Throwing in the towel

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RM686

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Been trading a number of years +20 and am down 70% in the last three years. Read the books , tried TradeStation and some software among having a few paid services.
Does anyone know of a decent market timing service. At this point I would rather just swing or position trade the major market ETFS.
Been in cash a month now and actually hate the markets. I use to enjoy technical analysis but realize I am not a trader and sitting in front of a computer all day is starting to effect my health. I am not going to reinvent the wheel and come up with a trading program. I actually took all the books I had on trading and threw them out. I dont blame the books but after three years of constant loses nothing makes any sense and I have lost the ability apply technical analysis or pull the trigger on a trade.
I have been trying to research different services but most of them seem like a lot of BS.
So maybe some of you have been in my shoes or will be some day therefore if anyone has a recommendation I would be grateful.
 
If youve been trading for 3 years and are down 70% I would suggest you throw in the towel and get a normal job.

Not trying to be mean, but I think throwing good money after bad for 3 years is probably not advice able.

If after all this time you have not found a strategy that works for you then leave it.

All I would say is that I dont believe in technical nonsense, most of the time. I read newspapers, do research and take a view. This works. You may want to give it ago...

Else try paper / virtual portfolio trading for a while. Dont use real money while you refine your strategy.
 
ukdaytrader said:
If youve been trading for 3 years and are down 70% I would suggest you throw in the towel and get a normal job.

Not trying to be mean, but I think throwing good money after bad for 3 years is probably not advice able.

If after all this time you have not found a strategy that works for you then leave it.

All I would say is that I dont believe in technical nonsense, most of the time. I read newspapers, do research and take a view. This works. You may want to give it ago...

Else try paper / virtual portfolio trading for a while. Dont use real money while you refine your strategy.
Click to expand...

I AGREE WITH YOU that is why I am asking for a referal to a "market timming service."
I am not asking for trade advice.
 
at least your honest, many on here are not and i would not be taking advice from people on here as most are not even trading themselves or if they are only a 100 shares at a time so hardly worth your time imo.

DayTrading is almost impossible to do consistantly no matter what anyone tells you as ive traded with the best of the best and they have bad runs and lose disciplne too, we are human. There is no consistantcy in daytrading, its just a mess about. You can come on top still but its very very difficult and don't let anyone kid you on that.

Don't beat yourself up, most of us are in the same boat but will not be so honest about it as we have ego issues. Well done for being honest about your situation.
 
Thanks John, but to make matters worse I wasn't even day trading, I was trying to swing trade but just not willing to take loses quickly.
 
RM686 said:
Thanks John, but to make matters worse I wasn't even day trading, I was trying to swing trade but just not willing to take loses quickly.
Click to expand...

Hi RM686,
I can't advise you on a market timing service I'm afraid, but I do have a couple of suggestions. I've added a lot of products and services to the 'Trading Systems' sub-category within the 'Websites' category of the Reviews section on T2W. The vast majority are run by people or organisations who have contributed articles. This isn't a recommendation to use any of them, but it might be a useful starting point in trying to find the service you want. Please write a review if you find one!

The other suggestion is to scale back your trading and either paper trade or use insignificant amounts of money using a SB firm where you have to place stop losses. Not being willing to take a loss quickly is a problem that tends to be associated with day traders rather than swing traders. If you always have a stop loss and a cast iron rule that you only ever move it in the direction of the trade, then this should - in theory - get around this particular issue.
Tim.
 
RM686 said:
Been trading a number of years +20 and am down 70% in the last three years. Read the books , tried TradeStation and some software among having a few paid services.
Does anyone know of a decent market timing service. At this point I would rather just swing or position trade the major market ETFS.
Been in cash a month now and actually hate the markets. I use to enjoy technical analysis but realize I am not a trader and sitting in front of a computer all day is starting to effect my health. I am not going to reinvent the wheel and come up with a trading program. I actually took all the books I had on trading and threw them out. I dont blame the books but after three years of constant loses nothing makes any sense and I have lost the ability apply technical analysis or pull the trigger on a trade.
I have been trying to research different services but most of them seem like a lot of BS.
So maybe some of you have been in my shoes or will be some day therefore if anyone has a recommendation I would be grateful.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't beat yourself up too much - down 70% in 3 years is actually not that bad! - most people are down 100% in the first 3 months.. I have "given up" trading many times over the years - but I always come back for more! - it took me 15 years to learn how to scratch out a living from the markets - in that time I worked for investment banks, trading arcades - even a spell at a sovereign wealth fund trying to figure it all out! - It's only been the last couple of years that I have become consistent! - I would not quit if I were you - as i said down 70% in 3 years is not that bad.. consider it tuition fees! - market timing services might be useful for you but set your own risk/reward profiles..good luck.
 
dealer911 said:
I wouldn't beat yourself up too much - down 70% in 3 years is actually not that bad! - most people are down 100% in the first 3 months.. I have "given up" trading many times over the years - but I always come back for more! - it took me 15 years to learn how to scratch out a living from the markets - in that time I worked for investment banks, trading arcades - even a spell at a sovereign wealth fund trying to figure it all out! - It's only been the last couple of years that I have become consistent! - I would not quit if I were you - as i said down 70% in 3 years is not that bad.. consider it tuition fees! - market timing services might be useful for you but set your own risk/reward profiles..good luck.
Click to expand...

