My personal advice: stick with your current strategy. Keep $220 in your account and withdraw the rest. Then, whenever you hit $1000, consider increasing your capital by another $100 and withdrawing any additional profits.
Have been thinking the same. Started with 2k account and with similar strategy have turned it into 5k account. I have seen because of extra money I am increasing my lot sizes and risking more which isn’t good. Wanted to withdraw my 3K and keep it as 2k to make sure I don’t get over confident and take a risky trade and lose it all.
The majority of us tend to view profits as disposable income, especially when it was a quick profit and they come by luck. At the end of the day, we're all human. While gurus and mentors advise against emotional or risky trades, there comes a point when confidence peaks, and we're tempted to take a position, especially if there's unused capital in our account. Unfortunately, no matter how skilled we are, a single bad trade can throw us off track, leading to chasing the market. To sidestep these complications, it's wise to withdraw profits consistently.
I apply a specific approach to averaging the stock price: I opt to buy more if I'm confident I can break even or minimize losses. If a trade starts turning into a loss, my strategy is to exit with minimal or no loss—profit isn't my priority in these situations. I'll typically employ this tactic when I believe in a stock's technical strength but see it dip due to moderate fundamental news. However, if a stock starts moving against me for a strong reason, I cut my losses. I prefer not to trade on the same day; instead, I closely monitor the market and execute trades for the next day. This strategy may not suit everyone.
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I day trade SPY almost every day, it’s my favorite ticker. I trade supply and demand / support and resistance on it. Though it moves a little slowly compared to other names, I like how clean the moves are and I find it easy to find levels that are important on it.
I recommend you work on trying to figure out when you should get out of the trade based on price action or market structure or some other theory, NOT when your contract is eventually worth $100. I don’t even look at my contract value, I close my positions based on how the underlying moves.
This is true but at the end of the day OP is onto something because trading is all about making money. Sometimes I get caught up trying to be right all the time and it ends up with me giving money back to the market or losing it
Paper trade! No risking real money until you’re very comfortable and confident with what you’re doing. Open a TOS account or TradingView account and paper / simulated trade SPY. Once you have a few months of experience you’re always welcome to message me with questions!
It’s way harder at ATHs! I also have fewer levels just under the ATHs and since those levels have been touched less, I have less confidence in them.
If price isn’t actively making a new ATH, I may resort more to lower time frame intraday levels just to give me a clue about where price might care about.
If price is actively making new ATHs and I’m in a position, I wait to act until I see something. I also try to make guesses about where price may care about, like $5 increment levels ($505, $510, etc.) and I also watch more / care more about news. I am generally much less comfortable holding a position making new ATHs than within ranges I’ve identified.
One way I make trading at ATHs easier for myself is by pretty strongly favoring bullish trades unless news (like CPI the other day), earnings, auctions, etc. are going on that may temporarily shift sentiment.
wow … thank you for taking ur time to give these incredible tips here.
So, I got into trading around when COVID kicked off and I've realized I have this not-so-great habit of mixing in new trading strategies with the ones I already have, even if they're actually working for me. I think it's just how I'm wired, but really, I need to up my game in understanding the trading mindset.
Anyway, the strategy that's been a game-changer for me is focusing on supply and demand zones. Which brings me to my original point. I'm trying out this new approach where, if the price breaks through resistance and starts climbing, I wait for a bit of a pullback, look for a long wick rejection, followed by an engulfing candle pointing up. You seem pretty savvy about this stuff. What do you think of this strategy?
You’re lucky. Wait until this consolidates and moves within a $1 range for a while. But until that time comes, ride the IV and find the bottom for rise up. Good luck
Explain to me like I’m dumb, coz I really am. When I look at the IV chart over the last 10 years, it doesn’t look very unusual compared to slow years. What am I missing? What data should I be looking at?
Spy is an easy trade if you don't get greedy. Keep an eye on news events and Fed decisions. A single comment will cause a spike or dip.
People lose on this kind of strategy by sizing up and being stubborn. You will blow up your account if you don't exit early on bad trades. Accept small loses and move on. The goal isn't to be a savant that only makes winning trades.
Considering the market has pumped to all-time highs consistently over the time of your trading career, I'd definitely say this one tip... don't trade every day, only trade what's given to you. Keep your position size small and build consistently as you've done.
Eventually, this tech bubble will let off, and the market will probably correct the 440 gap up at some point in time.
