adjust --- if it don't work get rid of it and move on. 2. Having some other source of income coming in to protect you against the urge "I got make money today" syndrome. A second job that protects you until you are confident enough to trade for a living. Once the pressure is off and you can trade without anxiety and ina focused manner will increase your odds of success. Best Regards,
First, keep your head. Don't jump to the next solution offerred. I read a lot of answers to your mail - none suggested, you should try delegating trading to another. Why Not take this route ? Surely, trading has not been prescribed by your Doctor. You are doing it to make solid bucks. If this is true then you should try to work out what is the best way to achieve it. If someone else can do the trading for you, the money still flows into your account / Bank. These days there are foolproof ways by which to ensure security of your tradaing account. So, why hesitate ? I wish you the best of health and wealth. If you want more specific advice you should send a PM to me - too many controversies arise around open suggestions - every suggestion can be interpreted as either good or bad, so I wish to avoid it. I am trading for 15 years without having a losing year or month.