When is it Time to Quit?

When you come to the conclusion it's impossible to make money from it, or when you stop enjoying it - whatever comes first.
 
Is it not true that a real trader never quits?.....if one is asking this question, one has simply not started yet!
 
If you don't know whether to quit or not, then you need to implement some sort of journaling/tracking to see if you are getting better or worse or just stagnating.

If you can somehow track your performance and you are trading poorly with no sign of improvement, then you either need to change things or stop.

I'd also add that if you are obsessed with trading, spending all your free time on it, not spending time with your friends & family, then this also might be worth quitting over if the results are poor.
 
Within the narrow context of trading and from a perspective of subjective introspection I'd suggest the time to quit is when you lose interest. Blowing your account one or more times or multiple series of consecutive losing trades draining your account will contribute to a lack of interest, but will not necessarily extinguish it. Clear evidence over a prolonged period that you are not making any money will not necessarily dampen your enthusiasm either.

From an objective viewpoint you won't fare much better as although there is the possibility others can see you for the damaged gambler you are and the obvious fact that you are losing on a consistent basis, they probably don't have the capability to accurately analyse what it is you know, or think you know, and see that you could make a success of the enterprise with a few tweaks here or there, regardless of your probabilities of ever discovering what these tweaks are and even if you do, how to implement them.

The statistics for failure rates in trading suggest the vast majority lose some or all of their capital. I don't have any counter to that and suspect it's correct. Not all of those that fail are stupid or unintelligent either as trading, as retail traders do it anyway, isn't that complex a task as far as I have been able to establish thus far. There's a lot of information to assess and there are rules to obey, but aside from that, I suspect the process of learning those rules and learning how to stick to them and getting comfortable with all the information you need to assess to make decisions is acquired at varying lengths of time due to all sorts of factors. Varying amount of time, varying amounts of startup capital and varying amounts of burn rate. If real capital is used in the process of acquiring those prerequisites the money may well run out before the tuition is complete.

The argument for cutting your teeth on a demo account are all valid, as are those for when and if to switch to real funds as that has a quantitatively different feel to it. But I think based on much of what I have read that the primary first step to failure is the lack of control of risk in the early stages of trading real capital and the sidelining of all those good rules that were so easy to stick to on the demo account which suddenly don't apply as you seek to avenge the first few bites the market inevitably will take out of you.

My answer has deviated from answering "The best time to quit" to suggesting "The best way to start" and I apologise for that as I know less than possibly anyone else here, but I thought I'd offer my views anyway.
 
When times come trading experience will alarm you dude it’s time to quit. Up to that face challengers make success stories and experience.
 
If “QUIT” is really required then must go for that diction. Whatever happens, life has to move on. Trading is an unpredictable act.

Are some of the above posters robots (spam bots); or is the standard of literacy in the UK below average?
:whistling
 
Honestly speaking once we enter in this business , One should not quit as you never know when inspiration might strike for exponential growth. Longer Term Systems if diversified properly based on basic Technical knowledge can provide decent "average" wages provided one is not attached to only the Bull side of things. Safest way i feel is Cash Equity , growth would be slow but losses won't be traumatic. This can be done while keeping an existing job,if any.

I almost quit trading, My family encouraged me to not quit and i am so glad now! What i did was i focused on cash equity [Only difference is i was in College at the time and not working] , By the time i graduated , I failed my final year because i was busy trading! :LOL: My 3 year degree turned into a 4 year :eek: I probably am ahead of my batchmates who topped the college :innocent:
Don't quit you never know when you will get an a-ha moment!

I am a Full Time trader now and i don't give market tips like buy/sell LOL! I am not selling any systems as well.
 
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When you are 85. It has not happened to me, yet, but I would say that if one has not made a fortune by then, he is past his prime.
 
When you are 85. It has not happened to me, yet, but I would say that if one has not made a fortune by then, he is past his prime.

Don't be such a downer. It's never too late. I know because I am late in every single thing I ever did. Some of us are just late bloomers. There's plenty of hope for you yet. The government projected everyone will be living to 105 and beyond.
 
Don't be such a downer. It's never too late. I know because I am late in every single thing I ever did. Some of us are just late bloomers. There's plenty of hope for you yet. The government projected everyone will be living to 105 and beyond.

24 more years? What would I do with all the loot?
 
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