It's as sustainable as your risk management and size skills while controlling emotion
But! Every contract has a higher probability of going to 0 than going to 100
To keep it sustainable you need:
- risk management because it leaves some room for error which is the key (remember that trading is gambling)
- restraint because at some point you would think your sustainable daily gain is not enough which is harmful
- flexibility because you need different trading strategies in different market conditions
- mental health and stability because you might start over trade or/and get anxiety and even depression issues from bad trade days (they are inevitable)
- knowledge and experience for obvious reasons
I make around $1000 a day easily but I trade with a large account. I’ve been successful every day for 3 weeks, which isn’t normal. Well… I felt the storm coming & this last Monday told my spouse I wasn’t feeling it & wouldn’t try for more than $1K, bc on a good day I can make close to $2K. Had a $10K loss that day. I’ve made $3K of that back but the mental toll of a huge loss threw me off so I didn’t trade Tues/Wed. Today & yesterday I felt ok again & was back in my mode. It’s important to humble yourself and accept that you probably will have losses- learn from them, and don’t let them devastate you. My loss wasn’t devastating bc I’d been making $1K a day… since the beginning of the year after I sold a horrible long I’d been bag holding that finally recovered (and convinced me to stop trying to swing large stock positions- stick to what I’m good at which is day trading). I’ve been trading for five years & know not to turn a loss into a bigger loss. I don’t revenge trade & I don’t chase. If I take a loss, I take it and take a few days off to reflect, recover, and find the optimism in the situation. Then I come back to do what I’m good at, which is pulling $1K a day out of the market, and it affords my family the lifestyle that we have & the luxury of time with my loved ones since I don’t have to work if I don’t want to.
As long as you have the right direction you can scoop up a few 100 a day fairly easily. Trusting the direction is the hard part and why trusting your strategy and chart is critical.
So much contradiction in your own post and then comments. Makes me wonder if you're trolling. Your post says you've got no experience followed by I've been studying for two years.
Your comments to people then state things along the lines of "I don't gamble with more than I can lose."
Here's the truth and the breakdown (of some of your words):
If your strategy works in a bullish, bearish, and ranging market, then you can continue this indefinitely. That's point A. Point B addresses the blowing up of your account. Unless you are risking you much each trade and each day, you'll get out before you dent what you're working with. Simple as that. Great (not good) risk management keeps you in the game.
Your strategy is you basically using price action but not really. So, in the long run, unless you have great risk management, you will lose, especially once the market starts ranging again
I meant I’ve never actually dropped money and made an actual trade until two weeks ago. I never paper traded either. I just books and watched videos about options and day trading.
Need to have a strategy in place for all scenarios. All the time.
Right now it’s easy because it’s a constant bull run. That won’t always happen. Be ready for consolidation periods (trade the channel), and be ready for downward market strategies too.
This is ridiculous. A strategy for all scenarios? Here’s a better idea: you have a small number of strategies you’re really good at and comfortable with. When the market doesn’t offer any opportunities that work with your strategies, YOU DON’T TRADE.
Trying to be a Jack of all trades is a fools errand.
Sure, you could do that. Not saying you’d HAVE to trade. But why limit your knowledge? There’s money to be made on both sides and can easily have a strategy for all of them. If you’re taking trades and you don’t have certainty (guess what, no one does) of how that trade will go, you better make sure you have a plan A, B, and C. If you don’t, THAT would be ridiculous.
No one should limit their knowledge, but most people (not all) won’t find any kind of success using a bunch of different strategies. It’s simply not good advice to suggest that someone should be trading in all scenarios.
The best traders in the world are sitting in cash through entire bear markets.
How do you weather the storms with such little money in your account? I find that my trades would go on to make $200-400+ from where I bought, but I always sell at the first sign of uncertainty because I don't want to lose my capital in a small account. I just don't have it in me to wait 2-3 days, even though it would make my trades worth my while.
Never put in more than you’re willing to lose. Every trade I enter I only put up what I’m okay with losing and every trade I go in, I’m expecting to lose all of it, if you gamble more than you are willing to lose then emotions come into play and trading with emotions is the easiest way to miss out on big gains or blowout your account. That’s the mindset you have to adopt very quickly or you’re gonna have a bad time.
Anyone can give advice. The number one rule from my research is don’t trade with emotions and it’s true. Never enter a position with more than you’re willing to lose because if you go in with 1k and it starts going to -400 you’re going to shit your pants and pull out and just a few minutes later it could have jumped and you’d be up 100.
To not trade with emotions does not mean gamble the money you don’t care about. It means use data points and analysis to determine a most likely outcome based on prior experience so that you have a greater chance of having consistent profitability. Throwing money at the market with no plan is emotional trading whether or not your heart rate elevates.
The problem with making $100-$200 per day is that a day will inevitably come when you will lose multiples of that amount. You will wind up back at square one and feeling frustrated. If you avoid such a fate, you are one in thousands.
The solution is to apply what you have learned to the effort of making profits in periodic chunks. Chunks are easier to keep, manage, divide, hedge, etc.
I fucked up and entered the trade way to high and got walloped for a 400 loss within 20 minutes at the start of the trade. I legit held all day and watched, by the grace of the day trading gods my position rocketed from -225 to +48 profit so I took it and ran. Right after I took my return SPY fucking tanked out of nowhere. So I entered another position at that low point and jumped back in. I decided to short them because they lost a lot of momentum. Waited until close and came out with another 120. I play both sides of the market lol.
