Consistently losing money...

[sawtooth500 33]

So I've been trying to day trade since March 2018... gone live a few times but every time I lose money. And then in the sim I also lose money. Right now I'm back in sim. Fortunately, I haven't lost anything that I can't afford and am still 100% committed to becoming a successful day trader. 

The funny thing with me is how CONSISTENT I can be with my losses. Like if you make money some days but lose money the other days, well that's inconsistent. But I can very consistently LOSE money...

It's funny, because if only I traded the reverse positions of what I'm doing now I could be making money... but when I mentally "try" to make money, I almost always lose money. But it seems like I am a total expert at getting into positions and then getting stopped out on them!

Has anyone else experienced this? Again, the only thing I'm super consistent in is getting stopped out, or even worse sometimes not respecting my stops and then taking a big loss. 

Advice?

[Tommy 55]

hi,
i can not speak for anyone else but i myself have also been stopped out of many trades, sometimes it cant be helped but many times, when i was reviewing i could find reasons why i should have not get in, its easy in hindsight offcourse.

reasons are often i chased the stock and get stopped out on a pullback,  or just stuck in a chop and trying to do the same thing over and over.  i have lost  money and am still quit a bit in the red now on a live account so you are not alone that has lost more then got profit.
maybe you need help to find out what you do wrong, i believed i did, so i started an open journal too this week. 
it makes me vulnerable as showing publicly my bad decisisions is not something i enjoy, but by doing this it gives me an extra pressure to make good trades. so i can show something good aswell.
maybe you should do the same, there is no money to loose by doing this.

[sawtooth500 33]

Yeah it sure is shameful posting your shitty ass trades... it's hard. 

Or maybe I should just flip my hotkey file... you know like when I think I'm going short just have it take a long position instead!

On the bright side though the more I struggle with this the more determined it makes me to succeed. Sure, I think about quitting sometimes, but the more I fail the more I yearn to make it... One mistake I have not made is taken losses that I cannot afford. And that's most important. I am still in the game. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by sawtooth500

[MikeGyver 2]

I've been in the same situation as you have in feeling like I should do the opposite of what the chart is telling me.  So I tried it for giggles.   Yep, I still lost money (in SIM obviously). 

Keep reviewing your trades and try to find a common theme in the losses.  For me, it is getting in late and not watching the spread at time of entry.

[Robert H 455]

Post some of your trades and have the community give you feedback on what you are doing right/wrong. Another member did the same in this post and received a lot of great responses.

 

[ToddM 0]

I'm with you brother.  I've been in SIM since September and still have consistently red days.  I've also tried doing just the opposite of what I think I should do;  thinking that I can somehow trick the Trading Gods into giving me green days.  But They knew what I was doing and that didn't work either.

One of the recommended trading books on the BBT website is "The New Trading For A Living" by Dr. Alexander Elder.  He recommends that beginners learn swing trading first to learn the process and master a few techniques.  He goes on to say, "Day trading demands instant decision making, and if you stop to think, you're dead.  Learn to trade in a slower environment".  

I thought this was excellent advice.  I've read Brian's swing trading book and started trading ETFs and I've been making good money doing it with real cash.  Woo Hoo!

My goal is also to become competent at day trading.  But right now I'll stay in the shallow end of the pool (in SIM) with my arm floaties on before I try to jump from the high diving board in the deep end.  

Good luck.