Took out a loan to transition to full-time trading. 24 years old.
EnlightenedJoe
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Take tomorrow off and rest that smoking gun :cheesy:. Theres a pile of psych in your posts and youre trading waaaay big.
Maybe you can show us what you look for in a trade over the weekend, after youve read trading in the zone.
Why no recommendation for meditation ? Surely going into the weekend with a loss will be torturous ? It will be enough to make someone to treble up the bet come monday.
I reckon withdrawing some of the cash to pay for massage parlor visit in the weekend could make the time easier to pass.
Just read through all of my posts. So this is what having a journal feels like?
So far I have 4 winning days and 4 losing days. My ave positive is 6.24% and my ave negative is 4.87%. My biggest gain was $4232.26 and my biggest loss was $3844.46. My two big gaining days totaled $7583.65 and my two big losing days totaled $7618.88. Both my winning days had a lot to do with luck. Both of my big losing days were the only days I didn't follow my trading plan. For the other 4 days, I kept the losses small. Yet when I was gaining, I don't think it was as safe trading as I wanted. Recalling back, the trades were riskier than I would have felt completely comfortable with. I partially blame the markets. It is up so high, not much straight up obvious directional movement, and I think that is why volumes are so weak a lot of the times and why there isn't clear directional movements throughout the day. Yet if the conditions get better to what I preferred, would I be able to capitalize on it? Would I be able to follow my trading plans. Should have thought about all this before I took out my loans. I guess today's loss is having an impact on me. The first big loss didn't affect me much because I understood. I thought I learned from it. And two days later I do something stupider. I was up almost $1500. That means from my high point of day, I lost close to $5000. In a day. I had $40000. Calculator is telling me that 12.5%. Okay, thinking $5000 loss felt pretty bad but thinking 12.5% is actually helping. LOL. Thought it was like 20% hahahahaha being stupid helped this time. I'll go back to the very beginning. Hey, on the bright side I'm up 4% already. Free money. Going to go back to my original plan of +2% goal a day. Max loss of 1% a day. Trying to wrap my head around 4x leverage is going to be difficult. I'll play it safer. Back to going in only on 80-90% probabilities. No more big losses. Please. Let's not do it. No more big losses. No more big losses. You're better.
So far I have 4 winning days and 4 losing days. My ave positive is 6.24% and my ave negative is 4.87%. My biggest gain was $4232.26 and my biggest loss was $3844.46. My two big gaining days totaled $7583.65 and my two big losing days totaled $7618.88. Both my winning days had a lot to do with luck. Both of my big losing days were the only days I didn't follow my trading plan. For the other 4 days, I kept the losses small. Yet when I was gaining, I don't think it was as safe trading as I wanted. Recalling back, the trades were riskier than I would have felt completely comfortable with. I partially blame the markets. It is up so high, not much straight up obvious directional movement, and I think that is why volumes are so weak a lot of the times and why there isn't clear directional movements throughout the day. Yet if the conditions get better to what I preferred, would I be able to capitalize on it? Would I be able to follow my trading plans. Should have thought about all this before I took out my loans. I guess today's loss is having an impact on me. The first big loss didn't affect me much because I understood. I thought I learned from it. And two days later I do something stupider. I was up almost $1500. That means from my high point of day, I lost close to $5000. In a day. I had $40000. Calculator is telling me that 12.5%. Okay, thinking $5000 loss felt pretty bad but thinking 12.5% is actually helping. LOL. Thought it was like 20% hahahahaha being stupid helped this time. I'll go back to the very beginning. Hey, on the bright side I'm up 4% already. Free money. Going to go back to my original plan of +2% goal a day. Max loss of 1% a day. Trying to wrap my head around 4x leverage is going to be difficult. I'll play it safer. Back to going in only on 80-90% probabilities. No more big losses. Please. Let's not do it. No more big losses. No more big losses. You're better.
Day 9:
Beginning of day: $37205.25
End of day: $37541.04
P/L: $335.75; 0.90%
Weekly gain: -9.61%
YTD gain: 5.12%
Played with FB, UA, and AAL today. Made a solid return with AAL's bounce but gave a lot of it up while trying to time the bottom with FB. Profit is small but given today's boring market, not bad. Was pretty worried yesterday after taking a huge loss but was fine after having a couple beers at night.
