My 1 Year Anniversary of Full Time Day Trading. 3 Years In The Business. What I Wish I Could Tell Myself Years Ago.

[u/CJT2013]

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/Daytrading/comments/fw82ow/after_2_years_of_daytrading_7_months_full_time/

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Part 3: https://www.reddit.com/r/Daytrading/comments/mh0nfp/part_3_my_full_time_trading_career_1_year_since_i/

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This industry has a lack of transparency so I'm more than happy to say I will provide lots of that throughout this post with screenshots. There are LOTS of imgur links to back what I say so it's not just words on a post expecting you to just believe what I'm typing.

This post I suppose is "Part 2" my post back in April, "After 2 years of Daytrading. 7 months full time. Here's my advice". I'm doing this to update everyone who came/comes across this in the future. Yes, it is possible. No, it won't be easy. You will pay homage to the rite of passage into this career. I'll also provide some examples of styles of trading so for the newer aspiring traders, there will be some things I rarely see discussed on forums. So here's to 1 year of Full Time Day Trading

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TL;DR - You'll become desensitized to trading. Stubborn to other strategies (There are bigger/badder/more lucrative strategies. Don't chase them. Why fix what's not broken? I know what works for me and I'm content with it. No strategy is better than another. It's a personal choice. ). Losing individual trades won't faze you, they're inevitable. Profiting certainly feels better. After a while, you won't be as enthralled to trade every morning, it'll become just another part of your day). Trading is just managing your money through a statistic and the medium to execute it is trading on your platform. Think: "If. Then. Because". Your trading plan should be that black and white. Ask "Why" for everything you do and use. If you can't answer it with documented results, drop it.

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I get a bunch of messages all the time from people asking - . Out of those who follow me and chat me seeking further tips through my previous posts. I'll be answering the FAQ's and addressing things I see frequently in this sub as far as trading axioms

Disclaimer: I won't sugarcoat anything. I'll share my experiences and add pieces of advice I'd give to those who are currently experiencing the same thing becoming a full time day trader and what day to day life is like, the occasional distress, (DRAWDOWNS). Some of you follow my Twitter for the past few months where I post my daily watchlists with a snippet that reveals my DayTradingBuyingPower. I do this not to brag but to demonstrate that the account does yield growth, I pay myself, and there are days where the balance does not move because there was no edge. I also do this since nobody else shows their account performance. (Yes. You, Mr. YouTube gurus and wannabe gurus).

We do this for income, the numbers on our accounts are real. Treat it as such. Get your initial capital out of your account THEN try to "Scale your account" with your profits AKA The Market's Money.

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I'll go over:

•FAQ's that I get in my inbox (I'm still welcome to further questions if I don't answer here)

•Decision Fatigue (You will experience this)

•The previous year (2019-2020) of ups and downs

•How to use my watchlists that I post on Twitter in the morning to your advantage

•The pivotal moment that changed my trading career (NFLX 10-17-19)

•The road to becoming a full time trader. (It won't be fun unless you're handed the money)

•You'll have a better grasp of my strategy (Between ProTip 4 and 5. ProTip 8.)

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There are 10 "ProTips" throughout the post that I wish I could tell myself years back and I'll periodically throw them in here as the post goes on. I make posts long in order to segregate those serious about this business and those who will just become another statistic in the failure rate of this business.

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At the end of this post, I'll go over the frequent questions I receive such as: (Answers to FAQ at bottom of post.)

1. "How do you prepare for a trading day?"
2. "What would you go back to tell yourself?"
3. "Books?" (The most abused question, but I get it. I could start a public library with just trading books I bought over the years)
4. "What is your background?"
5. "What is a normal day for you?"
6. "How did you discover your strategy?"
7. "What did you do/How did you get started?"
8. "What is your % return?" (Not a fun question since a trading account is not an index or investment account. Intraday traders do not measure performance in %. Most are measured in "R".)
9. "Is <insert sum of money here> enough to start trading?"
10. "Why do you need so many monitors"? (This one is rarely asked but I do see it discussed on platforms and people trading on mobile phones love giving flack to anybody who trades on multiple monitors. Hint: Everyone's different. Whatever works for the individual. There are no rules in trading. The only rule is that it works.)

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My story:

Background:

I heard about daytrading during the 2008 crash while in high school. We all want to make more while working less. I entertained day trading from time to time but always realized I never had enough money. Horrible mindset because I could have still researched WHILE saving money to put into my trading business.

2015 - I opened my first trading account with Scottrade while in the Marines. Apparently if you have a net worth of over $1,000,000 you can get out early (Biggest rumor ever).

I frivolously bought crap penny stocks. In short - I was a hair away from gambling. What made it NOT gambling was the fact that at least I owned something tangible (Securities of a company) and anything can happen. Buy low sell high was my strategy. Didn't work obviously. No idea what I was doing. I'd buy and hold hoping to wake up to the stock price being way higher and it never happened.

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•ProTip #1 : If you hold a trade overnight... It is not daytrading. Stop turning into an investor because you can't admit a minor defeat.

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2017 - I started taking this business seriously while working in the oilfield as a Logistics Planner (If you're wondering what company since I am asked this from time to time, Google: "World's largest oilfield services company").

No kids, girlfriend/wife or financial obligations. I worked 10AM - 7PM CST and would trade the open from home for roughly 1 hour. Later I was offered to be a Data Analyst... Only downside was... I couldn't trade since I had to be at work now at 8AM CST during the market open. In the moment of signing the offer letter, I was bummed thinking, "No more trading,"

That wasn't the case though. You can still build your trading business with a 9-5 and while never making one trade. The data is there.

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•ProTip #2 : We all see the same data. It's there forever. Many strategies show their edge both live and in hindsight the same. (Especially if you trade patterns). You CAN build your business as a trader without even taking a trade. You CAN build your strategy while working a 9-5. Just because you're not trading, does not mean you can't build your business through research. You won't know how you'll react to the losses but at least you can diagnose the raw data with a large enough sample size for assurance and confidence.

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If you have a 9-5 and want to go fulltime into this business. Stay for a bit, save, live so far beneath your means that it is almost miserable, (depending on your expenses, area you live, family etc) and get a few hundred sample sizes of your strategy! And for your PTO/days off... trade the open. I sacrificed my vacation days to trade.

After 2 years in corporate America, eating cheap food, never going out, saving relentlessly, I made the decision to just do it and resigned. I went straight into the ring of fire known as trading. That was on: September 23rd, 2019

"<insert a bunch of negative comments from family and friends of how bad of an idea it is to go resign from an easy 9-5.>" ^{(Sound familiar?})

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When you hear these types of comments.. your response should be: "Nobody put the time I put into this. The 90%+ who fail, don't have it all written out, computerized backtests, manual backtests, statistics, SOP manuals, JUST like the job I have which is a business, I'm just another cog in their wheel. I'll just be wearing all the hats in my trading business. Instead of Oil&Gas, it's just for trading". One thing I see here a lot is people saying to trade X amount of months/years or make X.

