The most expensive lesson you have learned in this business...

My account was $200k at the time, margined 10:1 so I lost "only" $100K from that nightmare. Worse, I had only been trading three months and thus didn't have a clue what I was doing. I spent the next 18 months in revenge mode, trying to get that money back, and lost another 50K in the process. But that 50K process provided numerous lessons that became strategies, which have kept me profitable ever since.
 
Hi everyone, this is my first post.
The most expensive lesson was not having a plan and throwing
75% of my account into mostly tech stocks in 1999.
The techs started to fall and i held on hoping things would turn around and of course they didn't.
That was about a 15k loss.
It took me years to recover to the point of having any interest
in trading again.
 
Quote from Chartiste:

Not for me. I will never see another tuition bill like the one described below even if I tried with all my might. On the first day of getting 10:1 margin in Jan of 2001, I tried some lunchtime scalping. I would short about $2m shares of stock and then buy it back. Making a couple hundred bucks every few minutes. On my last short scalp before a lunchbreak, the Fed announces its first "surprise" intrameeting .50 rate cut. Of course the system freezes up for 15 minutes, and when I get out my account is down 50%. It is virtually impossible to lose that much money so quickly anymore.
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You lost 100k, he lost 1.5MM

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=731021&highlight=infamy#post731021
 
  • Undercapitalization
  • Gambling
  • No Plan
  • Too high Expectations

I have done them all !!!!!

I learned:
  • Use a microscopic amount of your capital to trade, but evaluate the yield too..is it worth it? if not, its not a good system to spend your time on.
  • Lower my expectations. I learned that I am just as satisfied making 30-100% a year trade by trade, rather than all at once. Having expectations and a vision is good & healthy so do not limit yourself either. It just that many singles are better than a few homeruns.
  • Follow my plan and recognize early when my system ceases to work.
  • Trading can be "not Gambling"

Michael B.





Quote from earlybirdstango:

NEVER add to a losing position.

Please add your individual answer to this question on your own personal experience as a trader.
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Having ANY expectations when you first get into this business can be a real morale killer *but also an ego killer as well, which is good*, you have to be strong to pick yourself back up after being proven that it was as difficult as you thouht it might be..... but is much MUCH harder than that even and requires a long term commitement.


Getting into this game for the wrong reason I think could be the most expensive lesson you can have, happen to you and that goes mainly to the gamblers.
 
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