Giving myself 2+ stars for today's trading. Could have done better with positioning and scaling down/scaling up but overall entry and exits were not bad. Practiced safer trading today by trying to scale down/scale up. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I think the only true winner today was scottrade for the commissions.
Not a good week but I think it was for the better. Feeling good and confident. Looking forward to next week.
Beginning of day: $37205.25
End of day: $37541.04
P/L: $335.75; 0.90%
Weekly gain: -9.61%
YTD gain: 5.12%
Played with FB, UA, and AAL today. Made a solid return with AAL's bounce but gave a lot of it up while trying to time the bottom with FB. Profit is small but given today's boring market, not bad. Was pretty worried yesterday after taking a huge loss but was fine after having a couple beers at night.
Giving myself 2+ stars for today's trading. Could have done better with positioning and scaling down/scaling up but overall entry and exits were not bad. Practiced safer trading today by trying to scale down/scale up. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I think the only true winner today was scottrade for the commissions.
Not a good week but I think it was for the better. Feeling good and confident. Looking forward to next week.
babyjake1961
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You might last while the stock market lasts. IMO, it's not too long before it crashes big time, taking you down the drain with it. Trading with borrowed money might not be such a bad idea if you have no intention of repaying your loan thereafter.
Day 10:
Beginning of day: $37541.04
End of day: $37698.41
P/L: $157.37; 0.42%
Boring day today. It was a hard market to make money. Played with NFLX, AAL, FB, and FCX today. AAL just did not bounce; FB was alright; NFLX was the deciding factor today of whether to make money or not. There was a good chance for a good rally upwards but NASDAQ just wasn't helping the entire day. So much down-pressure from the overall markets that NFLX just did not get the proper environment needed to get couple percents. Made a quick buck from a rally in FCX.
Overall, 2+ stars for today's trading. Nothing was wrong and I thought I traded everything pretty well. Just gotta work on position sizes a little more. At the end of the day, what matters is the P/L and today's small gains was partially due to the market environment but still, not satisfied. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Beginning of day: $37541.04
End of day: $37698.41
P/L: $157.37; 0.42%
Boring day today. It was a hard market to make money. Played with NFLX, AAL, FB, and FCX today. AAL just did not bounce; FB was alright; NFLX was the deciding factor today of whether to make money or not. There was a good chance for a good rally upwards but NASDAQ just wasn't helping the entire day. So much down-pressure from the overall markets that NFLX just did not get the proper environment needed to get couple percents. Made a quick buck from a rally in FCX.
Overall, 2+ stars for today's trading. Nothing was wrong and I thought I traded everything pretty well. Just gotta work on position sizes a little more. At the end of the day, what matters is the P/L and today's small gains was partially due to the market environment but still, not satisfied. Looking forward to tomorrow.
babyjake1961
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I'd get sick in no time if I had to rely on this for my day to day living.
Day 11:
Beginning of day: $37698.41
End of day: $40441.29
P/L: $2742.88; +7.28%
Started the day with a bounce play of FCX. Then went on to bounce play of DDD. Could not get into JBLU, did not think the bounce would be that big. Near end of the day, got a little bounce from FB.
Giving myself 2+ stars for today's trading. Traded okay today. There was a lot of home-run opportunities but I couldn't get my profits to run. Focused on not losing money and staying safe, I sold my positions way too early. Could work on my entry points a little more but the real problem today was not letting my profits run. I could have easily made double the amount of money I made today - that was how good the market was in the beginning of day.
Beginning of day: $37698.41
End of day: $40441.29
P/L: $2742.88; +7.28%
Started the day with a bounce play of FCX. Then went on to bounce play of DDD. Could not get into JBLU, did not think the bounce would be that big. Near end of the day, got a little bounce from FB.
Giving myself 2+ stars for today's trading. Traded okay today. There was a lot of home-run opportunities but I couldn't get my profits to run. Focused on not losing money and staying safe, I sold my positions way too early. Could work on my entry points a little more but the real problem today was not letting my profits run. I could have easily made double the amount of money I made today - that was how good the market was in the beginning of day.
options-george
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Wabu, hey well done for being so diligent in maintaining your journal here. It sounds as if you are already recognizing some of the benefits of journaling.
