Feels a bit surreal to be posting this milestone - I started trading in 2021 and as recent as May this year I was still struggling. I was getting by but my growth was inconsistent and the trade-off between what trading was costing me personally and the returns I was getting just wasn't there. I had 15k in the trading account and had to sell my apartment just to get by. Purely from a lifestyle standpoint, I switched things up to focus more on swing trading. What started as an experiment snowballed pretty quickly into a really scalable style of trading for me (while also coinciding with a market conducive to this style). If you're struggling like I was - things can take much longer than you initially expect but can also change in an instant. I'm mindful that guys in the US sneezed and made this much on $BYND so my focus now turns to growth and scale with this strategy.
It's been a while since I've posted but thought I'd share a bit of a milestone. Last year was tough, I felt like I went backwards and I wasn't sure if I'd make it as a trader, but with some better conditions this year I finally feel like I'm finding some consistency.
A bit of help from a trading mentor also changed the way I view adds. I used to add small and move my entire stop, but I've started adding big while keeping a tighter separate stop for the add. This helps me swing for the fences when a trade is working without blowing out risk.
2022: + $39k. Had to create a new journal for Nov and Dec but this also coincided with my best ever months. Heading into my 3rd year of trading I'm finally feeling confident I can make this work. Excited to see what 2023 brings. 1/n
The other key part is changing the way I measure myself. Whether I win or lose, I'm starting to accept that mistakes are inevitable and essential for growth. Self-criticism has always been a motivator but it does more harm than good.
August: + $4.3k
Some progress made this month in a few areas, but still lots to work on. Detailed review notes below and key areas of focus for September. Hopefully can build on this momentum.
What is the EV of the trade at this point in time? If it has turned negative - I need to exit. The key things that I identified as turning EV negative were a clear change of character of the tape, a big move and opening range, VWAP breach on an illiquid stock, and low RVOL.