Results, Good or Bad ???

E

Exodus

2 months ago I started to help a friend learn to trade stocks intraday.

The first month he pretty much broke even (he made a bunch of mistakes).

The second month he is still "just" breaking even.

He is not doing everything exactly the way I have taught him but he is changing it slightly to fit his personality.

He has a few problems with early exits and undersizing but generally he is doing 90% of what I taught him to do.

He is getting frustrated and is thinking of giving up!



What advise would you give to him at this time?
 
read ET, look for what is the chance of trader turning profit in 2 months, Ninja paper trade until profitable, if not forgetaboutit. Or he can shadow your trade tick for tick until he ingrain that your stuff work...or not for him, he will figure it out eventually.
 
Quote from nkhoi:

read ET, look for what is the chance of trader turning profit in 2 months, Ninja paper trade until profitable, if not forgetaboutit. Or he can shadow your trade tick for tick until he ingrain that your stuff work...or not for him, he will figure it out eventually.
More...

Exactly !!!!

I just wanted him to hear it from other traders and not just from me!

The fact that he is break even after 2 months is incredible but it's hard for traders to really understand just how hard this business is and I find that having a realistic expectation is half the battle.

:cool:
 
He is likely a type A personality then, hates to lose, has very high expectations for himself. That's all good, because it means that he probably has what it takes to trade profitably, but it's also a potential negative if he can't tone down his expectations a little, and focus on the process.

I feel that focusing on the process is where it's at. My 2 cents suggestion to him would be, cover up your P&L on every single trade, don't look at it. Focus on your execution rules, don't deviate. Past trades have nothing to do with the current trade.Since fear is the greatest enemy, remember that the only fear he should carry is the fear of deviating from his plan. (assuming your method you taught him works).

He should double up on his immersion efforts to increase 'flow'. Just when the body says I'm too tired, there's a little left. Have him go over each one of the last 200 trades in his journal and reinforce how it is possible to pick great entry points and manage risk, concentrating on the process, not just casually reviewing the trades. It is the degree of intensity during practice that creates improvement, not just the practice itself. Brett Steenbarger has done some wonderful work on how to approach the trading as a peak perf sport problem by focusing on small goals, one at a time, and by getting into the flow.

Although Brett seems very anti technicals (curious to me since he does acknowledge Linda Raschke as a great trader), he has some very good insights into trading as well. He is an excellent resource to every trader out there, and posts all his info for free on his website.

Expertise takes time to develop, but trading can be explosively profitable if you can master your mind over time. Good Luck.
 
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