Hey, thanks for that.
GrowleyMonster's Sorta Journal
- Thread starter GrowleyMonster
- Start date
Hey, thanks for that.
Well, the beer, a medium brown ale, came out great. The keg setup works good, too. And it looks like I will be able to start trading with the fully funded account on Tuesday.
Ahh, 50 big ones. You sure it's not...
?
Yer' in for a hell of a ride. As Vanz typed, trade small. Wednesday and Friday could be weird.
Use caution!
Yeah thanks. I managed to keep my 10k account in one piece. If I do everything the same I should be able to keep the newer bigger account mkII together. No way am I gonna start freestyling now, or changing my position sizes from what was working for me before.
I just want to survive this first year of trading, TBH. Big profits will come later, maybe, if I still have an account to trade with. I think I will if I keep playing a tight game.
Ahhhhh I just heard the first burp from the fermenter. I brewed my second batch of beer today. This one will be a pilsner with a bit of rye added, since I like rye whiskey so much.
I have a friend who brews beer (Usually a real hoppy IPA), and he's always on about the wort. Every time I go over there when he's brewing, the house stinks to high-heaven,
I don't know what this batch will smell like, yet. The first batch was a medium brown ale, and it had a very pleasing fresh baked bread aroma even while fermenting. Tastes great. Having a glass right now. I will be making that recipe again soon.
I never really liked IPAs. Mostly I like a good old honest yellow American beer type beer. I hate going in a restaurant and they don't have any regular manly beer. Just all kinds of light in the loafers, crooked pinky, artsy fartsy beer that costs 3x as much as a PBR or a Dixie. But actually, making a pilsner is a lot more work than an ale. Bigger PITA factor. I may switch to ale. But not IPA. And nothing too hoppy. I leave that for the hipsters, academics, and yuppies.
I never really liked IPAs. Mostly I like a good old honest yellow American beer type beer. I hate going in a restaurant and they don't have any regular manly beer. Just all kinds of light in the loafers, crooked pinky, artsy fartsy beer that costs 3x as much as a PBR or a Dixie. But actually, making a pilsner is a lot more work than an ale. Bigger PITA factor. I may switch to ale. But not IPA. And nothing too hoppy. I leave that for the hipsters, academics, and yuppies.
Indeed. I know my friend wants to try the lighter lagers, the yellow stuff, but he says he needs a special fridge for the process. Something about how the lager yeast does not work above a certain temperature, like normal room temperature. You brewing folks are just as bat shit crazy as options folks.
Well, he is right. SPECIAL fridge not needed, but it does have to be big enough to put the fermenter inside, and needs to be able to maintain around 50 to 55 degrees. I am sure he knows more about it than I do. I am a noob at brewing. A lot of it depends on the strain of yeast used. Some types of beer just don't come out right with high temp yeast varieties. Some require two fermenting stages. It gets very involved. It's like 3 parts science, 7 parts alchemy for some guys.
I don't know options. They confuse and scare me. GF does options. I leave them to her.
Growley... I guess I'm making some assumptions here so correct me if I'm wrong, but just from following your posts with interest since you showed up here at ET as you seem to be an interesting sort and certainly for real, not some ET poser... it sounds like that aside from a strong interest in all things market related and some experience buying and selling stocks short term, that come Tuesday, this will be your first foray into actually trading an account with no restrictions. Welcome to the jungle.
Now you are certainly saying all the right things regarding size etc, but Tuesday morning when that $50K balance adorns the top of your screen, the game is going to change for you in a big way. It is. You have just been magically poofed into the retail stock trader's candy store. No more PDT to worry about, 4X intraday buying power, and sufficient margin to hold stuff overnight. The psychological ramifications of this new found trading freedom have not set in yet. You'll see.
If I had to give you one piece of advice on the advent of your new journey Growley, let me say that the biggest threat to your account will be you. There's a reason most people blow up; its not volatile stocks, its not market irrationality, its not playing against a rigged game, its one thing and one thing only... one's own human nature.
You trade small and you have a string of losses. One right after the other. It happens. The hardest thing in the world at that point is going to be not increasing your size trying to get it back. Beware of this. Beware of the revenge trade. Beware of becoming obsessed with one stock that has beat you. It harder than it sounds Growley. I've been there and I've paid the price. Many times over. I don't want to see it happen to you. As ridiculous as this sounds... cut your sizing by 50% starting Tuesday. Play the game... enjoy the game, but keep the positions very small. (I hope you're using IB, its the cheapest for what you need.) You'd be surprised at the amount of damage a 50 share position in a stock like TWLO, or NFLX, or any of a myriad of others can inflict. The smaller the position, the longer you can let the trade go against you.... and along those lines, the longer you will let your winners run. Odds are your initial assessment as to the direction a stock is heading will be correct... scalping is fun, and by all means do it, but you'll make your money holding a position for a day or longer. Stick to your convictions, long or short. Just keep them small.
No need to keep this journal up to the minute either. Focus on your game, you owe us nothing. Post when you feel like it. Anyway... enough rambling. G/L Growley.
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Thanks. I agree 100% with what you are saying. I was told about the human factor when I started, and only by keeping it under control was I able to keep my noob losses under control, and build back up. Never made a revenge trade. Never fell in love with a stock and followed it down to a flaming death. Never even averaged down, at least not with that intention.
I don't journal while I am trading. Not even while I am paper trading. Yeah IB is my broker. I don't even notice the commissions they are so small. I couldn't do this, paying $4.95 each and every trade. On small positions, that is just like doubling my risk!
TBH I think the main reason I have not traded emotionally and gone on tilt is from considerable time at the card table. I didn't blow my brokerage account because I already blew a couple of rolls playing poker, and learned from older and wiser players to keep the play cool and keep an eye on managing money and risk. Those lessons were not free, I don't think I have to tell you. I enjoyed the game, so my early losses were worth the entertainment value, but I did eventually get to where if I picked my games with care, I was a net winner. If I had gone into day trading without the experience with Poker, I would probably be among the 90% already, badmouthing the rigged game of the stock market, blaming everyone but myself, or else thinking I am a natural born loser, or simply wondering how the hell I lost so much money in a legit thing. So in a sense, I already blew my account and learned from it. Now I am just learning a different game. The human factor is the same, though. Tough players love it when a fish goes into "I'll show YOU!" mode. Or stays in a game where he is outclassed to "win his money back" or has "poker revenge" on his mind.
I don't journal while I am trading. Not even while I am paper trading. Yeah IB is my broker. I don't even notice the commissions they are so small. I couldn't do this, paying $4.95 each and every trade. On small positions, that is just like doubling my risk!
TBH I think the main reason I have not traded emotionally and gone on tilt is from considerable time at the card table. I didn't blow my brokerage account because I already blew a couple of rolls playing poker, and learned from older and wiser players to keep the play cool and keep an eye on managing money and risk. Those lessons were not free, I don't think I have to tell you. I enjoyed the game, so my early losses were worth the entertainment value, but I did eventually get to where if I picked my games with care, I was a net winner. If I had gone into day trading without the experience with Poker, I would probably be among the 90% already, badmouthing the rigged game of the stock market, blaming everyone but myself, or else thinking I am a natural born loser, or simply wondering how the hell I lost so much money in a legit thing. So in a sense, I already blew my account and learned from it. Now I am just learning a different game. The human factor is the same, though. Tough players love it when a fish goes into "I'll show YOU!" mode. Or stays in a game where he is outclassed to "win his money back" or has "poker revenge" on his mind.