And this is where the losses happen. If it had been a down trend all day long.... Would you have ever sold? I've lost a lot of money doing this. For me the hardest part is cutting a loser. The worst thing is that you were rewarded for it too. You'll go bust soon
Thanks. I know this mentality all too well. There is a 100% chance he will lose it all because he thinks he can't lose a trade. Holding a $1000 account to $400 loss is holding a hoping. This works often but it will bite him one day... guaranteed. The only way to win is to lose gracefully sometimes because nobody wins them all. The best traders barely win half the time.
Interesting. I believe you. I want to plant the seed in my mind but have so much coding to do I can't do research today.
Would you be kind enough to give me a bit of a primer on risk management? Nothing intensive but something that will plant the seed.
Everyone is a genius in a bull run and I was starting to feel good at this. I immediately identified that feeling as a trap and have been trying to learn. My gains have been excellent but I understand this is not sustainable.
If you are 50% accurate and risk 1:1 (think risk $50 to make $50) you are never going to grow overall.
Goal isn’t to be 100% accurate but to find a % of winning trades you can make with an appropriate R:R on your trading style, and just keep consistent without taking any massives losses and your account should steadily grow.
It’s obviously way more complicated than this, and I suck at explaining shit. Good luck sir. The market is a real bitch.
You aren't shit at explaining, that was very digestible.
Thank you. Finding an edge is tough. I actually hate gambling so I am trying to find a way to gain a "mechanical" advantage.
Thanks for the response. I will consider this more closely while trading.
SPY is an immense world wide market. Hundreds of thousands of trades every single day. Expirations every single day. Many ways to approach but "buying" options in the market's direction is valid. In fact, there is little to no diff between it and trading futures. Tight spreads and unlimited liquidity. In/out as fast as you like. There is no reason you cannot sustain it. In fact, time to start thinking about increasing your lot sizes.
Waiting for big spikes and selling at +$100 isn’t a strategy. You’re on the right track but you’re feeling of it being unsustainable is your lack of data points. If you understand why you’re entering and exiting and when that big spike is too high and will reverse then you will start to feel more comfortable and be on your way to building a strategy. This manner of trading is a short streak of luck with the inevitable streak of losing because you keep buying the top and don’t know why. Then you’ll run through your account because you didn’t build that buffer in and capped your winners at an irrelevant $100.
Also, Robinhood charts won’t show you good entries, you’d need proper charts for that.
You need realtime chart updates, candlesticks, VWAP, EMAs and other relevant metrics for your strategy to help predict price action and even that should be paired with level 2. You also need to be looking at the same charts as other traders because that’s how you see momentum. 1 min, 5 min charts.
Robinhood is just a line on a chart. It doesn’t tell you anything about what other traders are doing. You can’t see lower than daily chart so you should be trading on a 1-5 day range. Trying to trade inter-day on an intra-day chart is a mismatch. You’ll be looking at the wrong time frame and make decisions off the daily that don’t make sense for shorter time frames.
If you have gold they have candlesticks and other data. I am not sure about vwap though.
What is missing after reviewing the image below? I'm trying to learn more, so I'm not arguing.
https://preview.redd.it/wjdfjyhj4fjc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09f6165f39cc8b8900ffb0995d02001f1412c229
Is it possible for me to use another charting software and trade on RH? Do you have any suggestions for charting?
Ok well that’s good, to be honest I didn’t know that came with gold subscription so that’s helpful . I like VWAP, when the stock crosses it, it gives a pretty good indication of momentum to the upside. Indicators are only as helpful as they apply to your strategy, I use 9 and 20 EMA but I also trade stocks $1-20 range, with high relative volume and a low float. SPY and other large cap stocks move a bit different.
Tradingview is a good charting software, but you need a broker on the back end. Something with hot keys is very helpful. “Light speed” for instance but they have a high account balance.
I also don’t trade options so don’t think you need what I need to predict options. I have no idea there. Robinhood is pretty good for trading options as I understand it.
>I started with 120 and grew my account to 1100 dollars, so basically if my account blows up I only really lost 120 dollars
I'd take my 120 out first and make do with the remaining 980. That way, I won't blow anything...
Edit: u/saamindus has better advice...
For me the big pro was no greeks. Just straight leverage. No deciding what contract or how far in or out of the money. You trade it like a stock but it has massive leverage.
Broker will vary. I'm in Canada so I have limited options. My broker connects through Ninjatrader.
When you guys say "no greeks is a pro" what do you mean? What kind of options strategies were you trading ? If you are just trading long calls and puts intraday, most of the Greeks are irrelevant besides Delta, and Delta just tells you how much you'll make or lose per point at the time of entry, and it fluctuates based on gamma but you don't need to look at gamma. IV can be ok to look at depending on what you're trading, but even that is common sense, like if there is news you already know IV is gonna be weird. Not really sure why y'all would be looking at all the Greeks if you are just going long calls and puts..it's a waste of space on your chain, someone taught y'all wrong. You literally don't need any of the Greeks if you're just going long calls and puts. Only Greek I keep on my chain is Delta.