Would it be ok if I I pose a couple of simple risk/money management questions to you? I am not sure whether you have considered these, but given the size of the daily percentage swings, I thought it might be worth considering:
What is your $ risk per trade?
Do you have a limit on your total market exposure, i.e. number of positions you may have open simultaneously?
Do you have a daily up/down limit at which point you cease trading for the day?
Do you have plans for managing your trades i.e. entry, stop, target, adjustment of stop?
I realise that you are providing only a brief summary at the end of each session, but based on your brief commentary (to me at least) it doesn't look as if you are following a documented strategy for each of your trades.
I do apologise if you have already thought about all these questions, just thought I double check.
Good luck with your trading in the meantime!
Would it be ok if I I pose a couple of simple risk/money management questions to you? I am not sure whether you have considered these, but given the size of the daily percentage swings, I thought it might be worth considering:
What is your $ risk per trade?
Do you have a limit on your total market exposure, i.e. number of positions you may have open simultaneously?
Do you have a daily up/down limit at which point you cease trading for the day?
Do you have plans for managing your trades i.e. entry, stop, target, adjustment of stop?
I realise that you are providing only a brief summary at the end of each session, but based on your brief commentary (to me at least) it doesn't look as if you are following a documented strategy for each of your trades.
I do apologise if you have already thought about all these questions, just thought I double check.
Good luck with your trading in the meantime!
@options-george thanks, I'll answer those questions and it would be great to get feedback from your view. Anyone else for that matter, please feel free to provide your opinions on my trades:
What is your $ risk per trade?
I divide my daily buying power into four parts and go in a trade in bulks: 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%. The factors that decide how much I go in is based on the trade setup, how clear the signal is, how I've been trading recently, how comfortable I am with the trade, etc. Most of the time I go in at 25% and sometimes at 50% right from the start. If it goes well as I've planned, I add to the position and if it seems like its stearing off of my plan, I sell off little or all the positions. I'm practicing scaling up and down.
Do you have a limit on your total market exposure, i.e. number of positions you may have open simultaneously?
No limit, but how I trade is I look for that good setup and I often see myself having only one position at a time. On good, clear days with good opportunities I have two positions open. Never had three open so far but that might change if my capital increases (hopefully!).
Do you have a daily up/down limit at which point you cease trading for the day?
Not really. I really like trading and even if I'm not trading, if the markets open I love staring that the charts and seeing it move. If i'm having a bad day I might call it quits for the day, but if I see a good opportunity I would change my mind and jump right back in so not really calling it quits. Instead of a daily up/down limit, I have a limit for each position I take. I usually take one position at a time and my personal rule is max loss of 1%, try to gain 2% for each entry. So if I go in 5 times and all 5 turn out to be losers, I "should" not be down more than 5% for the day.
Do you have plans for managing your trades i.e. entry, stop, target, adjustment of stop?
I don't think I have targets. I have entries and stops but it is forever adjusting, depending on how the market moves. It's like after making an entry, I'm refreshing my mind every second and the stops adjust slightly with each moment, but usually does not deviate far from the original stop. I exit once I stop being comfortable with my position. Sometimes, winning too much makes me uncomfortable so I exit... just like today.
I'm still trying to improve my trading methods and rarely have a day where I'm 100% satisfied with my performance. I would appreciate any feedback that could help me improve. I would also appreciate if anyone could provide a brief background of his/her trading history (years, style, P/L maybe?) so I can get a sense of the person I'm taking advice from. Thank you!
What is your $ risk per trade?
I divide my daily buying power into four parts and go in a trade in bulks: 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%. The factors that decide how much I go in is based on the trade setup, how clear the signal is, how I've been trading recently, how comfortable I am with the trade, etc. Most of the time I go in at 25% and sometimes at 50% right from the start. If it goes well as I've planned, I add to the position and if it seems like its stearing off of my plan, I sell off little or all the positions. I'm practicing scaling up and down.
Do you have a limit on your total market exposure, i.e. number of positions you may have open simultaneously?
No limit, but how I trade is I look for that good setup and I often see myself having only one position at a time. On good, clear days with good opportunities I have two positions open. Never had three open so far but that might change if my capital increases (hopefully!).
Do you have a daily up/down limit at which point you cease trading for the day?
