how many? it could be 'until you are broke and then some'. So one way to fix it is setting a target you can easy meet. Then you can use the excess amount to gamble away.
NY hood, I wish you well, I would also like to commend the posters who have shown you support, I wish evey thread was as respectful and dignified as this one, I am impressed, and it takes a lot to impress this old dog. NY, cling, grab hold, get close to your family, you will now put your family relationship into perspective with material things. I know a whole lot of successful traders who are growing old and alone because of divorces, alchoholism, adultery etc. Your family is your yardstick of success not your trading or your job. How do I know this, I have been married for 24 years and I never would have lived through the blowups and drawdowns without my wife and our marriage to cling to. Remember the great Livermore that everybody likes to quote around here? The man was a failure, died old and alone. Get away from the market for a while, you are not a failure, you just need more time. Then work on a business plan for the future, save the 1-2 years salary needed to sustain you while you work on your trading. Think of it this way, if you were to open an automotive repair shop do you think that clients would be coming to you in droves from day 1? No, you need to build the clientele. Well in trading the clientele is always there but you need a special set of skills that cannot be taught except by experiance, by putting your money on the line day after day after day, this is why you need the backup money to allow you the time to develop the emotional, intuitive and cognitive skills needed to be a consistant profitable trader. Again I wish you well and remember family first The Ever Family Oriented VIPER
Wow you are making trading way too hard. There are people that trade like you posted above and make money. But not very many. The benefit of a system is that the system makes all the decisions, and you just execute. If you set up the orders when the market is closed, you can almost eliminate any execution stress as well. If you can master your ego and keep it out of the way, you will make money with a system. Find yourself a system.
Theres not many lessons you need to learn anymore other then: Your trading method (daytrading 1 or 2 stocks randomly) you have, is always 50/50 random. Any wins you had before, any losses, were all 50/50, thats what made you think you were making progress. But in reality, it was just random luck some of them went your way. Stop trading, Look at the P&L What does the P&L tell you about profitable traders? 150,000 shares traded? 50,000 shares traded? 75,000 shares traded? Find one who's trading 500 shares of something and holding all day and is still profitable day in and day out. It is unlikely any of them trade in regard of market direction, Most of them are providing liquidity / market making/ arbing, of some nature. None of this depends on market direction. <b> Reality: Market direction is also 50/50 random. </b> Realize how you are trading will never be profitable no matter how much effort you put in, It was just 50/50 random. I don't know why profitable traders don't tell traders whenever they see someone trading this style (95% of all retail traders , trade like this) from the getgo , All of them will lose money sooner or later.
You need to sit down and take a realistic assessment of your 'career'. Hanging out on ET will not help you accomplish this. I'm not saying this just to be a prick - you're going to filter out the things that you don't want to hear & and embrace the things that you do. Forget that crap. Make your OWN decision using 'what's REALLY best for you and your family' as your guide. Good luck.
Sometimes when you have a bad trade going it is very easy to start trading like a 16 year old trying to get laid for the first time. This is kind of what it sounds like you were doing. This is a problem that can be fixed by writing down not just your goals but have a solid escape plan and stick to it.
the one poster said that family is so important. thats so true and days such as this really put things in perspective. i know i should'nt feel this way but i look at my wife and my children and think of how much of a failure i have become. of course being negative is not productive but days like this leave you feeling lonely and depredded to a certain degree. hopefully a good nights sleep will clear things up. i really am shocked as to how many of you replied to my post with support and perspective. its really amazing and there are some real good guys on this board.
ny hood, failure and success have nothing to do with money. The Ever Centered VIPER Now go get some sleep