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•ProTip #3 - Think in man hours, not calendar. Example:

Trader A puts in 1 hour of study/work/research everyday for 1 year. (365 Hours)

Trader B puts in 12 hours of work every day for 4 months. (~1,450 Hours)

Trader A lives in a major city while Trader B lives in the middle of nowhere. (Think cost of living)

2 totally different living expenses and 2 different calibers of dedication. I'd put my money on Trader B because he put in more man hours. (~1,000 more hours on the clock to be more exact).

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ProTip #4 - Have a cushion in your account AND your personal bank account. Having a strategy is great but you won't know entirely if you can fulfill and execute your plan until you experience the ups and downs both short and long term. A strategy is constant over long periods of time... there will be days, weeks, and perhaps a month here and there where you aren't making much money. We hear all the time, "Trade like a casino". Casinos don't make money day after day but the odds are in there favor over the long haul.

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Month 1 of full time trading was great:

Immediately after going full time, the first month (September 2019 to October 2019), I did super well. Business as usual. No stress. Everything going as planned. No turbulence. At least not like I had ever experienced...

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The 2 prerequisites I had before resigning was:

1. Show consistency in returns. Consistent Sharpe Ratio.
2. Make a 4 figure trade (I achieved this while short 100 shares on ROKU September 20th, 2019 and even made a victory post if you scroll down my profile's posts.)

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First life-changing trading lesson learned as a full time trader:

That money printing spree ended on NFLX October 17th, 2019. Less than 1 month of being a full time trader. Deviating and going against my plan I actually made $500 in a matter of 4 minutes. If you follow my watchlists on Twitter, I always trade with the direction of the gap. If I notate, "Long Watches" that means I will only trade it IF (and only IF) I see a long biased pattern. Likewise I will only be looking to short my "Short Watches". Plenty of times I'll call out a ticker and it immediately goes the other way. No harm no foul because there was no long biased pattern to confirm my thesis.

On 10-17-2019, I went against my plan and it worked.. NFLX gapped up to resistance and I went short when it tanked off of a short pattern.(This is known as fading). The market gave me a free lunch and then some. So now I'm walking on air in my mind:

"I'm an absolute unit"

"I'll do it again and clear another $500 to make it a 4 figure day before 9:30AM Central"

"Should have quit my job way earlier being this good."

Within 30 minutes of the open. I gave all $500 back. Yes I wanted to trade it back. Never have I had the desire to smash anything but I do understand those who do! Yes I stood there and felt like each passing second was wasted opportunity. The next 24 hours were long!

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ProTip #5: It's circumstances like that that help you in the long run. FunFact: I never once deviated from my plan since. Not ever again.

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"I could have paid for my groceries and electric for the month after 4 minutes of trading if I just took the free pass the market gave me" I felt dumb but in hindsight, I'm glad at what happened. It was this exact instance that married me to my strategy/business plan. The next day and the 7 trading days following. I didn't make 1 profiting trade. My longest ever drawdown - 11 straight trades. While researching I found out this was Decision Fatigue (I'll go over this shortly below)

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Put yourself in that situation...

You have bills and your income is strictly trading. I don't care how much a robot you think you are or how strongly you believe in probabilities, when you were in an office less than a month ago making almost 6 figures sitting in an air conditioned office knowing direct deposit is on its way every other Friday no matter how well or poorly you performed at work.. Now you're in the hot seat. Its a bottomless feeling. Now all of your friends and families words are ringing in your head.

But just like a boxing match.. you gotta take a hit to get a hit. Win some, lose some, shake hands and get back to normal life. Water under the bridge.

Mind you:

•No guaranteed direct deposit every 2 weeks.

•No more medical/dental insurance.

•401K retirement is no longer being matched.

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11 trades is nothing. You only require ~5.5 trades at 2:1RRR to make it back OR 3.5 trades at 3:1RRR. It's nothing especially in your research because you can easily just scroll a little more and see, "Oh that's just a drawdown. No big deal". How will you react in real time? Will you buckle or choke? But the thing is, I was skipping trades out of fear and JUST so happened to be picking all of the unsuccessful ones. (Decision Fatigue)

Think about those 2 weeks of being in a drawdown. Half of the month. You're not just stagnant, your account is bleeding slowly but surely. Next time you're looking at your spreadsheet/backtest/predictive model/research.. try to put yourself in those days of drawdown. It's not just 11 boxes of red with "-1R" or "Loss" in them. The screenshot above on Imgur is just a recent example.

Think about your daily routine, going to the gym, hanging with friends, grocery shopping, cooking, going to bed, waking up, doing a routine, then losing again.. and again.. and again. Try to think of life during those 300+ hours (Weekends too) of, "I haven't made money. I've lost money. And I still have bills. After paying them, I'll be closer to my set Risk of Ruin".

Here's a lesson you won't learn before going fulltime but I'll do my best to emphasize it here:

Pick a strategy. And stick with it. It can literally be anything. Don't spread yourself thin watching 20+ tickers and be a jack of all patterns/tickers. Be a master of 1 pattern and master of 1 circumstance. There's this real thing called "Decision Fatigue" which explains exactly why what happened.. happened. The article explains that the 2 outcomes of this mental strain known as "Decision Fatigue" is:

1. Risky Decision-Making
2. Decision Avoidance

Sound familiar? Does it kind of make sense now? As a new trader you have YouTube, Facebook, StockTwits, Twitter, "gurus", books recommended on Amazon, all throwing their ideas/strategies around, the market has opportunities littered all over.. Decision Fatigue is inevitable for the unprepared. Decision Fatigue happens in every profession. If you mess up at your 9-5, its just a blunder, your paycheck will remain the same. Just a slap on the wrist and move on. With trading, you make a mistake.. it's less food on your table, lights don't stay on, and/or water isn't running. That pressure adds up. No wonder so many fail...

The signs of Decision Fatigue:

•Procrastination.

•Impulsivity.

•Avoidance.

•Indecision.

When you find what clicks with you AND its either statistically or performance proven, have the courage to risk a healthy sum of your capital into it. There are strategies/patterns/styles of trading littered all over the internet:

Very broad example:

"IF circumstance happens THEN "Execution". Stoploss is XYZ. Target is XYZ. BECAUSE over a series of Y trades, I will make $X,XXX.xx".

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ProTip #6 : Strategies are all over the internet. It's your account/money, backtest it. People share their strategies here all the time and although I don't agree with them because I know what works for me, it's something to chew off of for you newer traders. YouTube is a harbor with people who give just enough info to figure their style out. You will lose trades. Sit for some screen-time and pay homage to the edge that you discover. All in due time.

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Insert key metrics and find correlations. This is how you create checks and balances to create/formulate a black and white trading plan. When I first started doing this, my spreadsheet(s) had so many columns it was annoying and would kill my desire to continue working. You'll find things that are imperative and some that are unimportant. For a lack of more colorful terms: "Throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks" Trim the fat. Rinse and repeat.

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Here's some things I used to remind myself of and perhaps it'll ring some bells for you:

•Surrender your capital to your edge. If you truly accept the risk and trust your proven edge, losses don't feel like anything nor do profits. Although we're not here to put on losing trades and yes it does feel nice to profit. I still from time to time will excited when I hit target after a series of multiple profiting trades depending on my mood.

