You won't like my response, but I not trying to be cruel. You should put 100% going back into Corporate again and in free time learn to automate. We PM'ed Sept 21, 2016 and you wiped out a months worth in a single trade as you not been able to put in protective stops in ####, your inability to do right in #1) "Protect your capital", tells me you are very very long way to overcoming this problem if you still doing after this amount of time. People violate this rule as they see loses within subconscious to be of loss of self image and you not looking at this as a complete Business. You subconscious will generate physical pain within your brain when you entered at wrong time and instead of already having a protective stop in place or you had one and deleted, pain increases, more of you being a where of pain you get can help you along the way of your future.
I remember the very last time I deleted protective stops was 1990s, instead of taking a quick $300 loss for day trade in T-Bonds, I rode that baby into over $10,000 over the course of 3-4 weeks at the Mid-Am! I was deer in headlights till broker called and asked if I was going to fund another one, was a year before I opened another Commodity account. And yet I traded stocks well, which in a way took longer to figure out commodities.
When you have 3 million in the bank, have tripled your account three separate times, then you have less pressure to do again, or automate it, place system on cloud and be almost anywhere in world and watch it while working corp. Wives can be very supportive, but most all have that point.
To have margin used when you not "Master of your domain" like tossing frozen turkey in a fryer on that special day.
You let your trading account based on trading one contract for each $3,000 at a min, yes many firms require less, but should another 911 occur and exchange stop and you were long... You get more aggressive when your knowledge expands and not just you have a sizeable account, learn to buy support/sell resistance and risk next to nothing, whereas you do breakouts-stops have to be farther away. Learn from your winners, how many bar it take for you to get to breakeven plus one tick, so maybe it is 3, at 4 bars you looking to take a tick and get out-don't want to overstay your welcome.
Being "occasionally" is not banking anything, it like betting on the red/black, and having high winning percentages means little when your losses are huge. When you trade, think in terms of percentages and concentrate on getting losing % AND ave loss lower than getting profitable % higher, less you lose, profits take care of themselves.
I wish you Good Fortune Sir
