I'm having trouble with my trading

Concentrate on percentage instead of money, too many assign too much value to currency. As account grows very much more to have sanity than fantasy of playing "what if's". Stay with rules, and working for betterment of family in mind.

Trade well.
 
Xzhi said:
I've always been trading futures and I've done very well for a period of two years, but I was a idiot and blew my account in one trade. I was on a massive winning streak and felt I could not lose. I lost my money when price did a massive move within a short period of time, and I didn't hedge properly because I was arrogant & thought the move would not go against me by that much that fast and that I would have chances to close my position manually.

Ever since then I've used much smaller position sizes (around 30% of original account balance) and honestly felt disgusted with myself. I ended up being emotional and despite a great performance the past year, ended up using leverage to make up for the smaller account and right now my account is 20% from its peak this year as I messed up by taking too much risk. The past 40 trades basically did nothing for my account, since I broke even with those.

I'm a hobby trader and I thought I was profitable, but recently I'm having doubts. I don't know what to expect. Should I just keep going and see what happens?
More...

You need a sizing plan. Risking 30 percent of your capital on any single trade is a recipe for disaster as you well know. You require immovable position management rules that you do not under any circumstance violate. You need stop limit orders with a generous pay-up tic range limit in order to properly take a loss. Always take your losses. Every successful trader I have ever met routinely took losses. It's part of trading.

This isn't gambling - go to a casino for that. Your mindset should be calibrated towards taking optimal risk vs. reward entries. And when you take an entry you must also submit a stop limit order at your predetermined stop loss level. If you hit your profit target - cancel your stop loss.

Your only goal is to be consistent. Size bumps should be very modest and should only be used as a reward for a string of positive trades. If you take two or more losses in a row - immediately cut your size in half and do not bump it back up until you make four positive trades in a row.

You must grind out positive account equity. If you require excitement or a dopamine rush - find another avenue for that. Emotional swings are your mortal enemy.

Your real issue is that you seem to want to sabotage yourself.
 
Xzhi said:
I've always been trading futures and I've done very well for a period of two years, but I was a idiot and blew my account in one trade. I was on a massive winning streak and felt I could not lose. I lost my money when price did a massive move within a short period of time, and I didn't hedge properly because I was arrogant & thought the move would not go against me by that much that fast and that I would have chances to close my position manually.

Ever since then I've used much smaller position sizes (around 30% of original account balance) and honestly felt disgusted with myself. I ended up being emotional and despite a great performance the past year, ended up using leverage to make up for the smaller account and right now my account is 20% from its peak this year as I messed up by taking too much risk. The past 40 trades basically did nothing for my account, since I broke even with those.

I'm a hobby trader and I thought I was profitable, but recently I'm having doubts. I don't know what to expect. Should I just keep going and see what happens?
More...

i used to do what you did.......but then i started using a very wide stop.

now i shifted to M1, my coach said NEVER go to M1,and suddenly everything fell in place...and i am in wonderland.

i find i can put tight stops and know where the target is so i can place and not sit in front of computer.

i trade one of the most liquid instruments and found that M1 is the same as M5

Funny, how in trading and in life, one man's poison is another man's food.
 
padutrader said:
i used to do what you did.......but then i started using a very wide stop.

now i shifted to M1, my coach said NEVER go to M1,and suddenly everything fell in place...and i am in wonderland.

i find i can put tight stops and know where the target is so i can place and not sit in front of computer.

i trade one of the most liquid instruments and found that M1 is the same as M5

Funny, how in trading and in life, one man's poison is another man's food.
More...
padutrader,

Why did your coach say never go to M1?
 
padutrader said:
now i shifted to M1, my coach said NEVER go to M1,and suddenly everything fell in place...and i am in wonderland.
More...
Sorry, am I the only one who doesn't know what M1 is? Vaguely remember something about Federal Reserve money supply :)
 
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padutrader said:
he said it would be too choppy and stops will get hit....that may be true in ES, which he traded, but not in forex i found
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Yes, i wouldnt say stopped out alot, but the context could be misleading intraday is what I noticed. I like 3 minute chart
 
padutrader said:
i used to do what you did.......but then i started using a very wide stop.

now i shifted to M1, my coach said NEVER go to M1,and suddenly everything fell in place...and i am in wonderland.

i find i can put tight stops and know where the target is so i can place and not sit in front of computer.

i trade one of the most liquid instruments and found that M1 is the same as M5

Funny, how in trading and in life, one man's poison is another man's food.
More...
You have a coach?

And you did exactly the opposite of what your coach told you? :wtf:
 
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