Hello to all.. I ave been reading posts on this forum for the past 7 years,the advice and comments I have read here for free, has made me a better trader 100 times compared to nonsense money I have previously spent over the past 5 years buying courses,books,seminars etc... although I did learn terminology and many other things...I feel the "real" info on here gave me the upper hand to finaly succeed.
In 16 days I will be officialy daytrading for 1 year as a full time occupation. As of today the year has grossed me $147,000 before taxes. I trade the emini dow. I just feel I owe this forum my time to shortly describe my journey.
My first year I took my chances spread betting, I was sure I was going to make money because after paper trading for a whole month, I was making serious money, as a matter of fact I was surprised how easy this is, and didnt really care about signals,candlesticks,trends,stochastics and the rest...I finaly decided to open an account with 7000 euros I had saved up, after approximately 3 months my account was at 0.
I was flustered, came back to the forum, read books,seminars etc... paper trading was so so, I was wondering if my first paper trading gains were simply luck...
Seven months later I open an account again with 5000 euro I have saved and this time it lasted 4 months.... back to zero . my frustration was unreal, sleepless nights, and a awful feeling of failure.
determined to be successful I studied and studied, paper traded for 6 months and I barely broke even, I opened a real account again with 3000 euro , and that lasted 2 months... I gave up !!
I am a chef, and a good chef if I may say so, I was offered a job on a cruise line making 6 times the money I was making in Greece. I had saved 65 thosand u.s Dollars in 2 years, and decided to daytrade part time as my job was too important to be staying up all night and day trading and studying. I opened an account again worth 5,000 u.s dollars, after trading for 2 years my money became 43 thousand.. I asked to take a leave from my job for 1 year and they allowed me, and have a contract stating I can start my work after the 52 week period. During this past year is when I was daytrading for a living. I was 13 thousand shy of my regular pay, but I will admit the hours were the same if not more daytrading... But I enjoy it much more, and I am my own boss.
I decided to look at all my trades from the past, and what I was doing different. I was very surprised that in actuality I was trading the same, almost the exact way I have done in the past, except for a few things..but my "system" was the same. What I found was that I was trading "scared" and that is the reason why I wasn't successful. Maybe it sounds silly, but its the whole honest truth. My stops were way shorter, and my gains were way quicker taken out. Trading scared was iresponsible ... I now follow my system and knowing I will have losing days does not effect me, before tose losing days would cause fear ( lack of funds/income) I will go back to my job for a year again, and day trade on the side, then will decide for good. I just wanted to share this experience to those who may be going thru the same thing I did. I DO NOT mean trade without fear, I am trying to preach find steady income and trade money you cAn afford to lose, it will make a world of difference. Have a plan, stick to your proven plan...test it , back test it. The rest is psychological...more than I ever could imagine. Good luck to you all...Happy holidys !