five years later (the previous 5), still struggling!
- Thread starter momoNY
- Start date
I am just curious.
Why do people trade this way? I
t is not a rewarding way to trade. Even the very very few who make some coin in the grand scheme of things do not do very well.
Is it challenge? Masochism?
Even 2 point stops are extremely tight making it all to easy to be pumping quarters into the system all day.
Why do people trade this way? I
t is not a rewarding way to trade. Even the very very few who make some coin in the grand scheme of things do not do very well.
Is it challenge? Masochism?
Even 2 point stops are extremely tight making it all to easy to be pumping quarters into the system all day.
Do you suggest wider stops?
Or do you suggest longer term? In this case the debate won't be sorted by this thread. If you look at the 5 minutes you see that if you get half the possibilities a trend following method gives you, you'll do more than fine. I don't think long or short term is really an issue, it is rather a matter of comfort, discipline is an issue.
I made two trades afterhours yesterday with one cont netted 185.
So, yesterday was down $495.
Today will play with one cont, will add one, only for the best setups on pullback.
My plan for today: Don't care where the market is going read you 5 minutes/hourly charts. At this point the market still looks weak.
I'll post less details on trades to make the journal easy to read for constructive inputs.
Momo.
So, yesterday was down $495.
Today will play with one cont, will add one, only for the best setups on pullback.
My plan for today: Don't care where the market is going read you 5 minutes/hourly charts. At this point the market still looks weak.
I'll post less details on trades to make the journal easy to read for constructive inputs.
Momo.
since u titled this thread "struggling" i will give you a few things to chew on.
A.)
1. Compute the average daily equity change in your account over the past few months. "on average you gain or lose X" amount every day. What is your expected value for each day's trading?
2. Compute the average amount you spend on commissions each day. On average i spend X on commissions.
Compare these two figures. How close are they? The closer these figures are the more likely you are just churning and grinding your account with no real hope of success.
B.) The amount you trade, particularly as a retail trader paying retail commissions, has if anything an inverse relationship to your success. One well conceived trade in each market you follow is more than enough, If even that.
If you are doing fewer trades you can expand your risk parameters as you still might be exposing less equity to risk per unit of time (in this case a day). For example if you do 5 trades a day risking X amount each day, that is about the same as doing 1 trade risking 5X the amount.
C.) It is very possible you do not know how to get in edge, not only in your time frame of a few minutes but also over longer time periods. If you are struggling for 5 years and still frustrated you really need to evaluate and consider this possibility. Your trading system is failing and it needs to be addressed to prevent more wasted time.
D.) My general impression is you are lost in the noise and do not have much concept of the forest. I challenge you to develop some real ideas that can give you an edge for a minimum of a 1 hour hold, up to a few days. I challenge you to try one good entry and to then hold it for the day. See what happens.
If you have been at it for 5 years and still grinding you need to open up, grab your balls and learn/try some new stuff. Don't keep beating yourself against a wall with an approach that is clearly doing you no good.
A.)
1. Compute the average daily equity change in your account over the past few months. "on average you gain or lose X" amount every day. What is your expected value for each day's trading?
2. Compute the average amount you spend on commissions each day. On average i spend X on commissions.
Compare these two figures. How close are they? The closer these figures are the more likely you are just churning and grinding your account with no real hope of success.
B.) The amount you trade, particularly as a retail trader paying retail commissions, has if anything an inverse relationship to your success. One well conceived trade in each market you follow is more than enough, If even that.
If you are doing fewer trades you can expand your risk parameters as you still might be exposing less equity to risk per unit of time (in this case a day). For example if you do 5 trades a day risking X amount each day, that is about the same as doing 1 trade risking 5X the amount.
C.) It is very possible you do not know how to get in edge, not only in your time frame of a few minutes but also over longer time periods. If you are struggling for 5 years and still frustrated you really need to evaluate and consider this possibility. Your trading system is failing and it needs to be addressed to prevent more wasted time.
D.) My general impression is you are lost in the noise and do not have much concept of the forest. I challenge you to develop some real ideas that can give you an edge for a minimum of a 1 hour hold, up to a few days. I challenge you to try one good entry and to then hold it for the day. See what happens.
If you have been at it for 5 years and still grinding you need to open up, grab your balls and learn/try some new stuff. Don't keep beating yourself against a wall with an approach that is clearly doing you no good.
Today:
Finally I respected my setups, still my exits were poor. Traded one contract, It would have been different with two contracts.
Took two trades:
1) Long 1307.5 stop 1306 out at 1310.5, should have let it more but my exit strategy would have stopped me at 1310.75, not big difference.
2) Short 1308 stop 1309.75 out at 1304, same thing would have been stopped by my exit strategy at 1303.25.
I'll post a chart and a blotter at the end of the trading day. Will stop trading until 2:15pm (beige book), unless there is a good setup, then it will be for 3 points target.
Up $342 for the day.
Finally I respected my setups, still my exits were poor. Traded one contract, It would have been different with two contracts.
Took two trades:
1) Long 1307.5 stop 1306 out at 1310.5, should have let it more but my exit strategy would have stopped me at 1310.75, not big difference.
2) Short 1308 stop 1309.75 out at 1304, same thing would have been stopped by my exit strategy at 1303.25.
I'll post a chart and a blotter at the end of the trading day. Will stop trading until 2:15pm (beige book), unless there is a good setup, then it will be for 3 points target.
Up $342 for the day.
I hope you succeed.
Just my 2 cents. I have posted this earlier too. When I first started day trading, the first 2-3 years my first trade or two would determine if I would have a good day or bad-I wasnt risking much but the moves would be big that if you didnt have a pre determined stop and were disciplined to take it (was a problem for me) the loss would become big and just ruin the day. I was very disturbed by this so I devised a plan to handle that. I started risking just a small amount on first trade
a) if successful then next trade would be bigger and bigger until I lost or used all my DT buying power
b) if the first trade failed risk the same small amount on next one and similar until I succeeded. Sometimes I would have 3-4 losers in a row but it never affected my account by much and didnt affect my psyche either and I was much better trader cause of that.
Losing big early in morning was real bad on my psyche and this strategy really helped me. If you ve traded for 5 years you probably know by now there are days when you cant do anything right and days when you can do no wrong. Key is to remain professional and business like throughout.
Goodluck again. You can do it.
Just my 2 cents. I have posted this earlier too. When I first started day trading, the first 2-3 years my first trade or two would determine if I would have a good day or bad-I wasnt risking much but the moves would be big that if you didnt have a pre determined stop and were disciplined to take it (was a problem for me) the loss would become big and just ruin the day. I was very disturbed by this so I devised a plan to handle that. I started risking just a small amount on first trade
a) if successful then next trade would be bigger and bigger until I lost or used all my DT buying power
b) if the first trade failed risk the same small amount on next one and similar until I succeeded. Sometimes I would have 3-4 losers in a row but it never affected my account by much and didnt affect my psyche either and I was much better trader cause of that.
Losing big early in morning was real bad on my psyche and this strategy really helped me. If you ve traded for 5 years you probably know by now there are days when you cant do anything right and days when you can do no wrong. Key is to remain professional and business like throughout.
Goodluck again. You can do it.
Two more trades, one of them gift to the bots:
1) Long 1309.25 stop 1307.75 stopped at 1308! I though it is s sign of strength (may be it is my connection that is slow)
2) Went back 1309.25 after 1309.75 was broken, stopped at 137.75.
It seems like the shop starts before the beige book. Stop trading until 2:15pm.