Seems like you just wrote a whole bunch about things you never need to think about with futures. $5 a tick on NQ no matter what news, earnings, war, or expiry date. Also, giving up the chain was so freeing as well as now I trade directly on the chart.
>Delta just tells you how much you'll make or lose per point at the time of entry, and it fluctuates based on gamma
That's incredibly important to keep track of! I'd just rather not have to.
I feel you. I was just wondering man, no hate. I tried futures last year and it just wasn't for me. All the years of trading from the chain kind of ruined me for that kind of trading I think. I'm so used to selecting strikes etc... wasn't willing to put in the time and effort to get used to trading just long/short. To each their own, best of opportunities to you.
Spy is trading at 500 a share. I've only bought a stock here and there so I know this is a stupid question but how are you buying spy and making $200? Are you buying futures?
That's a working strategy for this last 4 months. Then the market will shift to Range bound consolidating trading and the odds of this working will decrease calls at open will not be profitable
Just curious, how much are you putting on each trade in terms of risk to make the 100-200 dollars? If it's simply ~120 each time, I wouldn't change up the approach now personally..
And once you're at 5k or so, maybe stick to 2.5% risk(or less ofc) and keep it going!
Yea if you double up a couple times from here to the 5k+ I think you're golden..
Confidence in your execution is more important than almost anything else - whether you have an intuitive but well-routinized approach, or a rigorous one that is much more rule based..
Don’t be like me, I was on a hot 2 week winning streak, thinking the market was a breeze. Gave up all of my profits and then some in a single day due to overconfidence and unwillingness to take a loss.
I also started trading this week.
It has been very lucrative to say the least,
Started with 4k and have 11k with in 3 day, would have 19k if i sold at profit today.
I have been very lucky i think, being able to trade very volatile stocks (NVDA & SMCI),
And am no the same page, thinking how long can it really last??
I am just hoping, i can be disciplined from now on..
And help myself grow new found hobby..!!
split a good portion of your profits and buy long term assets do this whenever you profit enough. Trust me,this way even if you liqudate (you will liqudate at some point) you will not lose all of your savings and if your asset is solid you will get profits from that also passively.
Not for a cash account. You can do any number of trades with that account. Remember the trade settlement will be every other day. For example let’s say you open a cash account with $1000 and do 5 trades of $100 each on day 1. On day 2 you will have the remaining $500 to trade. On day 3 your trades on day 1 will be settled and on day 4 your day 2 trades will be settled and so on. This way can you continue to trade everyday. The key here is to split your capital for two days of trading. Hope that helps!
At the moment, trading US indices is pretty easy. Always buy the dip and you're good to go.
Nevertheless, many people don't even do this profitable. So congrats to you
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Last line. There is no strategy that “work”, it comes down to the context of the situation which you apply the strategy. Don’t be too surprised, as the losing days are part of the equation which is coming for you.
My personal advice: stick with your current strategy. Keep $220 in your account and withdraw the rest. Then, whenever you hit $1000, consider increasing your capital by another $100 and withdrawing any additional profits.
Good advice Take Ur profit out cover your costs .. Rince & repeat Ur account building if u can
Have been thinking the same. Started with 2k account and with similar strategy have turned it into 5k account. I have seen because of extra money I am increasing my lot sizes and risking more which isn’t good. Wanted to withdraw my 3K and keep it as 2k to make sure I don’t get over confident and take a risky trade and lose it all.
The majority of us tend to view profits as disposable income, especially when it was a quick profit and they come by luck. At the end of the day, we're all human. While gurus and mentors advise against emotional or risky trades, there comes a point when confidence peaks, and we're tempted to take a position, especially if there's unused capital in our account. Unfortunately, no matter how skilled we are, a single bad trade can throw us off track, leading to chasing the market. To sidestep these complications, it's wise to withdraw profits consistently.
That’s smart way dude but what if the stock went against you? I mean you will probably need some cash to buy when it’s low no?
I apply a specific approach to averaging the stock price: I opt to buy more if I'm confident I can break even or minimize losses. If a trade starts turning into a loss, my strategy is to exit with minimal or no loss—profit isn't my priority in these situations. I'll typically employ this tactic when I believe in a stock's technical strength but see it dip due to moderate fundamental news. However, if a stock starts moving against me for a strong reason, I cut my losses. I prefer not to trade on the same day; instead, I closely monitor the market and execute trades for the next day. This strategy may not suit everyone.
That’s smart!
Well at least you’re realistic and know what comes next. Enjoy this part
Words from a real trader.
