I might just be maturing as a trader..

[purple_turtle]

Ok, so only started at the begging of the year, but am trading fulltime on a tiny, micro account - once I have satisfied myself that I can make a controlled, regular income I will up the stakes to a level that I feel comfortable with.

Yesterday I had a great day, hitting my target with very little of my account ever at risk (2% max). Today I smashed my target, actually trippled what I wanted, but I am so pissed off as I had way to much at risk at one stage(29%) - actually fairly grumpy about it.

Ah well, still early days - but at least I am seeing what a need to do to make a living out of trading.

 

[timsk]

. . . but I am so pissed off as I had way to much at risk at one stage(29%) . . .

Hi p_t,
Glad to hear you're happy with your progress.

When you say you had 29% at risk at one point, do you mean that had your open position(s) been closed at the maximum adverse excursion that the drawdown on your account would be 29%. In other words, if you have £1,000 in your account, you'd have lost £290.00? If so, conventional wisdom dictates that this is too much and that, ultimately, you're very likely to blow up. However, your methodology may be such that a loss of this size is statistically highly abnormal and it's the price you pay (hopefully only once in a blue moon) for otherwise impressive gains with a high success ratio. Even if/when it happens, there's still 71% of your account left to fight another day.

The question then becomes how likely you are to sustain three losses of this magnitude in succession - thereby wiping you out. If it's very, very, very small (but probably will happen one day all the same), it still might be an acceptable risk - so long as you're either taking out profits on a regular basis or you re-base your account back to your original starting balance every time you're up 50%, or 100% - or whatever. The point being that if you just compound it and build size indefinitely, then the risk of total ruin is nigh on 100%.

Just for the record, I'm offering this as devil's advocate and as an ordinary member - not with my T2W hat on! It's for experienced traders only who understand the risks they're taking and actively plan for doomsday. It's definitely not recommended for novice traders.
Tim.

 

[purple_turtle]

That's a pretty interesting point - that it could be worked around to be part of the strategy. The account would have to be kept small and, as you say, cleared out regularly with part of the money going into a "new account " fund, as the account would blow up fairly regularly.

Don't think my heart could take it, but food for thought!

 

[Fisherfisher]

Ok, so only started at the begging of the year, but am trading fulltime on a tiny, micro account - once I have satisfied myself that I can make a controlled, regular income I will up the stakes to a level that I feel comfortable with.

Yesterday I had a great day, hitting my target with very little of my account ever at risk (2% max). Today I smashed my target, actually trippled what I wanted, but I am so pissed off as I had way to much at risk at one stage(29%) - actually fairly grumpy about it.

Ah well, still early days - but at least I am seeing what a need to do to make a living out of trading.

Hi, good luck in your trading. I've been trading part time for about 2 year and still getting my head around it all. Ive thought about going full time but its big step! Hows your trading going so far? have you self taught yourself?

 

[zaysev36]

Good luck with your trades! I've started studying this only a couple months ago, still only using demo accounts. Have used them too, or have you gone all-in from the start?

 

[purple_turtle]

Fisherfisher - I've retired (at 40, but on a bit on a budget) - so have lot's of time. I live off dividends - but could really do with some extra money, but for me - even $200 extra per week would actually be quite a bit. But if I had a mortgage and actually had to live off the money I made I would definitely want a tried and tested system with a couple of years track record.

Zaysev - jumped straight into micro accounts - with XM.com at the moment. For me, a lot of it is the "mind games" - something I just would not get with a demo account. But have kept the starting amounts very small, couple hundred dollars at a time.

BTW, many brokers have competitions - with XM you can actually win quite a bit of actual cash, might be a good compromise between demo and real, but to win a competition you really need to be quite reckless - so probably not how you would trade in real life. That said, you always going to learn something sitting in front of a chart.

 

[tar]

Ok, so only started at the begging of the year, but am trading fulltime on a tiny, micro account - once I have satisfied myself that I can make a controlled, regular income I will up the stakes to a level that I feel comfortable with.

Yesterday I had a great day, hitting my target with very little of my account ever at risk (2% max). Today I smashed my target, actually trippled what I wanted, but I am so pissed off as I had way to much at risk at one stage(29%) - actually fairly grumpy about it.

Ah well, still early days - but at least I am seeing what a need to do to make a living out of trading.

I dont get the thread title ? Taking bigger risks doesnt make you more mature , with this kind of risk you wont make it in trading , its very clear you broke your risk management rules today or even worse you dont have one maybe .

GL

 

[purple_turtle]

The point I was making was that I was a lot happier with the first day - less money, but way less risk - hence, maturing.

