Who is your broker? You just need to ask them about the odd lots. If it is IB, no prob. PS, what is this pattern that always works? I want to know! Oh, it's secret. I see.
It is with interactive brokers, I was only really concerned with smaller stocks. Like I said I have a little bit of a strange philosophy on trading, but if you're interested I could show you over skype or something and get your input. It doesn't always work but I think the most annoying thing about it is knowing that something is about to rally huge and not making a move because of a spread.
Sounds like maybe penny stocks. I hope that is not what you mean. I used to think they were okay, not anymore. Why trade pennies when you can get great bang with 3X ETFs that have big volume? Or if you are trading stocks with really poor volume (and big spreads), that is a problem too. Beginner's mistakes. If you want to PM me for more privacy, that is fine.
But we all have to evolve our own way. You have to grow your own way. I don't want to hamper you if you gotta do pennies or low-volume/high-spread stocks.
Don't focus on past patterns trade them in real time to see if they work. As for being trigger shy just trade small and then as you win increase the size when you have more confidence in your strategy.
For someone with some psych. issues, as the OP has implied, "trading small" might not even solve it...I'm still going to go with "automate it"...Eliminate the emotional toll that watching the trade can inflict...Eventually, it might be fine to go back to manually executing the orders, but if the patterns are effective, I see no reason why putting in the orders and walking away isn't a valid option.
You have to understand and accept 2 things: 1. Each trade has a random outcome, hence be at peace with both winning and losing, as long as you are following your trading plan 2. If you have an edge and execute your trading plan flawlessly, you'll make money in the long run, but there will always be drawdowns along the way. It make sense to estimate what your max dd can be, make sure you can get close to that point and still have enough in your account to keep trading, and go for it. Losing trades are the price we pay to get the winning ones. Just do it!
Yeah, but if you trade sim for a month and have only a couple of losing days, you are much less likely to blow-up when you trade real money...IF YOU FOLLOW YOUR RULES THE SAME. That's the key.
Trading is not for everyone, and it may not be for you. There's no shame in admitting it to yourself. Your most courageous (and healthy) choice may be to just move onto something else.
Teach your Dad some trading. Then when you have a good entry, have him click the buy or sell button. That way he blew his own brains out, and you didn't do it to him. That should take a big weight off your shoulders. Just kidding!