Frustrated!!

[Pukey]

Is anyone else pulling there hair out? I've been trading for about a year with no real success to speak of, and fading hope that this can actually be done for a living without already having enough money to make trading a fun passtime. It seems that everyone on all of these forums is either still searching for a magic system, holding their ground with a tiny account, proclaiming to be a guru without actually teaching anything, or trading with an account that they started with more money than I've ever seen (james 16 at FF, for examlpe).

Every system I've tried seems to work for a little while before falling apart for no reason I can ever put my finger on. I think I'm a reasonably smart guy, business owner, family man. I've gone through times when I have invested as much as 4 hours per day to the charts. Indicators, no indicators, S&R, fibs, I've tried them all for as long as I could stand it. I've seen the same names in these posts for the last year without anyone ever saying that they have finally made it. Did we all start at the same time and it just takes longer than this? What about the "95% fail" rule? Where are the 5%? I really need to here from them if I'm going to stay sane. I need to believe that a person can make alot of money, in whatever time necessary, without already having alot of money. Yes, I understand compounding. What I don't understand is consistant winning. Who's doing that?

Thanks

Jason

[dobro]

I'm with you on this topic; I closed both my small funded accounts as nothing seemed to work. I do know this from extensive reading - since the bailouts/Wall St. fiasco, the financial world has not been the same. And this past June-July-August saw exceptionally thin markets so one bank's jump in or out of the forex could skew things unreasonably. I wanted to test a couple of strategies but with this kind of a market I couldn't trust the results. I'm hoping this fall sees a return to normalcy, whatever that is!

[Pukey]

You make good sense Dobro, I'm just not sure I know what normal looks like.

I don't feel like I've even figured out what kind of trader I am. I really like the pace of the shorter time frames, but they usually just amount to more opportunities to donate to my broker. The longer TFs are easier to manage, but the problems are atill the same (entry, stop loss, take profit, risk/reward, move to break even?, etc., etc., aaaaargh!).

Indicators seem to be mostly inconsistant and require instincts anyway, so most of my focus lately has been on price action, which is just about enough to make a person want to jump off of something tall.

Just when you think someone might actually have some real knowledge to share, they want to sell it to you or they tell you they can't tell you everything because they are professionals and I'm not in the cult.

Is a year too soon to expect the account bleeding to stop?

[rhodytrader]

A year in trading is nothing. Heck, I think it took me at least that long to realize I shouldn't be trading off other people's ideas.

[cas]

Originally Posted by rhodytrader

A year in trading is nothing. Heck, I think it took me at least that long to realize I shouldn't be trading off other people's ideas.

That's a brilliant post in my humble opinion.

[tymen1]

I agree with with Cas!!

I guess that's why I started my own trading system on this forum.

[Pukey]

Originally Posted by rhodytrader

A year in trading is nothing. Heck, I think it took me at least that long to realize I shouldn't be trading off other people's ideas.

There in lies the magic, but when did you start coming up with your own ideas? And are you successful now? It's not that I want someone esle to make me successful. I just want to know that others are finding the path.

[soul786]

From what I've seen, others have found a path. Some trade for a living and it's a goal one has to set for himself. Those traders didn't become successful overnight, let alone a year I may add. I am in my first months and honestly speaking, in 6 months of trading if I can even have a $10 profit I know I'll have made some progress.

It takes time and dedication like other things. I don't speak from experience but rather from what I've read along with what I expect to happen

[brath]

you are trying too hard and trying too much, if you want to be a good trader you must keep it simple ...... i use just 4 things and iam doing great and i have not been going for years, so the secret is keep it simple....

[Pukey]

Originally Posted by brath

you are trying too hard and trying too much, if you want to be a good trader you must keep it simple ...... i use just 4 things and iam doing great and i have not been going for years, so the secret is keep it simple....

More good advice. Might I ask the 4 things?