Limiting One's Self

F

Flashboy

Here I am again.. not complaining but hoping typing this out and getting some feedback will help me improve.

I limit myself from Profits on a Daily basis. What do I mean?

I daytrade 1 contract and have it engrained in me somehow that once I reach over $100/day I have reached my "goal" per say. What do I do once I reach the $100?

1. I relax. Miss good trades because I'm chit chatting, taking a break, doing other things besides trying to make more money.

2. Pass on good setups - I believe my past trading has involved so many days where I'd reach that $100 milestone and then wind up giving it back.. so fear of losing what I have keeps me from taking new trades.

I believe this is mostly due to fear of losing... giving anything I have back which most likely stems from being underfunded.

I have to say though my trading has improved significantly over the past 3 months. Feel like I'm right on the edge of that breakthrough to significant profits if I'd just follow my plan. Of course I'm sure many traders feel that way also.
 
How much is in your account? I personally don't think it's worth trading the ES (to make real money) unless you have 50K (at a minimum) in the account.

That's just my personal opinion. I'm sure some do it well with far less.

Also, that's great that you have been improving. Baby steps will get you there. Keep working on being consistent and then the increasing size and/or taking more of your setups will come. Consistency first, everything else second.

:)
 
Quote from Fireplace:

How much is in your account? I personally don't think it's worth trading the ES (to make real money) unless you have 50K (at a minimum) in the account.

That's just my personal opinion. I'm sure some do it well with far less.

Also, that's great that you have been improving. Baby steps will get you there. Keep working on being consistent and then the increasing size and/or taking more of your setups will come. Consistency first, everything else second.

:)
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$50K?? Holy Crap!!!! How many contracts would you trade with $50k??

LOL - I have a tiny account. Only $2k.. I know I'm underfunded yes but can't afford any more risk Capital at the moment.
 
Believe it or not, $100/day is actually really good. I'm assuming by the first reply post that you are trading the ES?

The goal is to be consistently profitable. You want those consistent days with small wins. The small wins will breed bigger wins.

If you're trading 1 contract now, that is 2 pts per day. If you do that over the long run and increase contracts rather than point targets you can eventually make 6 figures per year.

After you make your 2 pts/day, go into sim trading and finish the rest of the day. That will keep you trading through the rest of the day, but the fact that you lose patience/discipline/whatever won't affect your real account.
 
No wonder! Well $100 is a 5% gain for you so I can understand your situation. Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to get past this unless you acquire more risk capital. You are always going to think about the one trade that may blow you up (because you have very little cap and no cushion) and so it will be extremely hard for you to size up or convince yourself to trade more of your setups or really even get past the fear you have.

When you said underfunded I was thinking maybe you had 10k or, at the very worst 5k. 2k is just too low a figure to make any real headway unfortunately.

PS I have a good amount above 50k in my account and found that, once I was better capitalized, my trading really took off.
 
Quote from Fireplace:

No wonder! Well $100 is a 5% gain for you so I can understand your situation. Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to get past this unless you acquire more risk capital. You are always going to think about the one trade that may blow you up (because you have very little cap and no cushion) and so it will be extremely hard for you to size up or convince yourself to trade more of your setups or really even get past the fear you have.

When you said underfunded I was thinking maybe you had 10k or, at the very worst 5k. 2k is just too low a figure to make any real headway unfortunately.

PS I have a good amount above 50k in my account and found that, once I was better capitalized, my trading really took off.
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I believe you're right. From the blow up standpoint though I dont' believe is valid. I never risk more than $100 - $140 per trade. Yes I know that doesn't leave me much wiggle room for noise but that's how I have to trade with such a small account and the way I like to trade actually.
 
I'm in your same situation, except I have a much smaller account so I'm much braver than you are. I have had multiple occasions where I would have made huge gains if I had hold on to my positions but settled with small ones out of fear.

If you're making 100 per day consistently, that's good but it's not gonna get you rich. You need to catch those days where you can make big money.

My best advice to overcome this is that you gonna need to wait for that big trending day and try to either make more than 100 or breakeven. Then as the market move in your direction just continue to set higher stops.
 
Quote from jinxu:

I'm in your same situation, except I have a much smaller account so I'm much braver than you are. I have had multiple occasions where I would have made huge gains if I had hold on to my positions but settled with small ones out of fear.

If you're making 100 per day consistently, that's good but it's not gonna get you rich. You need to catch those days where you can make big money.

My best advice to overcome this is that you gonna need to wait for that big trending day and try to either make more than 100 or breakeven. Then as the market move in your direction just continue to set higher stops.
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I want to disagree with this, but I can't put any weight behind my disagreement.

Let's say you trade 1 contract getting 2 pts a day and then you quit.

1 @ 2pt = $100/day.

At some point you increase to 2 contracts and build up over time.

2 @ 2pt = $200
3 @ 2pt = $300
4 = $400.

Eventually (usually at 2 contracts) you start scaling out. So maybe your first contract goes out at 2 pts = $100, then you let your 1 remaining ride out the move. Maybe you get out at breakeven or maybe you continue for the next swing area and get another 2pts, effectively getting 4 pts on that 1 contract = $200. $200 + $100 = $300 on 2 contracts. When you hit 3+ then you start scaling out at 2 different points or 2 out at 2nd. Might be confusing, but I think you get a rough idea.

As far as I know, the ES can handle 100+ contract blocks easily because of the liquidity.

There is a guy on Youtube who has some crazy indicator that he designed, he trades 20 contracts, takes off 10 at 2pts and then lets the other 10 ride to 4 pts effectively making $3000 per day by noon and then takes the rest of the day off.

All I'm saying is that if you are looking for the homerun then you're probably going to crash and burn before you ever hit it, but that is up to your personality and how you trade. Trading is a marathon, not a sprint. 1 trade is just 1 trade in the next thousand+ that you're going to make in your career.
 
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