======= Mr Zoli; Well, congratulations on some profits, i prefer those to losses[even those losses are a business exspence ] Sounds like you neeed some more years/experience ; being ''slow'' is not really a handicap, as long as your plan takes advantage of your turtle speed. Speaking of EPS, debt, FX, silver & gold; i cant help you with FX, so i will not try that I focus on a few; that way one daily candle in silver, SLV, usually doesnt mean much. Again, congradulations on ''always small losses'' I certainly would have prefered that, while learning to trade.Most traders/investors had large/larger losses & drawdowns of more that 15%. But larger losses on monthly moves, weekly moves; eventually worked well, because of profitable trends
Thanks for your comments. It is true, for a longer TF trading an aggregate of price bars is a valid data. It is allways an aggregate of the lower TF bars anyway. I like very much to use tha cash+futures+etf combined! So you trade swing or position? Would you kindly direct me to a thread where people discuss seriously swing and position trading of anything? Z (Zoli is first name, fine with no Mr)
=========== Zoli asks ''swing or position trade & swing/position websites?''. Yes on swing/position trades/investments.Some are doing that here,[stocks, derivatives, metals...] I cant really speak on FX trades, myself. Books listed on this website[see top green line ]may help. As far as 500 daily candles[or bars], it may be difficult, but i want to test that, for sure . 500 weeks or 500 months[of data if applicable] can be even more helpful, not just because its easier to read/study & with less comissions/slippage. 500 weeks[10 year+/]most likely includes a bull & bear market. Thats wisdom . Congrats again on small losses & 15% drawdowns-most trading educations are much more exspensive, in time & money. Not a prediction.
Yes, it still does sound that you don't have a method. Your descriptions sound like you try to be a jack of all trades. You do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, check this... and this also... fundamentals, technicals, etc. ... does not sound like a clear methodology which you can reproduce in the same quality every time. Also, you trade many different instruments. Usually, one should try to focus on one first (or only very few) instruments and try to get perfect at trading them, before trying something new. Try to focus and keep things simple. Focus on one instrument and one distinct method with clear rules. On the other hand, your performance is much better than that of the "normal" beginner. You did not win much but you did not lose much either. So, that's definitely a plus. The advice given here so far to you is good and should be of help.
Hmm. Yet another valuable viewpoint. Thank you. That is why I started this thread, to have people put a mirror to my face. Anyway, yes, you are right. I read a lot and I think a lot, even too much. You guys are all very helpful. Funny, the frustrating is really that I know I can do this and I will. Only at the past months I identified several opportunities and acted on few of them. I made money but far less that the potental. And that all because of the mess you pointed out. Some of it is the lack of experience but I do not go for excuses here; I do not care about excuses-they are pointless. What I find the most important from your comment that to me is this: "....which you can reproduce in the same quality every time." So my job is to clean up and create a pure way. My way. First it sounds funny and easy. Than I remember how many good traders mentioned that they were working on there method for many years. Well, I have many years too. In fact, I have some good lifetime to do it. In fact, the challange is the information overload. Off to work... Z
So true. It's definitely important that you find your own method, one that fits to your personality. Maybe the method you develop is more complex (but still reproducible!) and maybe such development of a more complex method just takes more time. Anyway, you seem to be very motivated and willing to put in the work. I am sure that you will arrive at your destination! Wish you all the best for your journey!
================== Zoli; There is probably 500 things you could do to improve profit or make a good profit.{break even is actually loss; computers, power bill ,paper charts, commissions none of that is free, generally speaking]. For example,stocks,4X, futures,ETFs; which on do you do the worst on?? 4X, then cut out trading 4X...............If you dont know, you neeed to know from your brokers statements/your records. Wisdom is profitable to direct
Yes, true for sure Murray. My girlfriend knows little about trading, only that he gets sick and wants to go to toilet when I tell her that I have am in the market and I can loose 2-3000 easily. And that is not even hugh money, yet it is close 6 times more someone makes a month in my coutry. So with her little knowledge she said: "paitence Zoli!" And actually FX is not running wirst than an other. And I will get this. Will be really cool. My uncle likes to gamble so even gave me a little money to trade with. I warned him that I do not want because I can loose it all! He said fine, he wants it anyway because he likes adventures. Good man. He hates any banks and investment firms actually. They are idiots, as he states. They lost him 60&. Well to do that, I do not need CFA or finance diplom. Happy trading. Z
The OP is in a tough spot given his time frame and capital if he wants to make a living trading. Swing trading with this amount just doesn't offer enough opportunities in a year to reach critical mass wherein one can comfortably rely and withdraw enough money to live on, all the while being able to sidestep the occasional but always looming fat tail event. Even if you could string together a few good years, say doubling your account each year, you are still exposing yourself to changes in market conditions which would have alot more impact on a swing trader vs a daytrader. I would be alot more confident in his chances if he was trading intraday, using 4-1, and making a consistent say 500-1k a day. It all boils down to frequency of betting while you have your edge. Getting paid daily (meaning consistent winning sessions) is one of the crucial elements for surviving and growing as an independent trader. Sure if you can figure something out on a longer time frame, manage to scrape together 7-8 figures of outside money, you can bypass the growing pains of going it alone. But if that's not possible, you may need to rethink your time frame and markets, to that which gives you much greater frequency of positive reinforcement both numerically and mentally. All of the above applies to any developing trader in determining how/where he decides to go digging for an edge, don't disadvantage yourself from the outset by choosing a game where you can play very well and still have a good chance to fail.
Thanks illiquid Good thoughts. I think it is very important to the mental state to have profits coming. I will keep this in mind. I actually started to apply some of the advices given so far. I really see that although I am able to find patterns with potential, and able to find it often enough, I need to change. I made mone on nzdusd and I specifically took profit as oppose to put it to BE and let it go to oblivion. That is highly unlikely. And many suggested already how important it is to simply bild that account. Catching a home run can wait, more important to get payed. I see it now. And when I mean "swing" trades, I rather mean being in the trade for more than a day. The longer, the closer to what I want. I also have a job at this stage - I dont plan a long journey with it - so money is not an issue of survival, getting successful by time is. So I will do and I will do as suggested from many of you. Good trading.