What if I make money 52 weeks in a row. I'm averaging 500 shares + (200shrs x 52wk) =500 shares + 10,400 shares =10,900/trade I wish I could do that bro...
obviously you will hit a point wen you cant add any more. the other thing you should work on is letting the last 100 share of winners run
What seems to work best for couples is where the spouse is uninterested or mildly supportive. If the spouse is freaked out by trading, or wildly enthusiastic about it, that can be trouble.
To me the answer is NO. Why...your using the words push myself. I'm sure at your prop firm your using some sort'uv money managment rules. I don't know what it is for you but here's my rule for example. 1 contract per 10k Thus, if I have 100k in my trading account...to trade 11 contracts i'm breaking my rules. Another example...lets say I have 400k in my trading account and I've only been trading with 5 contracts... I'm still within my money management rules if I up my size from 5 contracts to 10 contracts or to 40 contracts. No matter what size you increase to... Do not adjust your money managment rules... Use the same rules you've been using to be successful for the past 2 plus years. Right there you gain a little confidence that what size you increase to is appropriate (within) your money management rules. I've met too many traders that increase there size after some trading success to a level that exceeds their prior money management rules... To only get into some serious problems from the pressure (psychological)... Resulting in losses. Also, after those few years of consistent trading success... You should know by now what strategies your using that works better than others your using... If your within your money management rules after increasing your size... Only trade size via your best stuff...trade your prior size for your normal stuff. This will also help a little with your confidence when increasing size. In addition, by now...you should know when most of your losses occur and when most of your wins occurs. For example...I have the most difficult in my first trade of the day. I'll be a fool to bump up in size for my first trade of each trading day... Way too much pressure (stress) and I would be setting myself up for entering a possible drawdown if I lose my discipline. Something else...you mention a big breakout day. After that many years of successful trading... You should know by now prior to the Open...which days have a chance for such. If so and increasing your size is still a question...learn how to ride your winners...longer. Simply, if increasing your size while within your proper money management rules and doing such when you have the best chance for success... You will not be pushing yourself. There's two solutions here for increasing your profits via your current account size: 1. Up your shares and stay within your money management rules. 2. Learn how to ride your winners longer on trading days you designate as a possible big breakout day... This may be a problem because your a scalper and probably using fixed profit targets. Good luck. P.S. The longer you have questions about this...the more I will say NO. NihabaAshi
Just a thought, instead of thinking in terms of dollars, think in terms of percent of account balance. If you have 10k and are risking 1% ($100) for each trade then when you have 20k in your account you can still risk 1% but it is now $200. While you have increased your $ risk twofold, your risk in relation to percentage of your account size has remained the same. Thinking in percentages is helpful but it is still very hard to rationalize it when you are down a few points and the dollar figure is twice what it used to be.
Thanks guys for all the thoughtful advice. Letting my winners ride is one of the things I need to work on. I'll ride my last 100 shares for you MrMoose. Thanks for the great insightful post Nihabaashi.
I am a latecomer to this thread. I would like to add to get the "feeling" of growth just use an extra decimal in your numbers that you measure your results with. The goal becomes at what velocity you choose to grow with and at what risk. When you become consistent like you are, then you simply balance this. You can grow steadily and consistently until you stop trading and retire. When you mechanically have trouble with getting filled, diversify! It's the small little adjustments over long periods of time that yield the most consistent results. Question: Would you like to make $150,000.00 in 2 years or 250,000.00 in 3 years? Michael B.