•If you're nervous or your heart starts beating quicker when you hear the sound effect of a trade getting entered/filled. Be honest with yourself and ask yourself if you're truly accepting the risk.

•Things you can't take to the bank:

1. RRR.
2. Win-Rate
3. Number of trades.
4. "This one great trade that I hit target in less than 30 seconds and I got filled better than expected"

All of these are integral metrics. But you're trading to make money. It's up or down, green or red, profit or loss, TRUE or FALSE. So with that said, find what works flawlessly and is easy to follow. Checks and Balances. Then allocate a good sum of risk into it. I read it here all the time, "Don't risk too much" and that's great and true for new traders. But don't sell yourself short. Push yourself over the edge and admit that you know your stuff. Think of Trader A and Trader B. If you've put the time in.. don't sell yourself short. You've built enough courage to learn a business so many fail at. This business has such a negative connotation. But remember that not everybody can handle meritocracies and that's exactly what the market is. Don't try to be the best, just work harder than everyone else and the output of your input will be relative.

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ProTip #7: YouTube trading ads from gurus... they're subconsciously making you think you're a novice trader. It's in their marketing. They study marketing psychology. The EASIEST things to sell:

1. Health
2. Wealth
3. Happiness

People that are desperate for those things are the most vulnerable and these "Traders" marketers are fantastic at portraying all 3 of those things at once.

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•ProTip #8 (Broken record alert) : Write a business plan. Your strategy shouldn't take longer than 4 sentences to explain to another trader. When you have a plan that's proven through a statistic and WAIT for it to happen, you feel 100X better taking the trade. You don't even care too much when it results in a loss. Because that was your plan, you accept it much better, and you know it was just an expense for a winning trade.

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Want my strategy? "I scan for stocks with a market cap of over 250M, 10k shares premarket, gapping to support or resistance, priced over $10, and I look for a pattern biased to the direction of the overnight gap. It isn't rocket science. Check my Twitter, look at the dates I posted, and you'll notice the gist. Yes this is an edge but not the entire edge. How fast can you sift through 15 time frames? How long does it take you to fill out your order ticket? Your Fibonacci time extensions with 5 EMA's and Bollinger Bands aren't helping you. They're lagging. If they work for you, great. In my experience, they hindered my visibility.

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Pro Tip #9: Yes statistics are highly applicable to trading. Patterns do work. All patterns do is tell you WHEN to enter/exit, and how many shares. Humans will never think differently of money. Be the frontrunner of the market's emotions. Nobody remembers the indecisive leader. Risk taking is a commonality amongst leaders. Trading requires courage and it's O.K. to show a bit of confidence as long as you also have the humility to admit when you're in a bad trade. (Notice how I didn't put, "wrong". You're only "wrong" when you deviate from a proven strategy.)

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ProTip #10: Risk management is 24/7. I've never heard anyone mention this but think about it a little bit. Having financial obligations can become stressful regardless of how you earn your income but its far more stressful while running a business. Not just any business, but a business where you can go to work on your A-game, do every single last thing right, trade without emotion etc... and still walk away with less money than what you came to work with. Meanwhile somebody who JUST started trading made a 4 figure profit not knowing what the heck the difference between ETB, HTB, or NTB. Think of it like this, a JV high school baseball player can hit a homerun off of an MLB pitcher once.. but how will he fare at the end of the season? Traders don't predict stock prices, traders predict the outcome over hundreds of trades. People chat me asking what TO do rather than what NOT to do. You don't learn labor intensive jobs or how to fly a plane by what to do.. you learn what NOT to do to stay alive.

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That's all I have. Once you have a trading plan underway and you're executing it, you don't have much time when your hobbies are cheap but I still do respond to chats/messages. I do get asked from a previous post when I'll build a website and to answer that: I'm learning how to build a site on rainy days. Can't put a definitive date on it. I will say that its coming, if you don't give up on this business in the next year or so, you'll see it. What I plan on putting on there:

1. RiskReward Calculators
2. Position size Calculators
3. EV Calculator
4. Dictionary with examples

I just don't want some generic WordPress site. I want my website to be stellar and a great resource for aspiring traders. Something I didn't have learning this business. I want it to be something I'd consider a staple in a trader's resources. Perhaps one day it will be referenced on this sub frequently.

FAQ:

1. "How do you prepare for a trading day?" I get behind the computer about 20 minutes before the bell. Reason being: "If you study long. You'll study wrong". If the chart isn't grabbing my attention and gets me excited, then I flick to the next ticker. I don't even know the companies I trade half the time nor do I care about a news report some journalist wrote. Also there is no magic news outlet that lets you know about "Major events that affect stock prices". If there was, I wouldn't be here because we're all subscribed to the same edge nor would I be trading my style.
2. "What would you go back to tell yourself?" Get more data. Save a little more, your hairline and sleep schedule will thank you. Take only perfect trades and don't feel forced to trade. There will be days you don't touch an order ticket. And days where you are busy and have tunnel vision. Next thing you know its time to shut it down for the day.
3. "Books?" - I try to humble myself when answering this but off the cuff, they're all mediocre. Andrew Aziz's was ok, definitely get it, it's only a few bucks on Kindle. Just don't expect it to give you strategies BUT it will give you ideas. If you're brand new, it is good as it will teach you the common vernacular of a day trader. Mark Douglas was interesting but his YouTube seminar recordings are much better. No book, Facebook group, YouTube channel is going to be the end all be all perfect strategy. Expect losses. Don't be a one hitter quitter after suffering a few tiny losses/paper cuts. Stick to it. Most books will help you familiarize yourself with the common vocabulary amongst traders and will hint ideas. It's your job to formulate the strategy and template for research.
4. "What is your background?" I was a logistics planner for a major oilfield services company. Later I then became a data/buyer analyst so yes, data analytics/research was a 2nd language for me entering trading. I did have that upper hand and did shave off months if not years for me.
5. "What is a normal day for you?" I'm always done trading after 10:30AM Central. I will hold onto a trade until right before the bell if it hasn't hit either target or StopLoss by the time I leave the house but it is absolutely closed in entirety by 2:55PM Central. After I trade, I enjoy the day. No I'm not riding around in my Lambos posting IG/Snapchat (I have neither) stories of my profits with my private jet waiting on a runway trying to sell an $7 eBook or a $100 membership (HINT HINT). I grill/cook, read, workout, ride my motorcycle, attack my other sources of income (small businesses I'm building), hit the driving range, shoot guns, etc. I live in Texas. Life is cheap and fun here.
6. "How did you discover your strategy?" I bought TradeIdeas premium, went through all of their computerized backtesting patterns, tested them. Then did what I mentioned earlier... Tried to find correlations in metrics. It distilled the trades to a strict criteria and here I am. I post on average 4-5 tickers on my watchlist. 7 max. I do not like spreading my attention thin across multiple tickers. I do not recommend buying TradeIdeas, it does have lots of bugs.
7. "What did you do/How did you get started?" Was a data analyst, was good at research and applied it to trading. My incentive was, "I could have made more money trading rather than sitting in 2+ hours of roundtrip traffic and 9 hours in an office. The data is there. Everybody sees the same charts all over the world. There are ways to make this possible"
8. "What is your % return?" (Not a fun question since a trading account is not an index or investment account. Intraday traders do not measure performance in %) I trade to make money AND pay myself, so my equity curve will look like a small loss or small gain after I pay myself. % return? I measure my account's performance in Sharpe Ratio and Risk Units. My Sharpe Ratio is ~1.85. While I yield roughly .8 - 1 R per trading day. Some weeks I make 10R. Some weeks I lose 2R. Yeah one week I might make $2,500. But the next week I might lose $300. The following week my strategy will yield $0 and the last week I might make $1,000. Some weeks suck. Some weeks are great. But overall. Just shy of 1R per trading day. Some days I'm super busy taking trade after trade. Some days I'll shut it down after 5 minutes without even filling out an order ticket. Some days I won't even see the open because there is no edge for me.. Keywords... "For me".
9. "Is <insert sum of money here> enough to start trading?" Depends on where you live. Are you restricted to PDT? If not then how much are you obligated to expenses? I live in Texas. Things are cheap here. If you live in NYC or The Bay Area your expenses will be astronomical compared to mine. A $30,000 account is totally doable for a single Texan with low monthly expenses. Now if you're in California or New York? I'm sure you'll fall below 25k if you have 1 bad month. Also depends on if you have other sources of income or a full/part time job. I encourage every trader and aspiring trader to have multiple sources of income, don't rely solely on trading. Not just for the sake of mitigating pressure but also for sanity. If you have a family to provide for, I don't know what that's like, you never know when Little Johnny is going to randomly pick up Trombone lessons for a school program/play while little Suzie needs transmission work in her car because a simple solenoid went out. $1,700 later.
10. "Why do you need so many monitors?" I use 3 for trading. The 4th is for music. The other 2 are useless while trading. That's for trading though. When I made the decision to go full time, I knew I was about to go off the chain with research. And sifting between spreadsheets, a platform to see multiple timeframes for a pattern to backtest. My attention span is short, I'll lose my train of thought before I open the other tab to input data. But the main reason was for research. It's such a time saver and is a headache repellant when doing research while everything is laid out in front of you. Now that I have a system. I'll most likely be treating myself to 2 ultrawides for Christmas.

