I feel I need to write this because I'm overly angry at myself and my psychology.
I'm a relatively new day trader, having started about 4 months ago. Prior to that, I was a swing trader for a few months. However, prior to that, I was an active long term trader, Series 7/66 licensed and just all around focused on the markets, economy, etc due to my job as a corporate banker. So, I'm not new to the markets and economy, especially fundamental analysis. But, daytrading is NOT any of this. It is daytrading.
I was consistently profitable trading small shares. I would meet goal every day and figured if I can do it with small share size, I can up it and be profitable. Well, I started trading bigger shares and, by nature, the volatility rose. I would be down $200, but end up $200. Then, I'd be down $400, up $400. Well, I did it -- I had a $1,000 day on a High of Day break on Airbnb on it's IPO day. I felt on top of the world and that I was great. I really wasn't.
Since then, I've lost nearly $2,000 trying to repeat this. I had one day where I lost $1700 in a single day, but managed to trade back to a $630 loss. Going big too soon was a huge mistake and I'm now realizing my mistake. I am not consistently profitable - I got lucky. Luck happens sometimes, but we aren't in the game of luck nor gambling. We are trading.
Part of my issue is that I see all of the swing traders making a killing - I have true FOMO. I also see that I should just hold my positions for days on end and could do better than jumping in and jumping out on indicators. And I ask why? Well, here is why... I have devoted myself to daytrading and all of my funds. As I've learned, this isn't about guessing which way a stock is going to go and betting that it'll hit it. It is about intraday trading. Hitting a $1,000 day early was probably the WORST thing that could've happened to me. It has given me false confidence. As I continue to see my PnL go down, I have FOMO, ROMO, and all of the other OMO's you can have.
I hope you heed my advice - Focus on the PROCESS not the PROFITS... I hope profits will come, but I am going back to the basics now. Not worrying about another K-Day. Would it be nice? Sure. But, I'm not experienced enough.