Not really. I really like trading and even if I'm not trading, if the markets open I love staring that the charts and seeing it move. If i'm having a bad day I might call it quits for the day, but if I see a good opportunity I would change my mind and jump right back in so not really calling it quits. Instead of a daily up/down limit, I have a limit for each position I take. I usually take one position at a time and my personal rule is max loss of 1%, try to gain 2% for each entry. So if I go in 5 times and all 5 turn out to be losers, I "should" not be down more than 5% for the day.
Do you have plans for managing your trades i.e. entry, stop, target, adjustment of stop?
I don't think I have targets. I have entries and stops but it is forever adjusting, depending on how the market moves. It's like after making an entry, I'm refreshing my mind every second and the stops adjust slightly with each moment, but usually does not deviate far from the original stop. I exit once I stop being comfortable with my position. Sometimes, winning too much makes me uncomfortable so I exit... just like today.
I'm still trying to improve my trading methods and rarely have a day where I'm 100% satisfied with my performance. I would appreciate any feedback that could help me improve. I would also appreciate if anyone could provide a brief background of his/her trading history (years, style, P/L maybe?) so I can get a sense of the person I'm taking advice from. Thank you!
options-george
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Thanks for giving such a detailed reply!
I will post a bit more later on this. In terms of my trading experience, you can have a look at my T2W trader profile article (see link in my signature below).
Day 12:
Beginning of day: $40441.29
End of day: $40926.56
P/L: $485.27; +1.20%
Started the day with positions in NFLX and FB. Played the bounce well but had to cut it short because I had to get ready to go to work. I don't like to have positions open when I'm not watching it so I cut it short even though it looked like it could go up a lot more and I wish I waited just 20 mins longer... it did go up a lot more. ..... Went to work and while working was searching for opportunities. Thought FB was setting up for a bounce so went in but it just wasn't happening. NASDAQ was killing FB the whole day even though it had a lot of room to the upside. What I totally left out of my head was the Fed Rate decision. I knew it was today and I was waiting for the results, yet I couldn't make out 2+2=4 and was just wondering why there was so little action. Right after the Fed announcement, there is a lot of volume and things happening. Should have taken that into account and time my trades better but it was busy at work today... I had a lot on my mind. Sold FB for a small loss. Thought it was setting up for a high end of the day run. Went back in. It just wouldn't budge. I got scared. Didn't want to lose the profits for the day. Should have sold half and kept half on but nope, decided to sell all. And now I'm just watching FB make that end of the day run. I don't see an entry point so I can't go back in but wow... why why. If you decided to go back in at such a risky point, why not just risk a little more. I saw it coming... I just couldn't ... I don't know. Just have to learn from this. Positioning is still very tough for me. NASDAQ was just messing with me all day today; it was like a hyper little kid just running around the place. Wore me out..
Giving myself 2+ stars for today's trading. Could have done a lot better. Should have done a lot better. Just didn't have the extra skin to stand behind my calls. Overall I followed my game plan and made money, and didn't make any big mistakes that cost me a lot of money, and called the run on FB with good logic so being generous with the stars but it should be more like 2 stars. Disappointed in my patience, execution, but going to blame omfg still watching FB go up... omg I'm hating this. I really thought it was going to break even and hit green before EOD. I really hope it doesn't. W/e. Can't wait for tomorrow.
Beginning of day: $40441.29
End of day: $40926.56
P/L: $485.27; +1.20%
Started the day with positions in NFLX and FB. Played the bounce well but had to cut it short because I had to get ready to go to work. I don't like to have positions open when I'm not watching it so I cut it short even though it looked like it could go up a lot more and I wish I waited just 20 mins longer... it did go up a lot more. ..... Went to work and while working was searching for opportunities. Thought FB was setting up for a bounce so went in but it just wasn't happening. NASDAQ was killing FB the whole day even though it had a lot of room to the upside. What I totally left out of my head was the Fed Rate decision. I knew it was today and I was waiting for the results, yet I couldn't make out 2+2=4 and was just wondering why there was so little action. Right after the Fed announcement, there is a lot of volume and things happening. Should have taken that into account and time my trades better but it was busy at work today... I had a lot on my mind. Sold FB for a small loss. Thought it was setting up for a high end of the day run. Went back in. It just wouldn't budge. I got scared. Didn't want to lose the profits for the day. Should have sold half and kept half on but nope, decided to sell all. And now I'm just watching FB make that end of the day run. I don't see an entry point so I can't go back in but wow... why why. If you decided to go back in at such a risky point, why not just risk a little more. I saw it coming... I just couldn't ... I don't know. Just have to learn from this. Positioning is still very tough for me. NASDAQ was just messing with me all day today; it was like a hyper little kid just running around the place. Wore me out..
