Sent to me from an SMB Trader after the close.
Hi Bella,
A truly significant day for me, in terms of personal achievements.
1) I was never as big as I played today
Last night I was very pissed off about myself. I saw so many occasions where I should have been much bigger but I didn’t. I was being a wuss. I changed that today. I prevented myself from using “1” and “2” on the keypad. On the open I only pay or hit 300 shares / lot and on my best trades, I tiered 400 shares / lot into the trade. As I mentioned yesterday, there were many fellow traders I have to learn from. Sammy is capable of taking on huge risks and hold longer. I need to do that. The first thing I did last night before I went to bed was to write a post-it that reds “Don’t Be A (expletive deleted) Wuss!!!”. I posted that on my monitor. Everything I see a great setup, I must go for 400 shares / lot. I did that today. At one point I couldn’t hit more because I realized I already hit my max size.
2) Biggest comeback of all time
On the open I was extremely big in AKAM. I got up to 800 shares around 30c-40c against 41c and 51c. I sprayed the book and took a humongous rip. My P&L dove down to -$$$. I kept at it and stayed in the game. I continued to trade with size aggressively and responsibly. I came back $$$ from the bottom and closed the day around +$$$. The biggest comeback I ever had. Such a relief.
3) Most volume traded
I have not traded over 40 tickets in eight months. Today, I went well over it. There were so many intraday opportunities throughout the day. I had to be on my desk all the time. I can’t miss the next money making opportunities. I delayed my lunch and stayed glued to the screen. At 4pm I was exhausted. I felt my eyes were about to pop out.
I really stepped out of my comfort zone today. I realized I came back $$$ from the bottom. That means I’m capable of making $$$ per day. If I get even better. I can make more than $$$. I want to get to the next level.
A day of personal accomplishments. Going to get rest for now and get prepared for tomorrow.
no relevant positions
7 Comments on “This is What a Significant Day of Trading Looks Like”
That sounds like poor risk management..
In my opinion it’s not a good day. Something wrong was learned – that you could get back up when you are down, you just need to keep playing it large. One day this is going to come back and bite – when you are down due to some weakness in strategy or wrong reading of markets and you are g’g to blow the account with repeated large bets.
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I realized I came back $$$ from the bottom. That means I’m capable of making $$$ per day. If I get even better. I can make more than $$$.”
Getting back to +$$$ from -$$$ OR earning $$$ (without losing -$$$) are not the same thing. They require different psychological profile.
Thanks for your feedback. I do think this post needs some clarification. Let’s say I have a record of risking 100 to make 200 consistently with smaller size, I’ve been trying to work on taking on more risk. Same strategy, but bigger size. I was able to step out of my comfort zone, risking 200 to make 400 consistently. I hope this clarifies the confusion.
I have to agree with the other commenters though I applaud your come back however, it comes at a cost. Telling yourself “You’re a blanking WUSS!!!” will create more of an ego. You are telling yourself you are lacking something when in fact you are lacking nothing. Your size represents your confidence in trading, over confident people break easier because they have not grown strong roots. Grow those roots deep into the earth.
Great job on stepping outside your comfort zone, it is a very hard thing to do. But I would recommend doing it more responsibly and with less ego next time. Good Luck!
I got some really useful insights about good trading and bad trading in this post! Thanks for sharing the experiences.
There’s definitely an element of stretching your comfort zone when trading more size. In fact, I like to say there’s a learning curve for general trading skills (risk management, tape reading, etc.) and a completely separate learning curve for adding size.
One of my trading mentors used to say that if you weren’t uncomfortable in a position at least once or twice a day, then you’re not trading big enough. It can be easy to get a little complacent at your current trading size to resist the discomfort of sizing up.