KGTrader4 Paper Trading Journal - My Training Wheels

K

KGTrader4

OK, so i decided to try training wheels before trading more real money.. i'll just list my stuff here as it happens.
Total account at inception - $200k (fake money obviously)
A few days ago, i bought
EQT - 500 @ $28.05. quick 15% gain, sold half today at $32.32. Stop in on the rest at $29.006.50
PXD - BOUGHT 200 @$245.59. This was an error that i caught today, so i sold 120 @252.26 . This brings the position to 10% of total capital (approx). Just set stop at $239, just below the 20 day EMA, so guaranteed small profit at least.

I'm trying to keep each position at around 10% of capital with a 1-2% max loss of total capital, but really trying to keep it closer to 1%
 
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Yes that’s what I’m doing on a percentage basis. The ThinkorSwim paper account defaults to 200k. I’m doing trades at 10% of that.
When I start trading for real, it will be the same 10%, but probably of $50,000, maybe 100 max
 
KGTrader4 said:
Yes that’s what I’m doing on a percentage basis. The ThinkorSwim paper account defaults to 200k. I’m doing trades at 10% of that.
When I start trading for real, it will be the same 10%, but probably of $50,000, maybe 100 max
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The money is of secondary importance.

What you REALLY need... is to "learn to trade well". Once you get a handle on that, you can trade bigger and bigger. Sky's the limit... but ONLY if you trade well.
 
When you go live, will you have a $200k account to trade with? Set your paper account balance to what you will start with in real life, even if it is below the PDT threshhold. It is okay to have a small account. This isn't a dick measuring contest.
 
deaddog said:
You don't have to trade the whole 200K. If you are going to play with 50K use that amount. I don't know why but it makes a difference.
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Yeah you are probably right, I’ll adjust the position sizes going forward and base it on 50k start value. I’m keeping a spreadsheet with a running balance, including a column for notes so I can record my thought process
 
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