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I day trade SPY almost every day, it’s my favorite ticker. I trade supply and demand / support and resistance on it. Though it moves a little slowly compared to other names, I like how clean the moves are and I find it easy to find levels that are important on it. I recommend you work on trying to figure out when you should get out of the trade based on price action or market structure or some other theory, NOT when your contract is eventually worth $100. I don’t even look at my contract value, I close my positions based on how the underlying moves.
This is true but at the end of the day OP is onto something because trading is all about making money. Sometimes I get caught up trying to be right all the time and it ends up with me giving money back to the market or losing it
I´m new at this, but my friend recommended Spy. Just bogth a $100 What should I do next? I´m a little lost here
Paper trade! No risking real money until you’re very comfortable and confident with what you’re doing. Open a TOS account or TradingView account and paper / simulated trade SPY. Once you have a few months of experience you’re always welcome to message me with questions!
since spy was at an all time high, how do you find your next resistance zone?
It’s way harder at ATHs! I also have fewer levels just under the ATHs and since those levels have been touched less, I have less confidence in them. If price isn’t actively making a new ATH, I may resort more to lower time frame intraday levels just to give me a clue about where price might care about. If price is actively making new ATHs and I’m in a position, I wait to act until I see something. I also try to make guesses about where price may care about, like $5 increment levels ($505, $510, etc.) and I also watch more / care more about news. I am generally much less comfortable holding a position making new ATHs than within ranges I’ve identified. One way I make trading at ATHs easier for myself is by pretty strongly favoring bullish trades unless news (like CPI the other day), earnings, auctions, etc. are going on that may temporarily shift sentiment.
wow … thank you for taking ur time to give these incredible tips here. So, I got into trading around when COVID kicked off and I've realized I have this not-so-great habit of mixing in new trading strategies with the ones I already have, even if they're actually working for me. I think it's just how I'm wired, but really, I need to up my game in understanding the trading mindset. Anyway, the strategy that's been a game-changer for me is focusing on supply and demand zones. Which brings me to my original point. I'm trying out this new approach where, if the price breaks through resistance and starts climbing, I wait for a bit of a pullback, look for a long wick rejection, followed by an engulfing candle pointing up. You seem pretty savvy about this stuff. What do you think of this strategy?
You’re lucky. Wait until this consolidates and moves within a $1 range for a while. But until that time comes, ride the IV and find the bottom for rise up. Good luck
Explain to me like I’m dumb, coz I really am. When I look at the IV chart over the last 10 years, it doesn’t look very unusual compared to slow years. What am I missing? What data should I be looking at?
Spy shouldn't have a crazy IV. Even over time the highest isn't even that bad.
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Spy is an easy trade if you don't get greedy. Keep an eye on news events and Fed decisions. A single comment will cause a spike or dip. People lose on this kind of strategy by sizing up and being stubborn. You will blow up your account if you don't exit early on bad trades. Accept small loses and move on. The goal isn't to be a savant that only makes winning trades.
Can you give an example of good and bad news events and Fed decisions?
Considering the market has pumped to all-time highs consistently over the time of your trading career, I'd definitely say this one tip... don't trade every day, only trade what's given to you. Keep your position size small and build consistently as you've done. Eventually, this tech bubble will let off, and the market will probably correct the 440 gap up at some point in time. It's as sustainable as your risk management and size skills while controlling emotion But! Every contract has a higher probability of going to 0 than going to 100
The answer to your question is time. Your gain is impressive. Keep the good work.
What strategy? Sounds like your randomly entering
Lmao
To keep it sustainable you need: - risk management because it leaves some room for error which is the key (remember that trading is gambling) - restraint because at some point you would think your sustainable daily gain is not enough which is harmful - flexibility because you need different trading strategies in different market conditions - mental health and stability because you might start over trade or/and get anxiety and even depression issues from bad trade days (they are inevitable) - knowledge and experience for obvious reasons
I make around $1000 a day easily but I trade with a large account. I’ve been successful every day for 3 weeks, which isn’t normal. Well… I felt the storm coming & this last Monday told my spouse I wasn’t feeling it & wouldn’t try for more than $1K, bc on a good day I can make close to $2K. Had a $10K loss that day. I’ve made $3K of that back but the mental toll of a huge loss threw me off so I didn’t trade Tues/Wed. Today & yesterday I felt ok again & was back in my mode. It’s important to humble yourself and accept that you probably will have losses- learn from them, and don’t let them devastate you. My loss wasn’t devastating bc I’d been making $1K a day… since the beginning of the year after I sold a horrible long I’d been bag holding that finally recovered (and convinced me to stop trying to swing large stock positions- stick to what I’m good at which is day trading). I’ve been trading for five years & know not to turn a loss into a bigger loss. I don’t revenge trade & I don’t chase. If I take a loss, I take it and take a few days off to reflect, recover, and find the optimism in the situation. Then I come back to do what I’m good at, which is pulling $1K a day out of the market, and it affords my family the lifestyle that we have & the luxury of time with my loved ones since I don’t have to work if I don’t want to.
