Give Up ?

It is not a gambling problem. If it were you would be risking much more than 50p per trade. This shows you have an inbuilt money management system. (Even if it is only the basis of one). You are only trading with this small amount because you know full well that you are not ready to do this 'professionally'.

You just haven't found what works for you...yet.
How long it takes is not important. Some will get it quicker than others, but that doesn't mean they will go the distance.

A bit more information about how you trade would be nice.

The exit is important of course, but only after you have a good entry. Bit hard to offer other advice as no one knows your thought process.

The one thing you must have though is discipline. Stick to your rules (when you get them) regardless. The stop loss will keep you in the game longer as you have found out yourself. Using the stop loss on profitable trades may have kept you in the game that little bit longer.

Once you have finished 'playing' and have this out of your system, then it will be time to start earning some money.

At the start I said it wasn't a gambling problem. Well, I don't think it is a problem. You lack direction without a plan to stick to. You must have a system. Even going long or short on the flip of a coin. That's a system. Seems to be a better one than you have now. Just don't adjust it by going long on heads for one trade and then deciding to go short on heads the next trade.

I guarantee there will be some people doing that. So by taking a 'system' that is correct 50% of the time, by changing the 'rules' you have now developed a new system that is correct less than 50% of the time!

It is important to find a good plan and stay with it.

interesting comments, thanks. as I said I've been looking into pinbars & stochastics crossing near trendlines but tend to get sucked down into lower timeframes - these prove less reliable. the 1 thing I MUST do now is use max 3% of accoutnas a stop.

I'm also thinking of never going lower than a 5 min chart

I would agree with that. Sometimes too much information can be a bad thing and you focus on the detail while ignoring the bigger picture.

LOL 5m!!

Mate, Don't go lower than a 1hr chart and you will see how easy it gets...

well thats my problem then !

"if at 1st you don't suceed try, try again "

Lots of good advice already given, especially from Trader_Dante.


A few thoughts from me. I think it's a good rule to take a break, at least a day or two, after any big win, or any big beating. Get your head straight again. Also just take random breaks of longer periods (if only to prove that you can live without your "fix").


Stochastics: I don't think they lie, but on their own, they are not enough. It's also a question of how you are using them.

Regards,
M.
--

Every day I don't trade is a day on which I don't win.
It's also a day on which I don't lose.

what dante said about the guy 'leaving the office so not to get spooked out' can be contributed to turning my trading around. Look at my journal. Obviously my stakes are TINY but over the last few months ive turned my £400 account to nearly 2k at 5pence per point. Things started going LOTS better when i got a fulltime job and couldn't be at the screen all day!

Dont give up. But keep stakes small so that the worst case scenario wont hurt too much, until you find something that works for YOU.

Candles: Interesting - Where do you trade for only 5p per point?

I know that some SB firms allow small stakes for new accounts, but of the 2 I've tried who do, it was at most for a few weeks, not months (i.e. not really long enough). (And I didn't really like to keep opening new accounts. I currently have 4 as it is, and this is quite enough!).

Thanks,
M.