Nitro... some traders say that looking at one's P/L during the day is a sure recipe for pulling untimely trades. It's a distraction to your strategy. I've heard several say that they've removed their P/L -entirely- from their daily screens. That might be a way to remove the emotional aspect. (Sorry, I can't recall at the moment which ones we interviewed, otherwise I'd pull a clip.)
Andre, Yes, I wholeheartedly agree - In a way, I have a weird psychology. It BOTHERS me that it bothers me....So I leave the P/L up there so that I get accustomed to seeing large swings. To me, removing the P/L seems like a pussy way of resolving the psychological conflict, but this is probably some part of my ego talking trash again... I have seen other traders struggle raising their size (Hitman.) Others take to size like water (Silk.) I am almost 90% certain that one is not a better trader than the other, simply that they view, perhaps money, making it, but particularly losing it, in a different light... Geez, I didn't realize all this about myself until I had to respond and wrote it down... nitro
It BOTHERS me that it bothers me... ::laughs:: Hey, we all have issues! I kind of agree with where (I think) you're going, that if you come up with a fix like taking the P/L off daily screens... that's not really -dealing- with the issue. Or isn't it? Is overly focusing on something like P/L just a hang-up, or a real problem? Why couldn't simply removing the P/L from daily screens be a legitimate fix? So many traders who've been at it awhile say they've simplified and streamlined their trading from when they started. I'm not saying that it is that simple. But what if it is? Knowing a personal foible and addressing it, especially if it solves the problem, isn't the wimpy way out. Perhaps true enlightenment is accepting self? And then accepting your success!
i don't know any professional traders who only trade 100 or 200k shares a month. at first, i thought you meant that many shares a day in order to get the rebate. all the professional traders i know, trade at least 500k shares a day - that's only 23 tix a day! i'm not a big fan of ib but they don't need to bother with traders with such little volume with their current rate. the sched should start at 1 mil shares a month.
[with a scooby-doo voice] Huh? fattyasids, what prop/prof firm do you work for? What style of trading do all your "pro" friends do? nitro
nitro, i don't work for a prop firm - never have. i trade my own capital. i hate splitting my profits with anyone. trade with a small group of professionals. i've found that rates are negotiable everywhere. and also, you want to negotiate a lower base rate instead of rebates bc bd's don't always live up to their end in rebating you. almost everyone of them is a scumbag.
fatty, Notice that I said prop/prof, as in Worldco/ETG/Shoenfeld for prop, and Bright/ECHO/Andover for professional. At a professional firm, you put up 25K, a series 7, and away you go to keep 100% of the money [or lose 100% of the money.] I have never been at a prof/prop firm either - thx for the advice on the rebate vs upfront comm... FWIW, I am currently trying to negotiate 3/4 of a cent per share, and .02c for bullets - so soon I won't care if IB has them or not, or rebates or not. This is critical because I plan to start a gradual increase in size to the point where I will be doing 4K shares per trade...I either blow out and no more nitro, or I break the low-mid six figure barrier... Given the current number of trades I average, 4K shares per trade will put me at the 1M+/Month category. nitro