To Trade or Not to Trade?

[chiquita]

Retail traders do make money but only a small %. It takes seasoning beyond knowing how Xs and Os work thus since you do enjoy trading stick with it till you get there, perhaps reduce position size until consistently profitable.

Its crazy, because when I do paper trading I'm profitable on 90% of my trades.

 

[chiquita]

Q: To Trade or Not to Trade?

A: Trade small positions with a risk of about $100.00. Then scale up if successful.

This is the only reason I still have money left in my account. Money that I am not considering on dumping into an investment after busting my butt trying to make money trading for the last nearly 3 years.

 

[i960]

Its crazy, because when I do paper trading I'm profitable on 90% of my trades.

Highly unlikely your paper trading is giving an accurate simulation of friction/spreads. I bet you're using TOS too - which is well known for being crap at simulated trading. On top of that, there's the emotional aspect - which you should determine if it's an actual problem or not.

 

[dealmaker]

Its crazy, because when I do paper trading I'm profitable on 90% of my trades.

I don't know anyone who lost $ paper trading...

 

[chiquita]

Highly unlikely your paper trading is giving an accurate simulation of friction/spreads. I bet you're using TOS too - which is well known for being crap at simulated trading. On top of that, there's the emotional aspect - which you should determine if it's an actual problem or not.

OptionsHouse

 

[i960]

OptionsHouse

Alright well if you're profitable on 90% of your trades in paper trading and not when real trading - then what actually differs? The market doesn't know you're paper trading, so you need to identify what i actually changing.

Are you closing trades early or otherwise monkeying around with things whereas in paper trading you aren't? There has to be some kind of difference.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

Being Successful at Anything in life is a rather small, elite club (no pun intended).
Does that mean you should not pursue it -- that's debatable, depending on the person.

 

[drcha]

The expected value of most options trades is approximately zero. I would expect that over the long term, the trader who cannot predict anything would make zero. You need to be able to make enough accurate guesses about direction or volatility. You cannot just blindly put on trades and wait for time to pass. So work on a method that can successfully predict movement of indexes, stocks, futures, or whatever you want. Then use options to leverage it.

 

[Cswim63]

How about put in 20 years and not have much success? I kid you not. I sucked at trading for 20 years. It's amazing I kept at it. Fortunately, I wasn't taking huge risks and had a decent job but still managed to blow up some small accounts along the way and stuff like that. About 6 months ago, something clicked for me. But I also made a huge mental shift. My point is this -- how much is it worth to you to keep at it with the possibility of being successful -- at some point in the future -- which may be way down the road?

I agree, having been at this a long time and blown up several accounts. The one thing these guys never tell you is how much they are risking. They will suggest that they are doing everything right, and cannot understand why they keep failing. I'm betting a small sum that he's overtrading and risking too much, but doesn't acknowledge it even to himself.

 

[Chris Mac]

I need some advice. I've taken tons of options trading courses and paper traded for a long time. I've been options trading with real money for about two years now and have done nothing but loose money. I spent a lot of money on classes and have learned a ton. I've practiced like crazy too.

I've analyzed everything and don't see any issues with emotional trading. I recently (two weeks) started using Ichimoku. I'm seeing a slight improvement, but the market is such a mess right now its hard to tell. There is a lot of chop, which messes up Ichimoku. I haven't been using Ichimoku long enough yet.

My question is: do retail traders ever really make money long term or am I better off investing my money? Everybody I speak to in the financial world tells me trading is a waste of time. I'm considering dropping trading options and investing in ETF's. Maybe focus more on dollar cost averaging.

Trading is time consuming, but I enjoy it. Its difficult because I've put in 110% and am not seen any results.

Oh, I've also been through all the TastyTrade stuff and haven't found much success there either.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

--
Quita

Well, you will begin to win when you will be fed up to lose.
In theory, everyone wants to win this game. But in reality, everyone just behaves like losers and / or or drugs addicts. This is human nature.
Every day, we think we make some "slight" improvements. We test a new method, a new process, we got some tips... But we live in a vicious circle, where we repeat the same mistakes like in "GroundHound day" movie.
Willing to win the game is about question yourself, recognize that you always make the same mistakes, and do all possible efforts to improve and be the best you can.
But for what I see in my job and read in internet and here, vast majority in the markets are happy being losers. They just don't want to change. They will burn one account of 100 dollars, then 1000 dollars, then everything.
In my case, I changed because I am a bad loser and I just could'nt accept to lose anymore.
I was angry at myself, and finally accepted the rules:
Hard work 10h/12h everyday, work during week-end too, discipline, focus, will to win, no emotions, humility.
This is the "secret sauce" to win and be part of the 10% or even 1% who master the markets.
But believe me, it takes time and efforts except if you are a genius.

CM