He's been trying to get ther hang of this trading lark for 20 years...:eek: IMO, after reading his OP, he's now looking for a quick fix...pointless...
 
RM686 said:
Been in cash a month now and actually hate the markets. I use to enjoy technical analysis but realize I am not a trader and sitting in front of a computer all day is starting to effect my health. I am not going to reinvent the wheel and come up with a trading program.
Click to expand...

Why do you say that? Why is it reinventing the wheel to come up with a trading program?

I thought that would be the solution. If you can't stand watching the markets and you have money, you should write a trading program and let a computer run it all day. You don't watch the markets, you just watch your orders and fills.
 
RM686 said:
Been trading a number of years +20 and am down 70% in the last three years. Read the books , tried TradeStation and some software among having a few paid services.
Does anyone know of a decent market timing service. At this point I would rather just swing or position trade the major market ETFS.
Been in cash a month now and actually hate the markets. I use to enjoy technical analysis but realize I am not a trader and sitting in front of a computer all day is starting to effect my health. I am not going to reinvent the wheel and come up with a trading program. I actually took all the books I had on trading and threw them out. I dont blame the books but after three years of constant loses nothing makes any sense and I have lost the ability apply technical analysis or pull the trigger on a trade.
I have been trying to research different services but most of them seem like a lot of BS.
So maybe some of you have been in my shoes or will be some day therefore if anyone has a recommendation I would be grateful.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised that so many posters are trying to convince you when you said that you hate the markets! My advice is to either pack it in or, at least, have a rest.

You might find swing trading more restful and will give you time for other things.

Good luck
 
Read "The Way of the Turtle" by Curtis Faith, this will give you some ideas on medium term trading with potentially proven statistical edge. This is fairly low frequency trading but in the right market conditions can be lucrative.
 
or you could become a trading mentor!, much more lucrative judging by how much they charge, be easy to make up some youtube vids of the good days you have, start posting on forums, you do not even need to post any p and l it seems as many will still believe what they want to believe. Bloody good career move if you ask me.
 
There are plenty of ways to make money from the trading industry without taking trade risk. Becoming a mentor is one, or starting a tip sheet (the money here comes from pushing a certain type of broker, who will then pay you commission).
 
RM686 - nice to meet you here.

I'm a non-believer in 'the ultimate strategy'. In fact, personally I don't think it matters what strategy or TA a trader uses, so long as he is comfortable with it - if not, subconsciously the trader will always tend to self-contradict and this will almost certainly make trading disastrous.

I fully agree with the advice given above - take a good break and forget about trading for a month or two. Have you read Mark Douglas' 'The Disciplined Trader'? From the original post, I believe you have more serious psychological issues related to trading than you may realise. I would highly recommend this book - it was written by a broker-turned-trader who hit rock bottom during his pursuit in trading.

Whatever you do, trade small sizes or tiny sizes, but don't give it up - as said above, most people lose 100% plus more within 3 months! Losing 70% in 3 years is not bad at all - you just got the general direction wrong and perhaps weren't so willing to admit it until now. Many CFA calibered fund managers lose a lot more and investors blindly believe in these 'pros'. Trading is a noble pursuit. I wish you good luck.
 
RM686 said:
Been trading a number of years +20 and am down 70% in the last three years.
Click to expand...

Sorry but could you clarify that statement? Sometimes this forum technology is totally inappropriate, for instance when I read your line above I figured this meant you have been trading 20 plus years, i.e. you're an old hand and you've hit a bad period lasting 3 years now - so the T2W website should under no circumstances be labelling you "rookie", as it does under your name.
 
I have been using charts and swing trading for over 20 years. yes the last 3 years I have lost most of my money. The reason I think I am listed as a rookie is because in the time I have been a member of this site, about a year, I have made no posts. This is for the the simple reason that since my trading was so bad what was I going to post that would help anyone.
 
I'm confused. If you have been trading for 20 years, why do they have the idea that you have only been trading for 3 years? Whatever the case may be, if you have been trading for 20 years, I have to assume that you have had a lot of success because there's no way a person could trade for that long without having success. I would wonder what exactly went wrong after 20 years of trading. How did it all go so bad so suddenly? If you've only been trading for 3 years, well at least you have something left. I would suggest you read up on and really study price action, specifically Inside Bars and Pin Bars. Keep doin what you're doing and you'll keep gettin what you're gettin!
 
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