Able to trade small accounts successfully but fail when account size is large

addminuslast said:
hat advice could you give? Slowly scale up bit by bit instead of switching immediately?
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I'm not sure when or if you're going to read this as you haven't been here since the moment you started this thread; however, it would seem from that passage I quoted from your initial post that you already sense that you know the answer.

Instead of starting with a small capital and then adding more capital after some success, start small and run that stake up.

Start with $500 or $5000, whatever your small account comfort level is. Make that the one and only contribution to your trading account from your current resources. So you want to trade a seven figure account? Then run that small starting stake up to seven figures. If you you have an edge, you can run up even the smallest margin to a fortune. If you have an edge.
 
A $10K account is an experiment. A $1MM account is a portfolio (for most of us).

I can focus on one trading concept (experimental account) and do OK. But I'm unwilling to concentrate my entire portfolio on one concept, so I also find it challenging to scale up.
 
One of my friends likes to gamble at casinos.
Once he gambled with $200 and made it to $50000 in two months. Then the third month he lost them all.
He asked me why he was successful in gambling small amount of money but failed at gambling big money.
Well, define "successful".
For trading I would use "consistency" instead of "successful" . Because a lot of losers sometimes in their career thought themself as "successful" but at the end they are still losers.

I think a trader who can't even handle emotion is a thousand miles from consistency.
Also I don't believe there is such thing as being consistently profitable at small account but not at big account.
 
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The guy is going from trading odd lots to A round lot.

Literally going from 10 shares of SPY to 100..

If you can't stay disciplined and focused on that transition,you should look for a new hobby





wmwmw said:
One of my friends likes to gamble at casinos.
Once he gambled with $200 and made it to $50000 in two months. Then the third month he lost them all.
He asked me why he was successful in gambling small amount of money but failed at gambling big money.
Well, define "successful".
For trading I would use "consistency" instead of "successful" . Because a lot of losers sometimes in their career thought themself as "successful" but at the end they are still losers.

I think a trader who can't even handle emotion is a thousand miles from consistency.
Also I don't think there is such thing as being consistent profitable at small account but not at big account.
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addminuslast said:
I've traded a few small accounts successfully in the past, then I scale up into 5 figure accounts, which always turns bad.

I know psychology is affecting me, for e.g. when I lose a few trades on large accounts, I would think what I could have bought or what if I just went out and didn't trade, I could have bought XXX or saved $X by doing so.

However, after always losing my large account, i would take a break and come back trading a small account, and I am always successful.

What advice could you give? Slowly scale up bit by bit instead of switching immediately?
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Maybe the broker starts front running after you have reached your secret maximum account balance as determined by the party's "Wealth Czar" based on your social credit score.
 
taowave said:
In all seriousness,are you trading the exact same system/way on the small account size as on the larger?? Same entries/exits(R/R),money management,position sizing,etc????
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This is a great question. Answer it honestly. If not, is your trade process defined to the point where you can see in review where your large acc trading diverges from the small?

Having a comprehensive, well defined process does essentially the same thing as automating the system, but it allows you to leverage the strengths of cognition and adaptivity that most regular automated systems could never hope to achieve....

I'm biased as Mark Douglas was the key thing that brought me to profitability. So I would always suggest that if your process is tight and your edge proven, then you need to really delve into the psychological aspects...

Of course the BSD's on ET will always tell you it is all system based.... That the mental side of trading is useless... All I can say is that for me personally trading is 10% edge and 90% mental.

Also check out jared tendler's Mental game of Trading. Gives you the tools and techniques that MD alluded to in Trading in the Zone
 
It’s common to have psychological issues when you trade on a live account because of real money being at risk. The best is to not take huge risks and focus on risk management techniques which we often avoid while trading on a live account.
 
The problem is immediately switching from a small account to a large one. Exactly it is the psychological thinking of big amount which makes you think you are losing. So, my advice is to slowly, according to your strategy, leverage the amount and trade well.
 
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