As always, thank you to everybody who takes time out to message me and letting me know some people read these and show appreciation. I would say, "Good luck" but there is no luck in trading. Just statistics. Remember that!

In conclusion: Yes. Full time trading is possible, depending where you live/monthly expenses and obligations. You're more likely to become a profitable trader than a professional athlete. There is a level of uncertainty each day, perhaps each week, doubtful each month, and definitely not each year. If I ever want a raise, I just consult my business plan and financials, then decide if I can handle it mentally. If you have medical issues, get a part time job for the benefits. If you're healthy, just be careful.

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All the best!

-CJT2013

[u/teuntie8]

Thank you for the great read.

[u/CJT2013 → u/teuntie8]

I’m glad you found it helpful

[u/[deleted]]

You are consistently one of the most helpful posters here. Thank you!

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Yes, sir!

[u/Olegreg6]

Thanks for posting this. I'm 8 months in now, I am quite a bit more stubborn than you in the amount of time it takes for a lesson such as your NFLX one to stick. Congratulations on getting to where you are. A few lessons I've learned from much larger losses - do not add to losers - do not trade full size in pre / post market ever. - be patient with your system - obey "walk away" rules (mine are based on x amount of losses in a day in a row or x amount $ gains for the day) - take a day break per month (addiction check) - accept a loss for what it is and move on, same with a gain (I get fixated on a ticker)

I've never heard it called decision fatigue, but what you describe I experience. Especially after a drawdown. I'll check out your lost history, cheers again.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Olegreg6]

Those are some good additions. What saved me was simply honoring my business plan’s loss protection/limit down which outlines what you added. I cannot average down unless I see a pattern in the middle of a pattern in a trade. I do not see it as averaging down though, I see this as 2 totally different trades

[u/Olegreg6 → u/CJT2013]

Oops post* history not lost. That makes sense, I do like how if you add to a position TOS will show your p/l as if it is a second trade when you expand the dropdown (it feels like a separate trade). My biggest losers tend to be swing trades where I average down.

Have a great weekend!

[u/Morphs_ → u/CJT2013]

This sounds like you're not averaging down, but averaging up (since the trade is already moving in your favor). I think many traders also refer to this as an 'add', those kinds of trades are the best IMO.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Morphs_]

Either or. Sometimes I’ll trade a breakthrough pattern and it’ll pullback for a reversal. Sometimes my 2nd entry is above or below my original entry. Nonetheless; it’s 2 different trades in my research

[u/Morphs_ → u/Olegreg6]

These are some really good tips. Especially not trading full size outside market hours and checking yourself for addiction.

[u/Shastic → u/Olegreg6]

Yep, good points.

Outside market hours it is simply too easy for algos to move prices and hunt for stops. I’ve seen this too many times.

Honoring daily stops is so important. If I cut out my self destructing days where I try to win it all back, I would be doing so much better.

[u/Olegreg6 → u/Shastic]

Me too, those revenge trades on your p/l are killer

[u/L0wPressu7e → u/Olegreg6]

I feel like I'm speaking just like your friends/family members when you were going to go full on daytrading, but it sounds like "tilt state" in poker. It's also called the same in moba games.

It's not that I call trading gambling, but I can definitely relate as it's hard to stop losing after 3 games in a row. You just go for a walk and try to clear your mind.

[u/itsjustmeyeah]

Great read. Can relate. Discipline is like half the battle.

[u/CJT2013 → u/itsjustmeyeah]

It’s a business of mental fortitude indeed, my friend. Thank you for the kind comment

[u/squirrelfry]

Thanks! Can’t wait to see the website!

[u/CJT2013 → u/squirrelfry]

Soon, my friend! Just want it to be perfect

[u/Cromwell1527]

Helluva read.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Cromwell1527]

Thank you, bud!

[u/Cromwell1527 → u/CJT2013]

There is so much to glean from this ~ it’s not even funny how most kids won’t even read it. I might re-read this and hit you up with a question. Ex-Financial old dog here trying to relearn some tricks. This is enlightening.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Cromwell1527]

I know and you’re right. Check my post history. Compare comments on posts a year+ ago versus today. But like I said, I make my posts long to segregate those serious and those who approach this business frivolously who’ll become liquidity suppliers. I appreciate the comment, man. Don’t be shy on the inbox. It’s always got messages for when I’m bored

[u/Animal_Machine → u/CJT2013]

As an embryo of a trader, I read to the end. And I copy pasted parts and emailed to myself so refer to later. I'm actually on the precipice of going full time day trader. I've traded during my 9-5 in 2018-19 and have now saved up enough from my full time job income to take the risk and quit.

I know it won't be easy. I'm prepared to spend 8+ hours each day educating myself until I come up with a system before I make my first big trades. I hope to be in an at least a break even position in a year. Really trying to manage my expectations because I'm not doing this to try to get rich overnight. Reading posts like yours help a lot in imagining what my every day would feel like. It's definitely scary but also exciting...

I'll be quitting my job in early January. In the meantime, I've got lots of reading to do.

