<<Perhaps some people are wired from the start with the right emotional and mental framework to have success in trading, but obviously the majority are not.<< Its true. If you are not wired for trading out of the door then modifying your mental approach can be done but it takes time and conditioning. Many of the top traders I haver known learned the discipline and mental conditioning over time. However IMHO there are some people that just should not be in the trading game. Leo Melamed once said that he learned over time to recognise personalities that were not useful for trading ......
Such volatility from one day to another makes it easy to trade as long as you get out of the market all cash.
JTurner. Check out my new thread, "On Music and Trading and Art". If you want to get good at this fast, You need to make it like something else that you are really good at. Trading is like anything else that people are good at. Be it Music, handball, skateboard, surfing, logic, programming, It's all one big flow of time, matter, energy, and emotion. A kinetic maelstrom powered by time, fear, greed and power. Yes, It's powered by power, that's why it's kinetic. Use trailing stops. dna
Jturner - Use stops. Plan your trades and trade your plan. Use stops. Trade small lots at first (IB is great for this). You've got a 5k cushion before you drop below 25k so earmark that cash as your learning 'tuition'. Use stops. Dont overtrade. Maybe use 5-minute bars at first; they filter out a lot of noise that can distract the new daytrader. Use stops. Your first loss is your smallest loss. Take it. Accept it. Losing money is part of trading. Just strive to make more on your winners than you lose on your losers and you'll come out ahead. Oh, did I mention, use stops? This is the most exciting, frustrating, up-and-down job you'll ever have, but it sure beats punching the clock 5 out of 7. Good luck - let us know how you're doing.