Ramblings of a degenerate gambler

[Millionaire]

Not quite Reminisces of a Stock Operator.

This journal is for entertainment purposes only, it is real money i am experimenting with, but i am not treating this 100% seriously, i am day trading/gambling partly for the thrill and also to make money if possible. I expect to give back much of any profits i do make, but hope to quit while i am still ahead.

Normally I auto trade exclusively, my Algo always enters an attached stop loss order to every entry order, that is professional trading, proper risk management, no messing about.

But this Journal is about my latest experiment into discretionary day trading which i started doing a few days ago, it involves no strict risk management. or even defined entry rules. It is all based on my gut feel. It is more akin to gambling. Although i have a good gut feel for price action, having watched the markets for the last 20 years.

Ed Seykota a famous algo trader said in Market wizards 'having a quote machine on your desk is like having a slot machine on your desk, you end up feeding it all day'

I get out at my max pain point. I should really put in a stop loss.

Why did i start discretionary trading just now, well i thought i would take advantage of this market volatility we are having.

Results so far (flat at end of each day):

Day1: +$2200
Day2: +$1200
Day3: +$2200
Day4: +$1800

Im up $7470 after four days, blotter attached (the blotter is the total PnL for the last 4 days)

Im being greedy, trying to make between $1500 and $2500 a day.

$1000 a day isn't enough for me as i think in GBP, and $1000 USD is only 750 GBP.

Really i should be happy to make between $500 to $1000 a day at this point. But it doesn't seem to be enough.

Also there are wild gyrations in my PnL, today i was down $2500 (unrealised), went short before the FOMC only to see the market rally hard at first.

Taking a position today before FOMC is gambling and quite compulsive, I wanted to feel the thrill, i knew there was a real possibility it could spike up and then reverse, so i did think about putting in a resting sell order say 100 NQ points above the market, but instead i just took a short position before the announcement anyway.

On Monday and Tuesday i doubled and tripled up my normal position size towards the end of the trading session, looking to make some big profits. One of those times i did it out of anger. Not good. This trading experiment is supposed to be for fun. No need to get angry.

Im also trading TSLA, it is dangerous trading TSLA without a stop loss, i mean Musk could tweet something and it could spike quickly either way.

 

[Millionaire]

Forget to mention I withdrew $4000 of those profits today.

 

[TrailerParkTed]

Should be fun to read, it’s funny how $500, than $5,000 and eventually $500,000 gains like my deceased mentor made never brought him joy.

Do you feel anything making cash, I miss the gambling rush of making bucks, its been long dead since the 90s.

 

[athlonmank8]

Should be fun to read, it’s funny how $500, than $5,000 and eventually $500,000 gains like my deceased mentor made never brought him joy.

Do you feel anything making cash, I miss the gambling rush of making bucks, its been long dead since the 90s.

Seems to be the case for a lot of people. How'd you meet your mentor?

 

[easymon1]

Reminisces of a
Generate Gambler.

 

[VicBee]

Im also trading TSLA, it is dangerous trading TSLA without a stop loss, i mean Musk could tweet something and it could spike quickly either way.

Funny...TSLA is my safe bet, particularly in this crazy volatility.

 

[Millionaire]

Should be fun to read, it’s funny how $500, than $5,000 and eventually $500,000 gains like my deceased mentor made never brought him joy.

Do you feel anything making cash, I miss the gambling rush of making bucks, its been long dead since the 90s.

I grew up in poverty. I think making large sums of 'easy' money will always give me a short term thrill. But I realise it is not true deep down happiness. The gambling high only lasts until the next losing day (if even that long), and the next losing day could be tomorrow.

I also know this volatility is not going to last, eventually the markets will quieten down and i will have more losing days.

So i am going to try and enjoy it while it lasts.

This is a blotter for just yesterday, 26th Jan, FOMC day.

I caught 20 points by shorting 2 lots of RTY (Russell 2000 futures). For $2075. I had a gut feeling the RTY might move down around 60pts from its pre FOMC level, but I was happy to bank just 20 points of that move, with 2 lots that is $2000. And then stop for the day. Before i gave any back.

You might notice 2 DAX entries, one is for the Mini DAX and one for the Micro DAX. The Micro DAX trade was a mistake, i clicked on the wrong ticker.

 

[Scataphagos]

It is all based on my gut feel. It is more akin to gambling.

Suggestion... learn Price TA and you won't have to rely upon your "gut".*

Trading should not be like gambling... it should be like mining... where you "grind through the ore and make your profit".

*Speaking of "gut"... an old-timer trader once told me... "when you have a gut feel about a play, get up from your chair and walk over to the nearest doorway... then pound you head HARD against the jamb until that feeling goes away".

IOW... Your brain and eyes are for trading. You gut is for beer and burritos!

 

[Millionaire]

Suggestion... learn Price TA and you won't have to rely upon your "gut".*

My 'gut' told me there would be sell off after FOMC, not sure if Price TA could of done that. Of course it could just be i got lucky. Im not discounting that.

 

[Scataphagos]

My 'gut' told me there would be sell off after FOMC, not sure if Price TA could of done that. Of course it could just be i got lucky. Im not discounting that.

Some others "gut feel" or guess as you have it, suspected the same. However with price chart analysis you'd could have been one the decline early regardless.