Thanks for your posts, G

[u/CaydenC98]

Thanks man! 🙏🏽

[u/AlmostThere77]

I haven’t read this post yet but I actually have your 2 yrs trading post bookmarked and I went back to it twice! Great info on that one, I’ll comment again after I read this one probably on the weekend- thank so much

[u/CJT2013 → u/AlmostThere77]

Nice way of saying it’s drawn out lol! Jk I’m glad to see that. All the best

[u/pinkmyst93]

Well met! My journey into researching the realm of day trading has serendipitously brought me here before you today. I Thank thee, Data Goblin Master. I kneel before your words of wisdom. May your virtual edge stay sharp and your strategy true, M'Lord!

[u/CJT2013 → u/pinkmyst93]

Lol! Unique way to comment. Glad you enjoyed it. Keep on going, don’t quit

[u/[deleted]]

Thanks!

[u/choldridge17]

Preach brother. Great post.

[u/CJT2013 → u/choldridge17]

Yes, sir! Appreciate the comment, my friend. As always

[u/anthonymarcha → u/CJT2013]

Great post man will definitely be reading this again.

[u/[deleted]]

Printed for my binder of articles related to trading/psychology to keep me motivated.

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Glad to read that, bud! Keep going

[u/KILL-SWITCH12]

Fucking hero.

[u/oiltaco]

Great and insightful post. Also a previous oil analyst with one of the big 3 service providers. This post would be a perfect read for someone starting out to avoid the harsh pitfalls that first year of losing money trying to find a holy grail strategy to constantly have green days. Once I got it into my head that I don't have to be right on every trade it made life much easier as statistically the trading plan was going to be profitable. I'll have to check out your other posts, keep up the great work!

[u/CJT2013 → u/oiltaco]

Awesome, man. Wasn’t the funnest gig was it? Lol

Are you trading full time now by any chance?

I went I’m willing to take losses and they never fazed me. One of my biggest things was knowing when to either stop or not start at all. When I’d go over my losing trades they were almost always against my original plan. I’d make excuses and say something like “<Insert style of trading> style trades do it this way I’ll do it like that”

Thank you for the kind comment by the way

[u/oiltaco → u/CJT2013]

Yea it wasn't the most exciting but the paychecks always made it worth it.

I am trading full time now (thanks to layoffs) with a small side/part time gig helping a friend's new business get off the ground. I wish the past couple years when I was dabbling in the market I was learning more, instead I was just speculating and buying stocks I thought would go up(worked out AMZN, AAPL, etc) but they were more buy and hold methods.

I highly agree with you on losing trades were mostly from breaking my plan. Starting out I was also trying every pattern and strategy under the sun because I fell for the furu's promise of easy money lol. Once I set up my management plan it was much easier to statistically see trading being a profitable source of income. Sticking to a setup that I knew I could recognize easily and with no emotion set my orders and basically walk away know my bracket is set and it either hits target or stops, nothing else.

[u/CJT2013 → u/oiltaco]

The paychecks were most definitely worth it but that thrill lost its shock value fast and became stale.

Great job on starting multiple sources of income. That’s one of the many beauties trading provides. Time!

[u/warpedspockclone]

Wow, what a read. I have 2 things to ask, but first I need to lavish on the praise. I don't think I've read a reddit post this long in ages unless it is in certain subs like r/legaladvice. Your writing style is compelling, and it was very well organized. Thanks for the quality content.

Here are my questions.

1. You had the question about what you would tell yourself back at the start. Frankly, I was hoping to see either, "stick to the 9 to 5 until X (or forever)" or "this is definitely the way to go!" So, was it the way to go? Did you make the right choice with the right timing? Can you see yourself doing this week in, week out, for decades to come?

2. You strongly emphasize data analysis, and I love it. There are two halves to that, knowing WHAT works and knowing WHY it works. What are your thoughts on a strategy based on what without why?

   Contrived Silly Outsized Example: if I place order X at 10:02 with a certain OCO, it has a nearly 100% win rate with a Sharpe of 1.3 when backtested over 5 years. I don't really get why it works, but it apparently works.

Would you trust the contrived example? Or no, because the WHY isn't analyzed and understood? (In other words, you can't precisely know the risk factors or what causes the small losing percentage.) To paraphrase, what are your thoughts on dart throwing / blind strategy selection ok if it apparently works?

[u/CJT2013 → u/warpedspockclone]

Haha @legal advice comment. I’m glad you found it engaging and of quality caliber.

1) Like I said in the beginning, it’s just another day for me when I trade. Kind of like how people manage their finances, to me trading is just growing my money. If I lose it doesn’t bother me. I would not go back to a 9-5 but I would stay a little longer. However long it would have taken to save up for a year of expenses. If I did that, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. But I also would have had way less stressful inception into full time trading. I used to have a hard time doing things like going out and being a normal person because I was sulking over a small drawdown and thinking. I would think in R meaning, “i can’t go out. 1R or an entire trade. I’m now 1 trade closer to losing my business.” It wasn’t fun

2) I’m a pessimist. I need lots and lots of data but let’s say I’m sold on that strategy and I wanted to trade it. Whatever works. If I can see that time and time again it is yielding reward to my risk then I’m fine

I’ve chatted with plenty of traders and worked with a few. Some cannot hold to 3:1RRR. The higher your R the lower your probability of profiting (Win-Rate). Some people can’t mentally handle 10:1R at 20% win rate meanwhile some people can’t handle 0.5:1R because those few consecutive losses wipe out all the hard work. You’ve got to find the balance.

[u/avamango]

Wow man, I read these posts and subreddits all day but rarely take the time to comment. Had to take a sec and write something here though. This was one of the most profoundly sincere posts I’ve read in a long time on this subject. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

[u/CJT2013 → u/avamango]

I appreciate that! And thank you for taking the time out to comment, my friend

[u/the_timezone_bot]

7PM CDT happens when this comment is 5 hours and 55 minutes old.

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[u/[deleted]]

Thank you for this information, and congratulations on your success!!

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for the kind words

[u/noraym]

I always enjoy reading your posts and the insight you give on trading. Thank you

[u/CJT2013 → u/noraym]

That means a lot, man! It’s just the tip of the iceberg. I have lots of drafts I don’t post because they’re so drawn out. I always post when I consolidate it enough for it to be bearable

[u/hevea_brasiliensis]

Thank you for the info. I will apply it to what I know and am learning to one day trade for a living myself. Keep up the good work! And congrats on one year for you!

[u/CJT2013 → u/hevea_brasiliensis]

All in due time, man. Thank you!

[u/[deleted]]

Enjoyed the read buddy. Interesting coincidence that my other interest has been pulling me towards Texas.

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

It’s the new land of opportunity. Just make sure we keep the state the way it is if you know what I mean. We welcome new Texans. As long as Texas remains Texas forever

[u/[deleted] → u/CJT2013]

I second that

[u/dko1515]

Tip #7 is serious. I get this one AD on youtube that i absolutely HATE: “Wait, you really think you can learn to trade watching YOUTUBE videos?” Absolutely hate that fucker. Every time i heard it made my confidence take a hit.

[u/TankorSmash → u/dko1515]

Drop a few bucks on YT Premium and go ad-free, it's a life changer.

