$2,000 to $200,000 in 2020 at 2.00% per day.

It is always good to NOT trade when DISTRACTED, SICK, TIRED and FRUSTRATED in my opinion. Today, as I started my journey towards a funded account with Earn2Trade I found myself stepping away from the computer three different times due to frustration. Anyhow, I am glad to say, that I ended the day positive.
 
Overnight said:
1 micro per $10,000 in the account. The volatility is just too great.
More...

Even the worst trader will not let the S&P run 2000 points against him. I mean there may be one idiot out there who refuses to set a reasonable stop and take the hit. Exchange margins are fine for the micro, especially for day trading.
 
Gaslight Capital said:
Even the worst trader will not let the S&P run 2000 points against him. I mean there may be one idiot out there who refuses to set a reasonable stop and take the hit. Exchange margins are fine for the micro, especially for day trading.
More...

Oh, I was thinking more along the lines of MNQ.
 
sstheo said:
I took several trades yesterday and today, but I am down about $10 from Friday.

View attachment 238966

Oh well. I am not worried. I have many more trading days ahead, and the current market volatility is certainly a bit higher than normal.

This is certainly preferable to the large losses suffered by the Buy & Hold crowd in the last 7 days - who have certainly used more than their quota of cuss words and "hopium" and Prayers-to-Powell to "Stimulate!"

Monday was a holiday, and yesterday was anything but normal. We had a HUGE windstorm in Utah with 90 MPH+ winds at times. My neighbor lost 4 large trees. One almost hit her house. While I traded with the wind howling, expecting the power to go out at any moment, I have to admit I was a bit distracted. Next time I am distracted, I will just not trade.

@Pkay I recommend you paper trade for at least two weeks until you are profitable 5 consecutive 5 days. Then trade live with one micro contract. Use the MES because it has more volume and consequently less slippage. Do exactly what you did on sim. Once you have 5 consecutive positive days, then try 2 micros per trade. I recommend a maximum of 1 micro per $1000 in your account (what I am doing), so stay with 3 max for now until you get to $4,000 and go to 4 micros.

@virtusa I stopped when I met my $100 goal on Friday because I have another job as a real estate broker. But even if I were trading full-time, setting a goal and stopping when reached works well for me. I have learned that often as the trading day progresses, volume gets smaller and the moves have less consistency and more chop - so I don't do as well. Also, my "stupid" factor certainly increases by the second as the day wears on.
And going forward, I will rarely post trades. I have refined my methods and don't need to dissect them any longer - just execute with precision and honor my tight stops. Also, I just don't have time to get detailed any longer with my journal. But thanks for offering to help.
More...
@sstheo thanks for this advice which is solid. Really appreciate it. I have two problems:

1. My broker here in the United Kingdom does not offer paper trading and has very high commissions for trading CME futures. I am looking at USA brokers and opened an account with Tasty Works. Also looking at AMO Global.

2. My main problem is devising a strategy that works. Hence your advice to trader sim is good. Where can I find simpler strategies for futures beginners to use and build upon?

Many thanks.
 
Pkay said:
@sstheo thanks for this advice which is solid. Really appreciate it. I have two problems:

1. My broker here in the United Kingdom does not offer paper trading and has very high commissions for trading CME futures. I am looking at USA brokers and opened an account with Tasty Works. Also looking at AMO Global.

2. My main problem is devising a strategy that works. Hence your advice to trader sim is good. Where can I find simpler strategies for futures beginners to use and build upon?

Many thanks.
More...

"University of YouTube" has THOUSANDS of beginning trading suggestions.

WARNING: Learning to trade manually ("discretionary trading") is a long uphill battle fighting the twin demons of fear and greed, and you need to prepare to be terribly frustrated for an extremely long time.

When everyone else is selling, you need to be thinking about buying - but making sure you are really near a "bottom."

When everyone else is buying, you need to be looking for a top. But not too soon!

And then there are the times when you just need to join the crowd in the trends. Now, how do you know which is which? It takes a lot of TIME. And still over 95% of traders never earn more than minimum wage for the hundreds and thousands of hours they invest - and the hundreds or thousands of dollars they invest in education and blown accounts.

Or you can just buy an algorithm that gives you signals to follow. But I have not gone down that path and have no idea where to send you.

:caution: DECISION POINT? Or you can just save your time and money and frustration: Just walk away. No one in this forum will think any less of you if you do. Yes, if you still have hair, you could save much of it at this point! Just walk away? The good traders I know have all spent about 10 years getting to where they are today. Just saying... :banghead:
 
upload_2020-9-10_19-37-36.png
I made about $40 today. The whippiness of the market was awesome today, and I should have had $400, but I will take the $40.

My real estate business is starting to pick up again. Lest you think I can live on $40, I can't. But I did close on a deal today that has been in the works for 5 months now.
 
Last edited:
Here is my new table and chart. I am barely hanging on to 1% per day, but again between the holiday and the storm and the real estate deals, I am satisfied. Let's see what the next few days brings.

upload_2020-9-10_20-9-38.png
 
upload_2020-9-11_8-46-43.png
Done for the day. Commissions have to be taken out still, but I am pretty sure I crossed the $100 mark for the day. Finished in one hour, and now I can move on with the rest of life and work. While my rules allow me up to 5 micros per trade right now, the heightened volatility is keeping me at 1 or 2.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top