Quitting Trading

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Quote from 4DTrader:
Check your IQ, if it's below 125, stop trading.
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I have 4Dtrader on ignore (can't remember why, I'm just using the ignore button everytime I see a post full of bullshit - although these days it is very tough to keep up with the multiple-alias crowd). I just picked this up because someone else quoted him and I saw that part.

I assume he made this post. Whoever did, it's total bullshit. A quick review of these boards should be all the proof anyone needs that there is little if any correlation between IQ and trading success.
 
What I had to learn is : Are you a trader or a gambler?
it took me 5 years and about $300,000 in losses to be
profitable....to be able to sit there for hrs till I see a trade
and not gamble these two words MUST BE CLEARED AND
UNDERSTOOD

Are you a trader or gambler? theres a big diffence

look them up study these words and you will make it!

Ed
 
Quote from jasper6:

I've been trying to make it as a trader for eight years. I have yet to have a profitable year. I have been living off my savings from a previous venture and that is now below $75K.

Everyone I talk to says to quit. My family thinks I am just a gambler. My psychiatrist thinks I am addicted to trading.

I don't know what to do. I'm 51 and alone. My last two girlfriends left because they were worried about my finances and couldn't deal with the down days.

I have no idea where to turn from here. What am I supposed to put on a resume - eight years as a daytrader? I don't even want to work for someone else, anyway and don't know what else I would do.

All I ever wanted was to find a consistent way to pull one point from the market and trade size as my account built up. I only need $200 per day to keep going.

I'm sure I'm not the first failed trader being faced with these options. I could sure use some words of advice, though.
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A post worth responding to....finally.

Assuming your demographics are correct, post your trading methods, and we will dissect them. You are doing something consistently erroneous and need to find out what that is.

Best Regards
Oddi
 
Quote from Thunderdog:

Jasper,

There is no denying you're in a tough spot. However, there are people who have taken as long or longer before they started making money in the markets with reasonable consistency. That's neither encouragement nor discouragement. Just a fact to ponder. As for advice, there are people here who are far more qualified to dispense it than I am. However, I think it's fair to say that if you have a method that is presently not serving you well, then you should either modify it, test it on another market that may be more accommodating or drop it. Sometimes a fresh look from a different angle helps. Test it before you trade it. As you well know, just because it may test well does not mean it will necessarily trade well. But if it tests poorly, it would be a miracle if it makes any money. Most important, pay no attention to people who are ready to either dismiss you or otherwise define your fate at the drop of a hat. They may be right, and then again, they may be wrong -- just like a worthless indicator.
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Jasper, if you are still reading this thread. I did this so that you will see this again.

I am over 40, and so is Thunder. Just so you know.
 
Quote from jasper6:

Here's an example of what the chart looked like for ER2 on Friday.
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Clear trend. Lower highs, lower lows. What did you do WRONG????
 
Quote from jasper6:

I've been trading ES and ER2 both. With ER2, I use R100 constant range charts with a volatility stop set to 1.5. I take both long and short signals with a 1 point stop. I try to just trade in the first two hours when the market tends to go somewhere with conviction.
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Sorry, I read thread from back to front. That is some advice right there, reverse engineer your trades.

Without doing homework on ES and ER2 I would suspect that stops are too tight. Next, I would suggest eliminating countertrend trading until you are consistently making money.
 
A few of points.

I'm not 'secretly happy' about your loss but the issues you raise have a bearing on many things in life, such as cutting your losses. I'm responding as part of this thread, not to gloat.

If you'd gone long at any time since WWII and stayed long for 8 years I don't think you'd of lost any money.

If you go to work and earn enough to trade in the evenings you're basically working to fund your broker's school fees.
 
Thanks for all of the responses. There is really too much for me to address. I don't consider myself a gambler. I never gamble on anything but the market and I've tried to find an edge so it isn't gambling at all.

I chose constant range bars with the volatility stop because it was something I could stand looking at day in and day out. It seemed to cut down on the chaos and make decisions easier. I gave up on looking for trends. The market is either going up or down. I have no idea why and don't really have a need to know. It just is.

With my method, I could at least see how often a one point stop gets taken out. I should have made money on Friday, but didn't. I was in the 11:22 EST trade and got stopped out by one tick before the market ran for 7 points. I didn't take the earlier trades because I was looking at a R50 chart.

Consistentcy has always been a problem. Switching between charts and other markets. Looking for the grail.

I feel I am close with this chart and that 1 point limits my losses and can allow my profits, if any, to run.

My mantra has been one setup, one point, trade size. I am currently trading one ER2 contract for every $7500 in account equity. I figure this keeps my per trade risk under 1.5%.

In eight years, I have looked at every indicator. Followed every rabbit path. None of those has proven to me that they have any edge to speak of. I have never understood how people trade with support and resistance. It seems so subjective.

That's where I am today. One point per day just seems like it should be totally do-able and working it up to 10 contracts would be a nice living at $1000 per day less commissions.
 
I'm not the smartest man in the world and I have no idea how you got the arrows to appear on your chart.

With that said, if you went short at the worst entry for the down arrows and long at the worst entry for the up arrows, it looks like you would have made some money.

Try it out. If it works, automate it, tweak it, make it yours.

Also, get a job and trade during the other hours. You can trade things all over the world. Why put all this pressure on yourself?

Hedge your bets a little, you never know what will happen. (i.e. Always have a backup plan)

Good Luck.

Side note: Try one thing at a time. Overcomplicating life with too many things at one time can make things messy. It does for me.
 
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