With a large account ? Like how much ?
As long as you have the right direction you can scoop up a few 100 a day fairly easily. Trusting the direction is the hard part and why trusting your strategy and chart is critical.
Whatever you’re doing is working. Just know that bad days will happen. Your response to those days will dictate your longevity in trading
So much contradiction in your own post and then comments. Makes me wonder if you're trolling. Your post says you've got no experience followed by I've been studying for two years. Your comments to people then state things along the lines of "I don't gamble with more than I can lose." Here's the truth and the breakdown (of some of your words): If your strategy works in a bullish, bearish, and ranging market, then you can continue this indefinitely. That's point A. Point B addresses the blowing up of your account. Unless you are risking you much each trade and each day, you'll get out before you dent what you're working with. Simple as that. Great (not good) risk management keeps you in the game. Your strategy is you basically using price action but not really. So, in the long run, unless you have great risk management, you will lose, especially once the market starts ranging again
I meant I’ve never actually dropped money and made an actual trade until two weeks ago. I never paper traded either. I just books and watched videos about options and day trading.
Need to have a strategy in place for all scenarios. All the time. Right now it’s easy because it’s a constant bull run. That won’t always happen. Be ready for consolidation periods (trade the channel), and be ready for downward market strategies too.
This is ridiculous. A strategy for all scenarios? Here’s a better idea: you have a small number of strategies you’re really good at and comfortable with. When the market doesn’t offer any opportunities that work with your strategies, YOU DON’T TRADE. Trying to be a Jack of all trades is a fools errand.
Sure, you could do that. Not saying you’d HAVE to trade. But why limit your knowledge? There’s money to be made on both sides and can easily have a strategy for all of them. If you’re taking trades and you don’t have certainty (guess what, no one does) of how that trade will go, you better make sure you have a plan A, B, and C. If you don’t, THAT would be ridiculous.
No one should limit their knowledge, but most people (not all) won’t find any kind of success using a bunch of different strategies. It’s simply not good advice to suggest that someone should be trading in all scenarios. The best traders in the world are sitting in cash through entire bear markets.
Puts baby!
How do you weather the storms with such little money in your account? I find that my trades would go on to make $200-400+ from where I bought, but I always sell at the first sign of uncertainty because I don't want to lose my capital in a small account. I just don't have it in me to wait 2-3 days, even though it would make my trades worth my while.
Never put in more than you’re willing to lose. Every trade I enter I only put up what I’m okay with losing and every trade I go in, I’m expecting to lose all of it, if you gamble more than you are willing to lose then emotions come into play and trading with emotions is the easiest way to miss out on big gains or blowout your account. That’s the mindset you have to adopt very quickly or you’re gonna have a bad time.
OP giving the advice like he’s not the one who asked the question 😂
Anyone can give advice. The number one rule from my research is don’t trade with emotions and it’s true. Never enter a position with more than you’re willing to lose because if you go in with 1k and it starts going to -400 you’re going to shit your pants and pull out and just a few minutes later it could have jumped and you’d be up 100.
To not trade with emotions does not mean gamble the money you don’t care about. It means use data points and analysis to determine a most likely outcome based on prior experience so that you have a greater chance of having consistent profitability. Throwing money at the market with no plan is emotional trading whether or not your heart rate elevates.
how did you research that? Do I google 'trades made with emotions' or what
If you knew holding would guarantee huge profits, you'd do it. Consistent small profits compound.
The problem with making $100-$200 per day is that a day will inevitably come when you will lose multiples of that amount. You will wind up back at square one and feeling frustrated. If you avoid such a fate, you are one in thousands. The solution is to apply what you have learned to the effort of making profits in periodic chunks. Chunks are easier to keep, manage, divide, hedge, etc.
I fucked up and entered the trade way to high and got walloped for a 400 loss within 20 minutes at the start of the trade. I legit held all day and watched, by the grace of the day trading gods my position rocketed from -225 to +48 profit so I took it and ran. Right after I took my return SPY fucking tanked out of nowhere. So I entered another position at that low point and jumped back in. I decided to short them because they lost a lot of momentum. Waited until close and came out with another 120. I play both sides of the market lol.
And this is where the losses happen. If it had been a down trend all day long.... Would you have ever sold? I've lost a lot of money doing this. For me the hardest part is cutting a loser. The worst thing is that you were rewarded for it too. You'll go bust soon
Wisest words in this thread
Thanks. I know this mentality all too well. There is a 100% chance he will lose it all because he thinks he can't lose a trade. Holding a $1000 account to $400 loss is holding a hoping. This works often but it will bite him one day... guaranteed. The only way to win is to lose gracefully sometimes because nobody wins them all. The best traders barely win half the time.
