Not enjoyable any more

L

loufah

I've had a good couple of months money-making-wise, but I've made it by trading stocks of crappy companies. My method is a common one: find a stock that, due to a news event, has become overpriced or, more often, underpriced, and after doing some research, decide to take a position that assumes the stock will reverse and go back closer to where it was.

I don't trade penny stocks or those with less than a few hundred K daily volume, but this has still led me to an underworld of companies that are either selling snake-oil or aren't selling anything at all yet, or that have been accused of falsifying information by short-sellers who themselves may be falsifying information, or that have yanked their only product due to safety reasons and it's a coin toss whether they'll go out of business.

So I feel like I'm watching a financial Jerry Springer or A Current Affair show for 9 hours a day and wagering on the outcome, with the additional overhang that at any time the big foot from Monty Python can come down and obliterate everything.

I'm more profitable than when I just scalped SPY options for 20 cents or ES futures for a few points, but I'm not enjoying the ride.
 
it's called depression. lawyers, bankers, athletes, etc suffer from this when they devote 100% of their lives to it. my suggestion is to find other things that interest you and to do them in your spare time. i daytraded straight for 10 years and got thoroughly burnt out. i took 18 months off and found some balance. your day job shouldn't be your only passion. earning $ should be a means, not an end. end of the trading day, i don't think about markets anymore.
 
In 2011 I went through it...
A thinking person KNOWS this game will end badly and it's just flat out wrong (and mentally disturbing) to whistle through the graveyard.

Monty's big foot can squash at any time. And that has nothing to do with the interesting times we live in. Therein was "the answer" (for me). Be nimble and trade everyday. Hold your nose if you must. Your displeasure will be for naught if you are not there when the foot does it's thing.

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loufah said:
but I'm not enjoying the ride.
More...

Depends on why you are not enjoying it.
If its because you are watching scumbags everyday and searching them out and feeling depressed there are so many (1) , or because you are just generally dissatisfied with trading (2)? (it could be something else)

For 1....A few years back when I was an equity option market maker I was pretty much always trading long volatility and hence prospered when there was a calamity of sorts in a stock or the market. There were times I thought its a bit depressing making money when others were loosing it due to incompetent managers, fraud or such.....but then the reality is no one makes people buy these stocks, no makes people sell the options to me, they are a small part of overall scheme of things, I provided liquidity when the price went to crap etc; etc;. I am now happy to 'whistle through the graveyard' - someone has to bury the dead! :)

For 2....take a break. I dont like the term 'burntout', but i can subscribe to the term 'bored out' when it comes to trading. At this stage, the risk is you start doing things that dont make sense because you are looking for things to do.......its always best to have an external activity to conduct that need.
 
Lights said:
it's called depression. lawyers, bankers, athletes, etc suffer from this when they devote 100% of their lives to it. my suggestion is to find other things that interest you and to do them in your spare time. i daytraded straight for 10 years and got thoroughly burnt out. i took 18 months off and found some balance. your day job shouldn't be your only passion. earning $ should be a means, not an end. end of the trading day, i don't think about markets anymore.
More...

Excellent advice. I limit my trading to about 25 hours a week now and make a point of spending as much time as possible with family, friends, hobbies, etc. "Balance" is the key. Find things that make you happy and focus your non-trading time on those activities.
 
It certainly gets to that point doesn't it that trading becomes a chore just like any other computer job. For years aspiring day traders are entertained by the chase of the holy grail, and the challenge of getting profitable .. some stay in that cycle I think.. others go broke.. the survivors eventually see day trading for what it is. Clicking a mouse... eyes bleeding at the screen.. and hopefully a paycheck for the effort (haven't come across many avg joe day traders making a killing.. usually just a paycheck).

Markets being what they are, can go through periods of VERY boring action.. ironically its harder to get away from the screens at these times for the will of getting blood out of a stone. ..' if I only stick around I might catch some volatility and a paycheck'. When in reality should just go on a trip. Saying that I have a friend in a prop shop who hasn't missed a market day in over a year and loves it.. lives for it. Then again he makes and freezes lunch sandwiches for the week on a Sunday :)
 
Why don't you take some time off, maybe 2 months or so? Sometimes one has to take a break and stop doing something, hopefully after a break, you will miss it and will want to resume trading again. Sounds like your style is best for earnings periods anyways so it works in your favor to take off the slower months.
 
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