How to determine if you should quit as a trader

#smbcapital #stockmarket #daytrading

[LivingTrancefully]

I didn't trade well for 5 years. The key for me was to hit singles everyday, go for a triple maybe once a month. The problem before, I was forcing home runs. Letting too many profitable trades go break even, because I thought I was "catching a huge trend". In reality I was missing a lot of chances to move in and out of the market.

[georgemcduffey]

I've come to believe that intra-day trading is an artform. Like any practiced art improvement is logarithmic in nature. It may only take 10 hours of proper practice and guidance to get from Level 0 to Level 1 but 100 hours to get from Level 1 to Level 2, 1, 000 hours to get to 3 and so on. This will vary from student to student but the principle goes back to hunters and gatherers. Learning the rudimentary aspects (control risk, set a stop loss, use in-play stocks), using the right tools (technology, platforms, data analysis), having a good tutor (SMB videos, books, webinars, peers), and disciplined reviews can help flatten the learning curve...I had a drum instructor who used to say "Practice doesn't make perfect; Perfect Practice makes perfect"; I've found that can be applied to anything you want to master.

[Stockafella]

"If u keep doing what you always done ull keep getting what you always got" works in trading too!! Thanks for all your great advice Mike!!!

[terry]

I've been at it 10 years in January without success really but have now knuckled down and really gotten serious and doing much much better and this week if I hadn't made a mistake of going Long instead of Short I would have had 5 out of 5 winners this week. My problem was not being serious and being reckless. Lost a lot a money but plan on making it all back. May take a while but I think I can do it. :)

[vivekdandare]

I really needed to hear this Mike, what a great video.

[quillen]

Just want to say i enjoy your videos so much ans give me inspiration when i am in a rut. I am a full time engineer but trade on the side. I love trading so much but just dont see the sustained gains. Been at this for 4 years. I keep refining my process and one day i know ill get it and can trade full time. But again thank you guys for putting this content out🙏

[Fm-hokc]

Great video. Nice points. Thanks a lot for this video.

[wntu]

If you have been trading seriously for 5 years without blowing up your account then I would say DON'T quit. You've learned rule #1 'Preserve capital'...assuming you haven't been throwing money into your account to cover losses. If you are not journaling...START. If you are trying 30 different strategies, STOP. Go back and see what your best winners were, pick the top 2-3 and study those hard, refine and perfect the setups and stick with those. After a month, rinse and repeat. Always examining and refining. Get a process. Be consistant.

[teikyewleemd]

1. Find a correct mentor can shorten your learning curve. They see what you don't see at your experience level.
2. Right support system. Do you have good internet connection? Good laptop, technology etc.
3. Finding the right niche / stock / market. For me, I try to focus on 1 market first and nail down to few stocks per day.
4. What is your strategy or technique? Do you try to practice every single strategy out there at a time? or focus on develope a few first.
5. Do you understand risk management, risk reward?
6. I don't believe in passion or talent. You cannot have passion if you keep on failing by using the wrong strategy or technique. You will get frustrated. You cannot succeed if you learn in the wrong way and blame you have no talent.
7. What is your best trade, do you know your mistakes in losing trade?
8. Review your trade, how much do you work on reviewing your trade? Do you video recording your trade? Journaling? Write notes? discuss with others?
9. Life outside trading: do you have other stresses, example, financially, in relationship, not enough sleep, depend solely on trading as an income?
10. Your psychology, mindset, limiting beliefs are all important - are you the type of person not willing to take bigger risk? fear of failure? wanting absolute confirmation on every single trade (causing late entry poor risk reward)? do you think you are better than the market that you fight it every time? do you fear of taking small loses that leads to bigger losses? are you a discipline person, if you are not a discipline person outside trading you probably not when you trade.
11. You should be improving after 1 year - yes, if you are not, there are big problems


But 5-year is a very long time, his bad of trading are probably deeply rooted in his mind. It could be difficult to change.
Asking you should quit or not is like asking what you should eat for your lunch, no one will have the answer except yourself.

[rayherman]

Fantastic!  Thank you for a great video!  Just what I needed to hear.

[theresonlyrobin]

Sound advice Mike.. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise

[livelovesail]

Great video! I have asked that question many times in the past. I am glad I did not quit.

[etelackerman]

Hi Mike and the SMB team, Would be great if you could make a video or webinar on how to address the questions Mike was referring to in One Good Trade ("who is buying?", "who is selling", "where the most of the volume being done", "Are there any big prints"? - page 41 in the book's Kindle version). Thanks!! Etel

[Ppgq]

To quote the great 50 cent...”Get green or die trying”. While busting your ass to learn, have a side hustle to keep you afloat.

[christianmolina]

SO true about finding your own niche. I lost 5% of my account trying to day trade, I've broken even and made 7% swing trading!

[erciliaencarnacion]

Pick top 10 best trades vs. Top 10 worst.. compare each, what set up, stock, and what mkt variables are present in your winning trades.. Continue to improve the things you are doing right. In reviewing my worst trade I stoped doing all the wrong things and ive gotten better..

[TheArtOfTrading]

Great video as usual Mike & team. I believe that if a trader is struggling past year 2 or 3 then it's because they don't have a good mentor/education. A good mentor can seriously make all the difference. It's hard to find good mentors though, so it's not surprising to me that a lot of traders struggle for years

[archimedelaluce]

Great Video Mike. I look forward to seeing you at the Expo.

[michaelsanchez]

Thanks for the shout out Mr. Bella! Made my day!

[andrewjankowski]

THANK YOU FOR "YOUR" MENTORSHIP BELLA AND SMB! YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN WITH YOUR SHOES ON!