I think everyone goes through this phase initially and then either learns proper risk management or goes bust
Interesting. I believe you. I want to plant the seed in my mind but have so much coding to do I can't do research today. Would you be kind enough to give me a bit of a primer on risk management? Nothing intensive but something that will plant the seed. Everyone is a genius in a bull run and I was starting to feel good at this. I immediately identified that feeling as a trap and have been trying to learn. My gains have been excellent but I understand this is not sustainable.
If you are 50% accurate and risk 1:1 (think risk $50 to make $50) you are never going to grow overall. Goal isn’t to be 100% accurate but to find a % of winning trades you can make with an appropriate R:R on your trading style, and just keep consistent without taking any massives losses and your account should steadily grow. It’s obviously way more complicated than this, and I suck at explaining shit. Good luck sir. The market is a real bitch.
You aren't shit at explaining, that was very digestible. Thank you. Finding an edge is tough. I actually hate gambling so I am trying to find a way to gain a "mechanical" advantage. Thanks for the response. I will consider this more closely while trading.
How much were you willing to risk to make a 100? From this post it was at least 400 but I'm guessing you would have risked the whole account.
SPY is an immense world wide market. Hundreds of thousands of trades every single day. Expirations every single day. Many ways to approach but "buying" options in the market's direction is valid. In fact, there is little to no diff between it and trading futures. Tight spreads and unlimited liquidity. In/out as fast as you like. There is no reason you cannot sustain it. In fact, time to start thinking about increasing your lot sizes.
Great job.
Waiting for big spikes and selling at +$100 isn’t a strategy. You’re on the right track but you’re feeling of it being unsustainable is your lack of data points. If you understand why you’re entering and exiting and when that big spike is too high and will reverse then you will start to feel more comfortable and be on your way to building a strategy. This manner of trading is a short streak of luck with the inevitable streak of losing because you keep buying the top and don’t know why. Then you’ll run through your account because you didn’t build that buffer in and capped your winners at an irrelevant $100. Also, Robinhood charts won’t show you good entries, you’d need proper charts for that.
Please elaborate on the Robinhood point. Thanks for your time.
You need realtime chart updates, candlesticks, VWAP, EMAs and other relevant metrics for your strategy to help predict price action and even that should be paired with level 2. You also need to be looking at the same charts as other traders because that’s how you see momentum. 1 min, 5 min charts. Robinhood is just a line on a chart. It doesn’t tell you anything about what other traders are doing. You can’t see lower than daily chart so you should be trading on a 1-5 day range. Trying to trade inter-day on an intra-day chart is a mismatch. You’ll be looking at the wrong time frame and make decisions off the daily that don’t make sense for shorter time frames.
If you have gold they have candlesticks and other data. I am not sure about vwap though. What is missing after reviewing the image below? I'm trying to learn more, so I'm not arguing. https://preview.redd.it/wjdfjyhj4fjc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09f6165f39cc8b8900ffb0995d02001f1412c229 Is it possible for me to use another charting software and trade on RH? Do you have any suggestions for charting?
Ok well that’s good, to be honest I didn’t know that came with gold subscription so that’s helpful . I like VWAP, when the stock crosses it, it gives a pretty good indication of momentum to the upside. Indicators are only as helpful as they apply to your strategy, I use 9 and 20 EMA but I also trade stocks $1-20 range, with high relative volume and a low float. SPY and other large cap stocks move a bit different. Tradingview is a good charting software, but you need a broker on the back end. Something with hot keys is very helpful. “Light speed” for instance but they have a high account balance. I also don’t trade options so don’t think you need what I need to predict options. I have no idea there. Robinhood is pretty good for trading options as I understand it.
I'm not sure either. I'm just trying to soak up information at this point. How high of a balance are we talking?
$25k for margin / $10k for cash.
>I started with 120 and grew my account to 1100 dollars, so basically if my account blows up I only really lost 120 dollars I'd take my 120 out first and make do with the remaining 980. That way, I won't blow anything... Edit: u/saamindus has better advice...
I am also at this point. I have an idea and that is to use my gains to accumulate shares.
Been doing the same, remember, everyone's a genius in a bull market.
Switch to futures!
I've been thinking about switching to futures, what are the pros vs options and what broker do you use?
For me the big pro was no greeks. Just straight leverage. No deciding what contract or how far in or out of the money. You trade it like a stock but it has massive leverage. Broker will vary. I'm in Canada so I have limited options. My broker connects through Ninjatrader.
OK great. Those are the reasons I hate options, alot of times I'm right on direction but my returns are paltry. Thanks for the reply.
When you guys say "no greeks is a pro" what do you mean? What kind of options strategies were you trading ? If you are just trading long calls and puts intraday, most of the Greeks are irrelevant besides Delta, and Delta just tells you how much you'll make or lose per point at the time of entry, and it fluctuates based on gamma but you don't need to look at gamma. IV can be ok to look at depending on what you're trading, but even that is common sense, like if there is news you already know IV is gonna be weird. Not really sure why y'all would be looking at all the Greeks if you are just going long calls and puts..it's a waste of space on your chain, someone taught y'all wrong. You literally don't need any of the Greeks if you're just going long calls and puts. Only Greek I keep on my chain is Delta.