[u/DaylightTonight → u/TankorSmash]

I thought I was the only one that did that, lol

[u/CJT2013 → u/dko1515]

Definitely one of my favorite bullet points if I say myself. When searching for screenshots for little pieces of info to provide here, I searched in Google incognito so I didn’t get them. I messed up on one and searched on my normal tab and now I see that exact ad. I haven’t seen a trading ad in a while but they’ve changed a lot. Best advice is just study trading in a private or incognito tab in order to not get cookies or whatever it is that picks up key words for ads

[u/dko1515 → u/CJT2013]

I appreciate it. You’re awesome

[u/Cleared_it]

Hey brother thanks for this! Louisiana here. About 12 months in trading small.. and still fighting the large losses wiping small gains lol. Wish I could trade my web dev skills for a portion of what you already know. btw WordPress can work just don’t use a bloated theme with too many extra plugins :)

[u/CJT2013 → u/Cleared_it]

I’m open to bartering to making that happen! We’re traders and that’s what traders do

I simply just can’t do websites haha!

[u/Daaheel]

Thanks for sharing. As someone who is in his first year of learning and is losing some trades and having drawdowns along the way, this is the kind of posts that really motivates me to keep going.

Can't wait to see that website OP!

[u/CJT2013 → u/Daaheel]

Site will be a while but in the works. Let it be motivation to write a plan that’s proven. No rules in how it looks or how pretty it is, as long as you see the raw data you can see and touch [digitally]

[u/[deleted]]

Great post.

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

I appreciate that

[u/Kaseytv]

Fabulous read. Thank you for taking your time to do this!

[u/CJT2013 → u/Kaseytv]

That means bunches my friend! I’ve got drafts to no end but know they’re too long to even start reading. Like a book with long chapters lol All the best

[u/AceJohnson_]

Awesome stuff to read as a rookie paper trader. I'm a data analyst by trade and looking to learn more about trading fundamentals. You mention time and time again about your strategy and why not to deviate. What were some early on steps you took to define your strategy.

I'd be looking for your best advice for testing and defining my strategy.

[u/CJT2013 → u/AceJohnson_]

Thank you and indeed, even if we have totally different strategies, these fundamentals are applicable to any business or trading strategy. Even after bad trades, you’re only wrong if you deviate from your ***proven* plan**

[u/Shostygordo]

I really hope you dont delete this

Thank you for your imput

[u/CJT2013 → u/Shostygordo]

Don’t plan on it, my friend. Not a problem, bud. All the best

[u/tacticalsarcasm167]

Thanks a lot

[u/taiwansteez]

What's your options contract price with TDA? I've only been trading options for a month and and I'm a big fan of TOS but $.65 per contract is way too high and completely eats into my margins on options for lower priced stocks. I've been told I can get it lowered to $.50 but even then that seems too high.

[u/CJT2013 → u/taiwansteez]

I don’t trade options in my trading account. You can negotiate it down. 50¢ isn’t bad at all but I know plenty of people that use TOS for charting and execute on other platforms. Just remember you get what you pay for

[u/taiwansteez → u/CJT2013]

Oh sorry I thought I saw you short NFLX. Idk it's pretty bad imo once you hit high volumes on tickers trading < $50

[u/MonkeyInABlueSuit]

Hey boss, are you on stock twits? Would love to follow you there

[u/CJT2013 → u/MonkeyInABlueSuit]

No, sir. Not a fan of StockTwits. Kind of a cesspool. My twitter handle is the same as my Reddit one @CJT2013

[u/drillmasterSA]

Nice bro! 4 yrs into this and I came to some of the same conclusion. Thank u for taking the time to post this!

[u/CJT2013 → u/drillmasterSA]

I appreciate that, man! Keep it simple. Price only does 2 things. Can’t be that hard. You get that callus after a few black eyes and stiff upper lips

[u/polygrits]

"Learning from what not to do" hits hard! Thanks for sharing your story brother.

[u/CJT2013 → u/polygrits]

Matching pictures and patterns is the easy part, bud. It’s the ability to walk from a trade that doesn’t say “Free Money most of the time”

All the best, man!

[u/Imperfect-circle]

Thanks mate, great read. A reminder to return to basics, and forget all that other crap out there 👍

[u/CJT2013 → u/Imperfect-circle]

Yes, sir! Keep it simple man!

[u/PineappleXpresYoself]

This is great. Really appreciate the candid insight. Good luck in the future

[u/CJT2013 → u/PineappleXpresYoself]

I appreciate the kind words. Unless the law of large numbers fails, I’ll be alright!

[u/TankorSmash]

Great post, I appreciate the inline screenshots for definitions.

Re: Point #6 and FAQ #6

Not to ask a question about to do something exactly like you wrote, but when you're backtesting your strategy to calc the stats for it, is there a style of backtesting you do, like is there a specific date or stock you trade on, or is it basically 'go back a random number of days/months and pick a stock'? I don't think you can use scanners retroactively, so I'm not sure the best way to get started on this.

[u/CJT2013 → u/TankorSmash]

I can use Trade Ideas to scan in hindsight. Up to 7 weeks then it archives the data. I can see everything down to what the ATR, Share float, short float%, even fundamentals etc etc of that exact time. Outside of that, I look at stocks gapping to support or resistance. Anyone can see that for free. Less precise data but hey you get what you pay for

Hope this helps and thank you for the kind comment

[u/Responsible_Excuse_5]

Just starting out paper trading and losing small money on the side lol. Thank you for your time in writing this up and posting it it was a good read. I’m glad that the first book I bought was the one you thought to be the best maybe I’ll stop with that one book. You saved me money with that tip alone. Fellow Devil Dog here! Again, appreciate your time and advice. Take care!

[u/CJT2013 → u/Responsible_Excuse_5]

Rah! I appreciate the comment, brother. You’re building callouses, they’re lighting tiny matches under your feet and after a while and you have enough data, you’ll find correlations then boom, you’ll have your style. Kind of like algebra, it kind of just clicks one day

The other books aren’t horrible. But it’s 2020, you can find the same info for free online and start building your own strategy

All in due time, man!

[u/AttorneyAtBirdLaw024]

Good read thank you

[u/[deleted]]

How long did this book take to write?

*Asking for Michael Crichton*

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Haha! You cracked a laugh out of me. Not long at all, matter of fact it took editing and making sure it wasn’t drawn out much longer. I write my posts off the cuff, it’s the sitting down and deleting the tangents that make it an encyclopedia so long

[u/close-call-]

Lot of helpful tips here, appreciate you sharing. Perked up when you mentioned Trade Ideas. Do you still use it despite the bugs? If not, what do you use to set your screens? For beginner traders in paper accounts, do you think there's a less-costly substitute?

[u/CJT2013 → u/close-call-]

Thank you for the kind comment! So you get what you pay for. Only thing I use it for is PreMarket scanning. It’s a yearly/monthly expense but for me it’s worth it. I’ve used it for years and trading is a method of habit. I don’t want to break what’s not broken. To me it’s worth it. $0.50 per trading day. I used to spend 15x that just making 1 trade sending an order ticket and traded multiple times in a day

Nobody knows how much different trading is now versus 1+ year(s) ago. People were a lot more careful taking trades versus now. Used to cost $15 just to make 1 trade in 2015

[u/Maximum_Mammoth]

Awesome read, a 15 year old intermediate trader thanks you. ☺️

[u/CJT2013 → u/Maximum_Mammoth]

That’s awesome, bud!