Giving myself 2+ stars for today's trading. Could have done a lot better. Should have done a lot better. Just didn't have the extra skin to stand behind my calls. Overall I followed my game plan and made money, and didn't make any big mistakes that cost me a lot of money, and called the run on FB with good logic so being generous with the stars but it should be more like 2 stars. Disappointed in my patience, execution, but going to blame omfg still watching FB go up... omg I'm hating this. I really thought it was going to break even and hit green before EOD. I really hope it doesn't. W/e. Can't wait for tomorrow.
options-george
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Hey Wabu, thanks again for your detailed response above. In terms of feedback:
-I would say that it's good you are limited your exposition to a fixed amount per trade (it seems to be 1%?).
-Many of your other comments, however, are not very clear answers. It sounds as if you have not documented a whole set of rules and tactics - setting targets yes/no/where, adjusting your stop yes/no/how, number of total positions, daily p/l limit. The same tone comes across in your daily session reports. It sounds as if you go a lot by instinct, feeling and just "play" the market.
-IMHO, and I think other people would agree, this type of approach is unlikely to result in consistently profitable trading. It exposes you too much to the chance of emotional-induced trading and a lot of the time, your confidence will be undermined because you don't have a tested trading strategy.
-My suggestion would be to have a go and documenting in a lot more detail when you will go in, when you will exit, how will you manage your position.
-Additionally, it seems you are trying to daytrade whilst carrying out your full-time job. This also means that you are not able to give your trading sessions as much focus as it likely needs.
These are several big chunks I am throwing at you (and most likely, most other readers are thinking the same when reading this thread) and it might not come across as very encouraging. However on the upside, you are giving it a go and you have a lot of ambition for it. Up to you what you do with my feedback but
good luck in any case
[This comments apply even before considering the situation of funding your trading capital with money borrowed at a high interest rate. Though that's been discussed at length already!]
Day 13:
Beginning of day: $40926.56
End of day: $38341.64
P/L: ($2584.92); -6.32%
lol... a big gain always followed by a big loss. 3 big gains so far and 3 big losses so far. sigh.. the day started out very strange with no good setups in any of the stocks. Went searching for new charts yet all the charts were ugly. Thought I'd put on a small position shorting VALE because i thought it had a lot of room for downside if the support broke. It didn't break haha...and covered for a loss. DUST was sitting around its 52 week lows and it seemed to me the dollar would go up and gold would go down, so bought a small position in DUST. It dropped and instead of pulling out I tried to time the bottom for the bounce and added more positions. The result? haha....
Giving myself 2- stars for today's trading. Just wasn't being patient. I keep telling myself to stop trying to time the bottom and the top, yet my eyes just go to the charts and I'm always, and like ALWAYS a little early for the reversals. Yet I tried again...and this time lost big time. Still lacking money management skills. Still too full of myself. But today's markets was just horrible... I just could not find a good opportunity anywhere the entire day. I hate days like this.
Beginning of day: $40926.56
End of day: $38341.64
P/L: ($2584.92); -6.32%
lol... a big gain always followed by a big loss. 3 big gains so far and 3 big losses so far. sigh.. the day started out very strange with no good setups in any of the stocks. Went searching for new charts yet all the charts were ugly. Thought I'd put on a small position shorting VALE because i thought it had a lot of room for downside if the support broke. It didn't break haha...and covered for a loss. DUST was sitting around its 52 week lows and it seemed to me the dollar would go up and gold would go down, so bought a small position in DUST. It dropped and instead of pulling out I tried to time the bottom for the bounce and added more positions. The result? haha....
Giving myself 2- stars for today's trading. Just wasn't being patient. I keep telling myself to stop trying to time the bottom and the top, yet my eyes just go to the charts and I'm always, and like ALWAYS a little early for the reversals. Yet I tried again...and this time lost big time. Still lacking money management skills. Still too full of myself. But today's markets was just horrible... I just could not find a good opportunity anywhere the entire day. I hate days like this.
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