When to throw in the towel as a trader?

I don't know if this article is of any value to anyone, but its consistent with the topic:

http://www.thetradersresource.com/tradingarticles/tactrade-shouldyouquittrading.htm

 

The three P's

Passion + Persistence = Payday

Work with what you have, traders! and live within your means. Everything can be improved on, "day by day", "inch by inch", "brick by brick".




This was my favorite clip from da-net's post:

Edison was asked by a reporter about his great number of failures to produce a working light...he replied I did not fail I just found 10,000 things that would not work.

 

Well said Futures,

I'm guilty of a few things which you have pointed out. I'm actually taking some time off so I can get the important things back in my life and then afterwards slowly add trading to that equation.

I still trade but in a very small way.

ozzy

 

Thing to remember is that it's not always us, sometimes it's the markets. We can be off our game in a good market but one of the first things I do is check places like here to see what others are saying about market conditions - saves unnecessary soul searching.

I think of Livermore's points, the same trader talking about markets where a man could no more not make money than he could go out in the rain and not get wet, and 3 years of markets where not even a skunk could make a scent. Livermore went fishing if he didn't like the markets.

Sure we have to be adapatble but sometimes it is better to make money by not losing money, and if that means staying out then so be it.

 

IMO a trader doesn't quit, s/he finds a night job or otherwise gets some form of extra income to pay the bills and continues to trade an account 100 shares at a time.

Seperating the myths from the facts will alleviate what you think is your failure. Inspite of the appearances on ET where 95% of all that come here make millions, many good traders struggle. It is no shame to have a tough time and to retreat during those times. I know very successful traders that have had to get extra income during tough times.

Right now I am taking programming projects because bills > profits. It happens...(although they are trading related so it is fun projects )

The greatest realization in trading are:

1) Keep your downside in check at all times.
2) Never trade scared money.
3) Trade small until you see a way to consistently take money from the markets. Don't trade size that leads to 2).
4) Understand exactly what your edge is and why it works.
5) Continue to research - edges appear and go away all the time. Two of my three edges recently disappeared.
6) Realize that trading from home can be lonely and that this model may not fit your personality and that going into a firm with other warm bodies may suit you better.
7) Are you a better trader trading your own account or a proprietary account? Try both.
8) There will be bad times - we are more defined by our worst times than our best times.
9) When losing, reduce size.

nitro

 

Me too its like living in the wild west or a completely new country, going to have bandits and all that but boy the future is so bright I gotta wear shades

 

When you aren't excited to wake up in the morning

 

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. "Og Mandino"



“Determination that just won't quit — that's what it takes.”
A. J. Foyt

Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, a number of entertaining advertisements and commercials touted the durability of an amazing new watch — the Timex. In each of the commercials, these resilient watches were put through some of the most rigorous torture tests imaginable.


Regardless of whether the watches were taped to the propeller of an outboard motor, frozen in an ice cube tray or submerged deep under water, these tough Timex watches always came through. Their famous slogan, "it takes a licking and keeps on ticking®," said it all. No matter what they did to the watch, it just kept on doing what it was designed to do — it kept on ticking.



“The most essential factor is persistence — the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.”
James Whitcomb Riley

When you think about it, our lives are somewhat akin to the watch commercials. After all, we often take quite a licking as we weave our way through life. Yet our God given capacity to weather even the roughest of storms can allow us to take a licking and keep on ticking as well.


Like it or not, we’re going to take our lumps on occasion. And while we would all prefer that not to be the case, we’re going to get whacked aroundmore than a few times. Our ability to overcome life’s trials and tribulations can allow us to keep going… and to keep on ticking.



“Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you.”
Denis Waitley

Whenever life deals you a hard-hitting blow, you need to pick yourself up and get back in the game. Dogged determination, when coupled with a refuse to lose attitude, can pave the way through even the biggest of roadblocks and obstacles you will ever encounter.


Helen Keller said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” And overcome it you must if you truly want to enjoy the life you’ve always dreamed of living.



“If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.”
Les Brown

When you develop a take a licking and keep on ticking mindset, temporary setbacks will never keep you down for very long. As long time baseball manager Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination.”


Why not set big goals, exciting goals, goals that make you come alive with super charged energy and excitement? Only these types of super sized goals can get you going and then keep you going. The moment you decide that these goals will be yours and then commit everything you’ve got to making them happen, you will soon be living them rather than just dreaming them.


You need to go for these goals with every ounce of determination and commitment you can generate — holding absolutely nothing back or in reserve. After all, there is absolutely no limit on how far you can go when you go for it with everything you’ve got.


The Bottom Line: Whenever you take a licking, just remember to keep on ticking.

Article from www.motivational-inspirational-corner.com

 

QUOTE OF THE YEAR RIGHT THERE BOYS!!!

 

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

...and then there are those who neither win nor quit...