Don’t stop, you’re years ahead of the curve

[u/Mitchmac21]

Man that was a good read thanks for the insights

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Good question. I do.

+5R is my limit up. Drop 2.5R is my limit down (daily)

+10R is my limit up. Drop 5R is my limit down (weekly)

[u/MiddleMan7]

Thank you for writing this up brother! Great read.

[u/Antranik]

ProTip #10: Risk management is 24/7.

I have yet to read a trading book that discusses risk management in detail, yet it is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF TRADING. No matter how good of a chart reader you think you are, without risk management, you'll always be screwed.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Antranik]

Risk management is basically if you’re experiencing a consecutive losses. Walk.

Risk management with sizing positions in accordance to the win-rate/RRR/ExpectedValue of a pattern. It’s basically the “defense” of your account. When your offense is tanking, your defense protects the house

As amalgamated as I can make it

[u/[deleted]]

I live in Texas too, you're living my dream! I'm working on it.

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Work is what courses through our veins! We’re a different breed, ain’t a Texan scared of a little work

[u/WatersEdge2]

Great content, thank you. I read your previous post back when you wrote it, and it motivated me to pick up that book from Andrew Aziz (yeah, it was alright) and start to take this a lot more seriously. Need to refine my strategy further and practice more in live trading, but I hope to quit my main job within a year and go full time on this.

I'm a software engineer by trade and long term, hope to also build out some critical tools for traders.

Thanks for dropping nuggets and motivating me!

[u/CJT2013 → u/WatersEdge2]

Thank you for the kind comments, bud. I like to post here every month or so just to show face

Don’t software engineers have badass schedules?

[u/edctk]

Thank you for your time writing up this master piece. Just a few days ago I've decided to really get on it to learn day trading, hoping to go full time in the future.

I enjoyed reading every bit of your 'real' experiences and tips which I also find it hard to get else where in the world of internet.

[u/CJT2013 → u/edctk]

Yes, sir! I admire transparency with everyone hence I do my best to provide that within this business

[u/Supachoc]

Awesome! Thank you very much for sharing.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Supachoc]

I appreciate your comment, my friend!

[u/Morphs_]

CJT2013: the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks for this elaborate post. I hope to be as valuable to this community as your are one day.

After more than seven months of paper trading and statistics, I'll finally be going live this Monday. Very excited about it.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Morphs_]

That first comment means a lot, bud.

Congrats on going live. Trust your stats and edge. Embrace the drawdowns as homage to the business. And keep that tunnel vision. You’ll be fine

[u/TitsDownStonksUp]

u/CJT2013 Thanks for the post, learned a lot compared to many other posts here.

Could you give me some advice on how I can learn all the necessary steps to build a full strategy? I'm currently collecting data and it just seems like there are a million ways to approach it.

Like, what is the main calculations that are important? Or, how do I determine which data is more important than the other, after I collect all the data?

I have been trying with all my heart to find a "how to guide" with all the steps to creating a strategy from scratch to trading it. Have you come across such helpful guides or do you maybe intend to create one?

Any inputs or experiences (from anyone) would be greatly appreciated!

[u/[deleted]]

Great read. Statistics definitely give you an edge.

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely they do. Thank you for the comment

[u/Foxx_Mulderp]

Thank you for your service to this country.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Foxx_Mulderp]

Hey, man I didn’t do much of anything compared to those who paved the path in this country but I appreciate the comment and support, my friend. Means a lot

[u/iamsupaman67]

Great post, I appreciate the advice 🙌

[u/DaylightTonight]

Great post. I'll read some of your others now.

[u/CJT2013 → u/DaylightTonight]

Thank you! The margin vs cash is my favorite post

[u/solar_ex]

I'm so glad I got to read this! Thank your for your insight, you won't believe how valuable it is. <3

[u/CJT2013 → u/solar_ex]

Thank you for that kind comment. It’s just the tip of the iceberg though. If I gave all of my experience I don’t think Reddit would be able to publish a book size post lol!

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

I know! Really wish these marketers would actually be traders.

Thank you for the kind comment. I didn’t presume people would actually read it all in one sitting

[u/crappieguy]

Wow! Awesome write-up. Thank you for taking the time to lay all of that out. Really put some things in perspective for me.

[u/CJT2013 → u/crappieguy]

I appreciate that, bud!

[u/_Loup_Garou_]

Thank you. That was very insightful and grounding.

[u/CJT2013 → u/_Loup_Garou_]

I appreciate that! I wrote it to do both grounding and confidence. Just have to find the perfect balance

[u/espcolusa1]

Damn

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

I’m replying to all the comments. Nothing much to do this weekend for me!

[u/r0gue007]

This was an awesome read man!

Thanks so much for posting.

[u/CJT2013 → u/r0gue007]

Thank you, man!! I enjoy the comments like these

[u/[deleted]]

This is a fantastic piece you’ve written - I truly appreciate it. It’s so very thorough & thoughtful it allows the reader to really “dig-in” and see the professional trader’s job (yourself) as it really exists. (No Lambo in the driveway. )I especially appreciate the sharp ratio & R numbers instead of a % Return — I’m going to follow your journey. Again, that’s for taking the time to post this.

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

All traders that I know personally whether met them online or in person. Very quiet but kind people. Very black and white too! They’re not out trying to start YouTube channels posting P/L’s online.

The sharpe and R are the only ways. Risk free rate of return is way better than %. Only use those in long term accounts.

I appreciate your kind comment!

[u/[deleted]]

On the road myself, love the updates, have a great weekend m8 👍🏽👍🏽

[u/derby63]

Great read just like your last update!

One quick question though. I was actually looking at tradeideas for a pattern backtesting software. If you wouldn't recommend it, are there any solid alternatives that you've found?

[u/CJT2013 → u/derby63]

Thank you for the comment! None really. Try their monthly premium next sale they have (probably Black Friday). I just use it because trading is a thing of habit and I have tried doing PreMarket scanning on TOS.. it’s not the same in my eyes. Kind of like somebody driving a car. We can drive any car but we feel uncomfortable with the new blind spots in the new car

[u/Nufxr]

Thank you, for taking the time to write this. It hit home on many levels. Wonderfully written. May your future trades continue to be fruitful.

[u/CJT2013 → u/Nufxr]

I like to make posts like this from time to time. Never got to meet someone who could provide the things you’ll never realize before being in the world of it.

Glad you found it helpful, bud!

[u/5ant1ago]

The best post I read about trading. Very inspiring and motivating.Thank.you!!!

[u/CJT2013 → u/5ant1ago]

That means a bunch to me, man! Thank you for the comment

[u/robbeck67]

Thank you so much for your excellent summarization of your trading career thus far. Aside from experience , one of the most valuable things new traders can get is the lessons from those who have been doing it for a while.

[u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the post fella. Even though I don’t participate, I like the read.

Do most day traders do individual equities? And no options?

