about 6 months and roughly about 1k
what did your "learning curve" cost in time and money?
- Thread starter Pete Renzulli
- Start date
PR
Firstly you will spawn a whole host of replies with this thread that may or may not be true.
There is no way you can know, but to drift towards the latter would put you on the safe side at the very least.
Secondly, trading is a solitary sport and so the outcome to your question cannot be projected into your own life, nor is it a matter of general interest due to the enormity of the inaccuracy
of the responses.
regards
f9
I've been trading for about 3 years. The first year and a half was with only a few hundred dollars, because I knew that there was a learning curve which would include losing money (I also wanted to get used to the emotions involved in using real money). During that time I was in college and managed to save up about $6,000, but in the meantime I was just watching the market all the time, intraday, whether I had money in it or not. Even though I was down money overall, I was getting better with my trading and told myself I needed to put my money where my mouth is, so I put the $6,000 in my account. Over a period of the next few months, I managed to lose about $2,000. I had been reading about options in the meantime, and starting trading them in October. By the end of the year, my account was at $10,500. This year, I managed to lose that amount down to $1,500 (I had some risk management issues, clearly). Without any additional capital, I traded that $1,500 up to what is now $215,000. Yes, this year. Now, this is my first year of actually making some money, so we'll see if it lasts. The power of compounding mixed with options can be quite the combination. Yes, my strategy is risky as I'm using most of my capital in my trades (not so much anymore), but hey, I'm young, and I'm comfortable with the strategy that I have come up with.
Trading was never a hobby for me, I just didn't always know what the hell I was doing. Some call their losing years a hobby, but I will be honest and just say that I was inept in the beginning and too full of piss and vinegar with not enough time pushing buttons with real money behind them.
Started investing in 2000. Stocks and options. Lost $15k. Quit.
Started trading in 2001. Futures. Screen time. Lost $25k. Quit.
Profitable futures trading in 2002. Built own systems.
Losing days? Like anybody else. Never had a losing week thereafter, except for one when I was distracted by someone sticking feminine parts in my face incessantly on vacation. Worth it.
Started investing in 2000. Stocks and options. Lost $15k. Quit.
Started trading in 2001. Futures. Screen time. Lost $25k. Quit.
Profitable futures trading in 2002. Built own systems.
Losing days? Like anybody else. Never had a losing week thereafter, except for one when I was distracted by someone sticking feminine parts in my face incessantly on vacation. Worth it.
I've traded for about 10 years. The first 3 years I wasted a lot of money on courses, chatrooms and pseudo mentors. Then I spent about 3 years learning programming but didn't have good money management/position sizing tools.
Finally, I woke up and realized that if I couldn't put the whole thing together myself, then I should drop trading completely.
For the past 3+ years, I've been profitable, but only after getting beat up time and again looking for something that didn't exist i.e. an easy way to become a profitable trader.
My biggest regret is donating thousands of dollars to gurus who advertise in Stocks and Commodities and Futures magzine. Haven't found a single one who could deliver what they sell. And some are outright scammers. But they're still advertising and still pulling in suckers. Saw an ad from one guy recently who I bought a course from about 10 years ago, was sanctioned by the CFTC and is now out there under another name - selling the same crapola.
Anyway, my learning curve was shallow and slow as well as expensive. But finally got there and have been profitable for 3+ years.
Finally, I woke up and realized that if I couldn't put the whole thing together myself, then I should drop trading completely.
For the past 3+ years, I've been profitable, but only after getting beat up time and again looking for something that didn't exist i.e. an easy way to become a profitable trader.
My biggest regret is donating thousands of dollars to gurus who advertise in Stocks and Commodities and Futures magzine. Haven't found a single one who could deliver what they sell. And some are outright scammers. But they're still advertising and still pulling in suckers. Saw an ad from one guy recently who I bought a course from about 10 years ago, was sanctioned by the CFTC and is now out there under another name - selling the same crapola.
Anyway, my learning curve was shallow and slow as well as expensive. But finally got there and have been profitable for 3+ years.
Time:
Dunno yet. Trading about 13-14yrs, still in a learning curve.
Cost:
Alot. Besides a ton of money; several (silly for the most part) girlfriends, many friendships, weaker health and half of my network.
But hey, still trading...
Was it Tyson who said something like: "Its not about who gets puched - its about how many times you can get punched in the face and still move forward" ?
Dunno yet. Trading about 13-14yrs, still in a learning curve.
Cost:
Alot. Besides a ton of money; several (silly for the most part) girlfriends, many friendships, weaker health and half of my network.
But hey, still trading...
Was it Tyson who said something like: "Its not about who gets puched - its about how many times you can get punched in the face and still move forward" ?
... grades at school, money on alcool, sleep, almost a job, mental sanity ...
But man I'm stronger and happy. Still in the process and don't have any problem with that.
What we say is "I went too far in it to quit" lol