I traded over 16,000 shares today and lost about $100 dollars before commissions which cost another $100. I am new and felt like I controlled my risk fairly well but I know I am an idiot for trading so much... I just need some advice to get my frequency down.... alot! I typically trade too many shares but haven't lost big (this was my largest down day) and know i could do so much better if I let my foot off the gas pedal.... advice?
Newbie looking for tips to limit overtrading
- Thread starter Garbage Can Ray
- Start date
LOL holy crap!
You are really doing something wrong. What kind of stocks are you trading.
You are really doing something wrong. What kind of stocks are you trading.
wow, you are quite unfamiliar with prop trading aren't you?
First of all, losing $100 trading 16,000 shares is not bad, in fact, I would call that good. Most people lose money. The ones that make it usually follow this cycle: lose money, tread water, become profitable, become REALLY profitable.
The more screen time you get the better. Trade your ass off and manage risk. Give yourself daily loss limits. If you are trading 100 share lots $100-150 a day is about right. When (if) you start making money double your shares and add 30-50% to your loss limit. Rinse and repeat.
If you want even more risk management, if you get up a good amount by mid day, give yourself a 10,20, or 30% rule -- meaning if at highs you are up $1000, and lose $300 (30%) stop trading for the day. This way you can keep adding to your profits but also lock some up if things get bad.
PS. If you really want to cut back trading, only trade first 2 hours and last hour unless a major rally, selloff happens mid day and buy call of duty.
The more screen time you get the better. Trade your ass off and manage risk. Give yourself daily loss limits. If you are trading 100 share lots $100-150 a day is about right. When (if) you start making money double your shares and add 30-50% to your loss limit. Rinse and repeat.
If you want even more risk management, if you get up a good amount by mid day, give yourself a 10,20, or 30% rule -- meaning if at highs you are up $1000, and lose $300 (30%) stop trading for the day. This way you can keep adding to your profits but also lock some up if things get bad.
PS. If you really want to cut back trading, only trade first 2 hours and last hour unless a major rally, selloff happens mid day and buy call of duty.
You could always blow up your first account and let the psychological havoc that ensues condition you to only trade when your set up is almost perfect... not that I would know about that ;-)
An example of what I would consider an "almost perfect" set-up would be directional bias based on macroeconomic data combined with an extreme value on a technical indicator like a daily RSI (or broken resistance, whatever floats your TA boat). Specifically I had winner selling the USD/JPY with that set-up. Didn't think twice about it.
An example of what I would consider an "almost perfect" set-up would be directional bias based on macroeconomic data combined with an extreme value on a technical indicator like a daily RSI (or broken resistance, whatever floats your TA boat). Specifically I had winner selling the USD/JPY with that set-up. Didn't think twice about it.