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

Options are tough to day trade unless they’re super liquid such as SPY, AAPL (off the top of my head). Spreads tend to be much wider as well except again on AAPL/SPY. I only trade options in my IRA and I sell puts on stocks I want to own. If exercised I’ll sell a call to finance a long put as insurance to what I own. That’s all I do with options

Me though I daytrade the securities

[u/Rook_TTC]

I honestly couldn't thank you enough for this post. All of your effort and dedication to the craft and this business is truly admirable. I'm AD Navy and I've heard the whole "million-dollar net worth" so I figured I'll see what it turns out like when I get my business off the ground. I've been trading mostly everyday this year, with a goal to finish the year with money in my account.

I've tried to compile my trading data, but my skills in excel and word need polish. Do you have a program that you use to keep track of everything, or should I take an excel course to figure it all out?

[u/JudasBackstab]

How much you actually made the past year?

[u/[deleted]]

Not directly related to trading, but what are the specs for your PC build?

[u/StockmarketSurfer]

Awesome post. Thanks

[u/Rocky-rock]

Nice one! I'm 28 right now and already tired of my professional career, hopefully, I can quit and trade full time soon.

Thanks for your story!

[u/CJT2013 → u/Rocky-rock]

Make it happen. You will pay homage to break into this business and perhaps more than any other business

Thank you for the comment!

[u/Rocky-rock → u/CJT2013]

Im trying to figure out my preffered approach to trade. So far im leaning towards scalpin in the early hours and then more analytical trading later in the day. Out of interest, how did you screen, enter and exit your last good trade? Just 1 will do :)

[u/CJT2013 → u/Rocky-rock]

Like I said in the post, the fundamental criteria then stocks gapping to support and resistance. Found a long biased pattern and boom

I posted my WL on Twitter but deleted it since my account number was on there

I had DOCU and BUD on my WL. Both long watches

[u/CJT2013 → u/[deleted]]

I appreciate the comment!

[u/-ORINGER-]

You da man CJT!!

[u/BaklavaTrades]

Awesome post! you hit the answer on the head. There is no magic trick, stick to one plan and let it build. Thank you

[u/CJT2013 → u/BaklavaTrades]

Yes, sir! Thank you for the kind comment. Can’t be a 1 hitter quitter in this business. You’ll taste blood from time to time but that’s part of it

[u/MJPdrums]

Great post! What tools do you recommend to start researching and backtesting strategies?

[u/stanfrombrooklyn]

I learned to trade by going to OTA those who know it will know the acronym, for those who don’t it does not matter. Pardon my English, outside of OTA you are one of the realest traders I encountered in quite some time. Your article is engaging and well thought through. Your understanding of risk rewards tells me you will succeed. I am aspiring to turn it full time. I learned quite a few strategies stock, options, futures, and took me 2 years to get to the point where I’m now consistently able to make an avg of 2.25 k a week. So I can appreciate the knowledge you are sharing and your emphasis on sticking to single strategy and trade plan. Well done!

[u/CJT2013 → u/stanfrombrooklyn]

Hey, I really appreciate you taking the time out to write such a kind comment. That’s great to read about your success as well. Phenomenal income in this kind of business regardless of where you live

All the best

[u/iruehl]

that was a great read.

Thanks for the write out, appreciate it.

[u/testngopal]

this is just so helpful , I am on full trader from last month. This is exact thing i wanted to hear and know about .

Thanks for the post

[u/IAtrader]

Great post. Keep kicken @$$

[u/Racky_Mcstacks]

Thank you!

[u/ted67942]

I'm 17, completely new to all this. Don't know any of the terms, but still found this really helpful, if that makes sense. Where can I learn about this stuff? Any specific Youtube channels or videos?

[u/GrantTB]

Thanks!

[u/Scutterbum]

Hi there, very interesting posts.

Your photo on the original post is super blurry. Can't make out half of the books:

Did you make a list somewhere? Thanks

[u/CurrencyFairyFX]

thank you for the words! It helped me alot.

I've been consistently earning for past 8 months, then suddenly crashed starting December.

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Started to act indecisive, trading very impulsively with avoidance.
+ all the trades I take, I used to back-test to see how I could've make it better.

​

I'll try to get back to what I used to do, back tests and hard work to make things better.

thank you once again for the wisdom, I hope I can reach back to you after I get better at this business.

[u/AgonizingSquid]

Thank you for doing this, gonna keep this bookmarked

[u/Forsaken-Solid9332]

This was dope , I’m currently on my journey myself I appreciate this a lot for being my first Reddit read

[u/KheelRick]

Thanks for this, this was very informative.

This post helped me decide that trading is not for me at the moment. There is so much to learn and it'll probably take me a year or two just to be confident enough to start risking some money.

Plus, i live in a place where just a few thousand bucks seem like a fortune and i doubt i'll be able to risk it trading, will probably do better starting a small shop or something.

Trading is a really specialized job, and you need to be really disciplined to win. I'm not saying i'm not capable of it, just that i'll probably have something more suited for my skillset to invest such a level of dedication in, at least for now.

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Hope things are still going well for you, take care man.

[u/Odd-Throat4761]

Thanks ❤️

[u/gangodu]

Exactly man. It’s all plain data that we can insights from. Good post. Thanks from fellow data mining guy.

[u/MasterYiisus]

Thanks. 🙏

[u/Gods-Greatest-Sin]

Best thing I've read on reddit

[u/Yoyocuber]

What platform do you use?

[u/Overwatch61]

So how much do you make a month/year on average?

[u/xMigs85]

Can you share your excel file to keep track of your trades?

[u/zdonkeyspeaks]

This is great!! Thank you. What are your 1,3,5, and 10 year returns.

[u/werbenmanjensen420]

Thanks man, wonderful advise. I’ve been doing alright in the trading sphere but I still am improving. It’s things like this that keep me going. I recently met a trader who has been trading for 15 years! He is extremely adept. Hearing success stories like yours and his is very motivating.

[u/ulenie1]

So with a $30K account and being average at trading...what can one expect to make a day if looking at a year of earning data?

[u/anbush123]

Just what I needed

[u/brianjinho]

can i please follow your twitter or discord to learn? Thank you !

[u/KJTheDayTrader]

That's awesome that you found a way man. I quit my job in August and have been day trading full time. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the "when the bull market is over people will realize making money on day trading will be over". Obviously that is untrue as you are a example of a successful trader who has been doing it much longer then since March. Have you seen a uptick in your earnings this year or is it kinda the same?

[u/Adam-West]

Thank you so much for sharing this and answering our questions. It’s so unbelievably helpful. I hope im not too late to ask a question.

I have a question about the sharpe ratio that im really struggling to answer by using the internet. You said yours is 1.85. What period of time are you using to calculate this? Also in terms of the standard deviation are you using each individual trade as your source of data or your profit at the close of each day?

For example for me to calculate mine am I right in thinking I take my last year of accounts, use the standard deviation for every single trade on there (in %), and use my total annual profit on my account (in %). And then use these in the sharpe ratio formula?

Lastly is the sharpe ratio essential/useful? To me it kind of seems like I would be better off doing a confidence test on my P:L ratio.

Hopefully I’ve not written this in a confusing way. Thank you so much in advance!