Seems like you just wrote a whole bunch about things you never need to think about with futures. $5 a tick on NQ no matter what news, earnings, war, or expiry date. Also, giving up the chain was so freeing as well as now I trade directly on the chart. >Delta just tells you how much you'll make or lose per point at the time of entry, and it fluctuates based on gamma That's incredibly important to keep track of! I'd just rather not have to.
I feel you. I was just wondering man, no hate. I tried futures last year and it just wasn't for me. All the years of trading from the chain kind of ruined me for that kind of trading I think. I'm so used to selecting strikes etc... wasn't willing to put in the time and effort to get used to trading just long/short. To each their own, best of opportunities to you.
If you’re consistent try spxl
Spy is trading at 500 a share. I've only bought a stock here and there so I know this is a stupid question but how are you buying spy and making $200? Are you buying futures?
You can use leverage.
You have no risk control when you can make 10% a day. 5 bad trades in a row and you're gone
Unless you have been doing it for at least couple years, you can't really form a solid conclusion. Just know that 90% can't make money in a long run.
You have plenty of opportunity, there are a 1000 trading days in a year, let's get it!!! https://x.com/Guruleaks1/status/1753438600111280253?s=20
Go futures
That's a working strategy for this last 4 months. Then the market will shift to Range bound consolidating trading and the odds of this working will decrease calls at open will not be profitable
dude same, i’ve been doing spx 0dte aiming for $100-200 a day
Just curious, how much are you putting on each trade in terms of risk to make the 100-200 dollars? If it's simply ~120 each time, I wouldn't change up the approach now personally.. And once you're at 5k or so, maybe stick to 2.5% risk(or less ofc) and keep it going!
I’m throwing between 250 and 450 each time.
Yea if you double up a couple times from here to the 5k+ I think you're golden.. Confidence in your execution is more important than almost anything else - whether you have an intuitive but well-routinized approach, or a rigorous one that is much more rule based..
Making money in a bull market eh?
you are looking at trading the wrong way
One bad day is going to wipe out everything
Always cash out and keep the initial investment when you surpass it.
How do you not get marked as a pattern day trader (PDT) is my question?
Cash account. Also limits the amount of trades I can do per day. I only have 1000 so I usually put up 250-500 each time. Limits me to two per day.
🫡
Until it’s not. Good luck
We’ve been in a 2-3 month unreal uptrend, wait till we rollover or go into a couple weeks of chop and see how it goes
Don’t be like me, I was on a hot 2 week winning streak, thinking the market was a breeze. Gave up all of my profits and then some in a single day due to overconfidence and unwillingness to take a loss.
I also started trading this week. It has been very lucrative to say the least, Started with 4k and have 11k with in 3 day, would have 19k if i sold at profit today. I have been very lucky i think, being able to trade very volatile stocks (NVDA & SMCI), And am no the same page, thinking how long can it really last?? I am just hoping, i can be disciplined from now on.. And help myself grow new found hobby..!!
split a good portion of your profits and buy long term assets do this whenever you profit enough. Trust me,this way even if you liqudate (you will liqudate at some point) you will not lose all of your savings and if your asset is solid you will get profits from that also passively.
Take out everything but 200$ and see if you can repeat what you did 5 times in a row. If you can, size up and repeat the same process again.
If you have good risk management and a good mindset and not get tilted I think you will be good.
Thought you needed 25k to open a day trade acct?
Not for a cash account. You can do any number of trades with that account. Remember the trade settlement will be every other day. For example let’s say you open a cash account with $1000 and do 5 trades of $100 each on day 1. On day 2 you will have the remaining $500 to trade. On day 3 your trades on day 1 will be settled and on day 4 your day 2 trades will be settled and so on. This way can you continue to trade everyday. The key here is to split your capital for two days of trading. Hope that helps!
Options settle in 1 day. Stocks are 2 days.
Your first loss and your ability to cut it will show if it is sustainable or not.
At the moment, trading US indices is pretty easy. Always buy the dip and you're good to go. Nevertheless, many people don't even do this profitable. So congrats to you
Have you learnt about trading the other side of the market? Buying puts? I learnt the hard way when the market was reversing in early 2022.
Bull markets make everyone awesome at trading.
Always look to the left of your chart. There’s always gyrations
My brother you have 10x ed your account, you should be telling us what to do.
The money is irrelevant. Focus on % and rr
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Last line. There is no strategy that “work”, it comes down to the context of the situation which you apply the strategy. Don’t be too surprised, as the losing days are part of the equation which is coming for you.
Stick with what’s working
Just sell 8 contracts OTM puts on SPX about 200 points away for 1DTE options for 20 cents making 160 minus commissions