Post Your Bitter Day Trading Lessons Here!

GrowleyMonster

GrowleyMonster

I'll start.

Newbies and small traders, don't trade live just to be trading live, if it will prevent you from trading live when you NEED to be trading live. We need to be ready to put money on the table when the game looks good. Sucks to remember how just a couple days ago you lost or made chump change on your allotted three trades per five days. And now you see a great setup or two and you can't trade. And by noon you see how you could have had a $1k day.

I wanted to long GOLD and SA this morning. Stupid PDT rule. I would have had an easy morning. My watchlist for today:

GOLD
SA
DVAX
PRTY
SESN
TWI
TTOO
ACA
GDI
SOXL
SOXS

And shortly after the open, I added:

SBOT

Potentially the best day I have seen in a month, and I couldn't trade because I used up my three trades Monday. I am not trading live again until I see the same kind of volume/price action in the previous close and in the premarket. I keep wasting my trades when there isn't much to trade on. Then today I would have certainly had a really good day but no.

SOXL and SOXS were on there just on the strength of the news but they didn't show me any real promise at the opening. Everything else came in hard with volume and price action. The penny stocks were rockin.

I think I learn more on a tough day than an easy one, but it isn't worth it to burn up my three trades groaning in agony and doing zip.
 
Interesting. But I am still just getting started learning to trade stocks. I am kind of a one thing at a time guy. Well, maybe I will pick up a couple of "futures for dummies" type books. So thanks for the tip.
 
GrowleyMonster said:
Interesting. But I am still just getting started learning to trade stocks. I am kind of a one thing at a time guy. Well, maybe I will pick up a couple of "futures for dummies" type books. So thanks for the tip.
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You've got 4 days before you can trade again, after your 3 trade limit is hit, so putting $500 at risk in a Micro Futures account ( Normally Advert for NinjaTrader >>>>> ) and trading that on PDT banned days, might do you some good.
 
GrowleyMonster said:
Interesting. But I am still just getting started learning to trade stocks. I am kind of a one thing at a time guy. Well, maybe I will pick up a couple of "futures for dummies" type books. So thanks for the tip.
More...
just dont trade....the way you are doing it is totally unprofessional.

Stop, save up 30k and papertrade in the meantime
 
MrMuppet said:
just dont trade....the way you are doing it is totally unprofessional.
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What's wrong with being unprofessional? I am not a professional. At least not yet.

Stop,
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Why? I seem to be doing better trading than the average newbie who follows that advice, and a lot better than I do at Harrah's.

save up 30k
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Yeah I know. Good idea. Working on that, only $20k to go. I would already have it but I am putting a lot of money into refitting one of my boats and also into my workshop. I will be going back to work in a month or two and I should have the rest long before the year ends.

and papertrade in the meantime
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Funny, but I lose money hand over fist, paper trading. I'm just not very disciplined when the money isn't real. I am a pretty fair poker player but I suck at monopoly. I needed paper trading to learn the basics of the platform and how orders work. Pretend trading is kind of boring, though. I just can't care enough. The lessons have to either punish or reward, to make an impression on me.
 
What do you do for work if I may ask?

GrowleyMonster said:
What's wrong with being unprofessional? I am not a professional. At least not yet.


Why? I seem to be doing better trading than the average newbie who follows that advice, and a lot better than I do at Harrah's.


Yeah I know. Good idea. Working on that, only $20k to go. I would already have it but I am putting a lot of money into refitting one of my boats and also into my workshop. I will be going back to work in a month or two and I should have the rest long before the year ends.


Funny, but I lose money hand over fist, paper trading. I'm just not very disciplined when the money isn't real. I am a pretty fair poker player but I suck at monopoly. I needed paper trading to learn the basics of the platform and how orders work. Pretend trading is kind of boring, though. I just can't care enough. The lessons have to either punish or reward, to make an impression on me.
More...
 
GrowleyMonster said:
What's wrong with being unprofessional? I am not a professional. At least not yet.


Why? I seem to be doing better trading than the average newbie who follows that advice, and a lot better than I do at Harrah's.


Yeah I know. Good idea. Working on that, only $20k to go. I would already have it but I am putting a lot of money into refitting one of my boats and also into my workshop. I will be going back to work in a month or two and I should have the rest long before the year ends.


Funny, but I lose money hand over fist, paper trading. I'm just not very disciplined when the money isn't real. I am a pretty fair poker player but I suck at monopoly. I needed paper trading to learn the basics of the platform and how orders work. Pretend trading is kind of boring, though. I just can't care enough. The lessons have to either punish or reward, to make an impression on me.
More...

Well...how should I put it? They way you approach this "adventure" is like sitting down at a 1/2 cash game table with 100$

You can't play postflop, you can't raise or 3bet preflop...all you can do is wait for QQ+, ATs+ or AQo+ and either shove pre or hope you can limp from the button or get a free look from the BB and flop big...and you know how this ends when you play against skilled opponents.

Unfortunately there is no junior league or 1ct/2ct table in trading, you start right against the pro's.


Look for another market or prepare for this one better...if you keep doing what you are doing, you need to be incredibly lucky or talented to avoid slowly bleeding out.

Look for a market with a lower entry barrier and find a niche. Don't play with the sharks right in the beginning.

By the way, you better start working like a professional. Sleep schedule, diet, exercise, daily prep, trade review...if you handle this stuff like you play poker (wake up at noon, fast food breakfast, video games in the afternoon and poker after dark till 5am) you have zero chance of making it.

Trading is really hard and you should take it seriously. If you do, your income will dwarf the poket change you make from grinding Vegas cash games tho :)
 
Find one market or one stock and get to know it and now it moves from day to day! Set realistic rules and goals for each day and when you feel ready paper trade until you are comfortable enough and own your method and make it part of you! The money will come if you can follow your method
 
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