Lessons I’ve learned day trading futures from the last 10 years:
If you don’t have a large trading account you will never succeed. The market will move against your position sooner or later. Getting stopped out consistently is death by a thousand cuts.
If you don’t have a large trading account you will never succeed. The market will move against your position sooner or later. Getting stopped out consistently is death by a thousand cuts.
If you cannot let your winners run, you will not succeed. In contrast if you move your stop - you will take a massive loss, financial & psychological.
You can bounce back from a small loss, but trying to come back from a big loss is psychologically taxing. Always take the small loss, live to put on another trade.
Trading is all about patience. You have to wait for the perfect set up & then take the trade. No reason to tell yourself “I must make X dollars today or this week” learn to take what the market gives you. When you have a sizeable trading equity, you will make $.
This is a lonely profession that leaves you frustrated & angry & dejected often. Can you handle it?
If you believe once you get your psychology on point you will succeed - you are being delusional. Psychology is an important part of trading, having a large account & being hard as nails is more important.
If you’re a technical trader - learn one method & master it. You will have enough opportunities to trade it, become a master at recognizing when your trade develops & then hit it. Do it over & over.
It will take time to get unemotional about your trades. Why are you scared about losing money? Why are you scared to take a small loss? Get over these blocks. Having a large account helps.
If you are hesitating or are afraid to put on a trade then your trading account is too small or you are trading with money you cannot lose. Both are recipes for a disaster.
Trading should be effortless, trading should be boring, your stops being hit should have minimal impact on you emotionally.
If you are not making an income consistently from trading you have to have other streams of income - there is no reason to sit in front of the screens for hours waiting for something to happen. Most retail traders should finish their day before lunch.
Being productive in another venture, accomplishing something important away from trading will only make yourself feel better about yourself when you’re in a drawdown or are inconsistent as a trader.
Know when to walk away from trading if it’s not going the way you think it should, there must be a thousand other ways to make a living - almost all of them less stressful.
