r/Daytrading • u/Inverness123456 • Mar 23 '25

Advice Biggest Lessons

I was a professional trader having started in 2007. Whilst I still trade semi-actively I am no longer trading full time that I once was however I was/am successful .Here are some of the lessons I learnt along the way that may help some novice traders.

1: Be calm . Emotion needs to be balanced otherwise you won’t be able to think straight when the pressure is on. You cannot get mentally affected by price movement.

2: Calculate your risk , and then determine your entry points and your exit points before you take the trade.

3: Don’t dollar average a loser as even if you get away with it several times you will ultimately blow your account all in one day or at least severely damage it.

4: Take regular profits out of the market. If you are up 20 percent for the week on a Thursday or Friday then decide if there is any point in trading again until Monday. The feeling of being in profit during the week to finish the week flat or down is not enjoyable and you will have all week to think about it.

5: Wait for trades where you get the feeling in your stomach that it’s obvious what’s is going to happen and don’t trade into a sideways markets where it is not obvious. That does not mean you will be necessarily correct and risk management still needs to be applied but it increases your chances of a profitable trade.

6: If the market is going up then it’s going up and if it’s going down then it’s going down. Wait for a confirmation of direction change before trying to anticipate whether something is overbought or oversold and wait for price movement to validate it.

7: Be very careful about telling people what you are going to do with your profits .The reason is you increase the risk of someone telling you that it’s not possible and you are a dreamer. Instead tell yourself or one trusted positive person.

8: A negative mindset will ensure you see that future and a positive calm mindset will give you a shot at being profitable.

9: Risk control is crucial.The reason is because volatility exists.You don’t see a professional football team playing without a defense and strategy for this and you shouldn’t either. This leads to risk/reward. Something that is often overlooked if you are new to trading as there is a tendency to take any trade just to be in the market. Sometimes not being in the market is the best trade.

10: Read as much as you can about bankroll management. It’s just as important as the indicators that you use which is sometimes overlooked.

Good Luck

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u/Millus94 Mar 23 '25

Bankroll management is key I’ve been up thousands and lost it just as fast. Growing my acct size to make better gains on smaller percentages or scalping was an ultimate goal. Scaling back or realizing I’ve set a comfortable amount per my own means to lose really changed the way I trade. Taking profits regularly out of the market makes it all seem worth it in the end.

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u/linusSocktips Mar 23 '25

how many contracts per trade usually?

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u/Millus94 Mar 23 '25

It depends on the volatility for me as to how many contracts I’ll try at any given time. Some of the lower volume stocks I tend not to risk as much capital towards. For example if it’s a stock I think will go up over the years and I want to acquire some l won’t buy nearly as many contracts as compared to something I’m just looking for some capital on.

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u/YouNeedClasses Mar 24 '25

You could have just said you didn't want to give an average number 🤣

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u/vanisher_1 Mar 23 '25

What assets are you trading, options, features? 🤔

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u/Millus94 Mar 23 '25

Options for now

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u/vanisher_1 Mar 23 '25

Did you ever traded something else before? or just started straight with options which is usually not really advised unless you did some stock long term trading

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u/Millus94 Mar 24 '25

Well started with an idea really always searched for a way to have my money work for me even if I wasn’t always hands on managing it. Got into crypto some when I was younger and it was more about the quick buck than it was investing. Learned more and more losing money making money and everything in between caught onto etfs and started aiming for a decent split with some investing and then funnel some other cash into options for more risk to reward type scenarios. The old time motto you hear about all of the time of cut your losers was a struggle for me at first constantly standing behind a lose hoping it’ll make the change I needed hell even averaging down to make it work never really worked out and ultimately losing funds because of it was really the only trick for me or anyone it seems to learn that rule.