 

[itspossible]

The point I was making was that I was a lot happier with the first day - less money, but way less risk - hence, maturing.

i am in your situation.retired early with no debt.i agree that a small weekly target is good.best of luck

 

[tar]

The point I was making was that I was a lot happier with the first day - less money, but way less risk - hence, maturing.

But the second day you risked 29% of your account.


GL

 

[kalott]

http://thepatternsite.com/AveragingDown.html

 

[zaysev36]

BTW, many brokers have competitions - with XM you can actually win quite a bit of actual cash, might be a good compromise between demo and real, but to win a competition you really need to be quite reckless - so probably not how you would trade in real life. That said, you always going to learn something sitting in front of a chart.

Hmmm, didn't know about such feature, really interesting... Is it for free, or do I need to have some amount of money on my account?

 

[purple_turtle]

You need to go through the whole registration process - proof of address, ect. But do not think you need to deposit anything. XM also gives you $30 free credit. Not experienced enough to really rate them, but happy so far. Did look at tickmill as well - also has comps - not sure they work

 

[zaysev36]

You need to go through the whole registration process - proof of address, ect. But do not think you need to deposit anything. XM also gives you $30 free credit. Not experienced enough to really rate them, but happy so far. Did look at tickmill as well - also has comps - not sure they work

Hm, guess I'll it a try, thanks for bringing it to my radars. Seems like a nice next step from demo trading indeed.

 

[purple_turtle]

The question then becomes how likely you are to sustain three losses of this magnitude in succession - thereby wiping you out. If it's very, very, very small (but probably will happen one day all the same), it still might be an acceptable risk - so long as you're either taking out profits on a regular basis or you re-base your account back to your original starting balance every time you're up 50%, or 100% - or whatever. The point being that if you just compound it and build size indefinitely, then the risk of total ruin is nigh on 100%.

After this week - and thinking realistically how I trade - I am going to incorporate some of this. Had a really good week, but instead of trying to grow the account to a decent size as quickly as possible, will be removing all amounts above my target - and let them sit in an account - my" just in case I blow my account, account!"

 

[zaysev36]

After this week - and thinking realistically how I trade - I am going to incorporate some of this. Had a really good week, but instead of trying to grow the account to a decent size as quickly as possible, will be removing all amounts above my target - and let them sit in an account - my" just in case I blow my account, account!"

Oh wow, from what I've seen so far, you act more correctly and thoughtfully than some aged traders Keep this up, and I'm looking forward to hear how your trading's doing.

 

[purple_turtle]

Did transfer some of the excess - was quite impressed at requested the transfer yesterday, and it was in skrill account before lunch today. BUT, it seems once you request your transfer, you loose your "credits" - money that they give you as a bonus that you cannot withdraw, but you can trade with. So that's a bit irritating.

Trading like a real ass today - just cannot do anything right - should have stepped away from the desk ages ago. Think I need to traed very carefully this week.

 

[zaysev36]

Did transfer some of the excess - was quite impressed at requested the transfer yesterday, and it was in skrill account before lunch today. BUT, it seems once you request your transfer, you loose your "credits" - money that they give you as a bonus that you cannot withdraw, but you can trade with. So that's a bit irritating.

Trading like a real ass today - just cannot do anything right - should have stepped away from the desk ages ago. Think I need to traed very carefully this week.

Interesting. Well, I guess sometimes you should simply accept that it is not your lucky day and set aside your trading for tomorrow. At least that's what I would do.

 

[purple_turtle]

Interesting. Well, I guess sometimes you should simply accept that it is not your lucky day and set aside your trading for tomorrow. At least that's what I would do.

but I needed to get my money baaaaack....

End up being my worst day for a couple of weeks - but had had a few brilliant, but way to risky days - so was bound to catch up to me.

Today though, everything is working like a dream - was patient, thought about my trades and never went above 2% risk total. No home runs, but a fair few singles. basically, if I can trade like this for 50 days straight, I'll transfer more into the account. Think I've just challenged myself...

 

[zaysev36]

but I needed to get my money baaaaack....

End up being my worst day for a couple of weeks - but had had a few brilliant, but way to risky days - so was bound to catch up to me.

Today though, everything is working like a dream - was patient, thought about my trades and never went above 2% risk total. No home runs, but a fair few singles. basically, if I can trade like this for 50 days straight, I'll transfer more into the account. Think I've just challenged myself...

A nice challenge to take. And you're right, the thing is to make every consistent trading day like today, not just to get the most out of a single trade.