Hey Folks… I’m new to the forum. I’ve been studying trading almost a year now. I got started last December when cryptos were gaining ground and through that discovered Nadex and then through the training vids Apex. I spent about 3 months in demo, then jumped to live in July. I’m realizing now that was probably too soon. I am in a bit of a unique situation and in need of outside advice/encouragement. Before I outline my difficulty I want to explain about that situation because I believe it has bearing in many ways on why I am struggling. I welcome and respect input from all of you and thank you in advance for your help.
At that age of 16 I was in an accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury and paralysis in my hands and most of my body. This seriously limited my job choices and while I did attend college and amass quite a few professional skills getting hired and building a business that can sustain me has been a frustrating process. Trading ticks all the boxes… 1. Work from home, 2. No salesmanship, 3. No advertising, 4. It’s mobile, 5. Limited capital, 6. Flexible schedule, 7. No customers, 8. Exponential growth, 9. No physical labor. In truth, I’ve always wanted to be a Trader. Even when I was a kid, but I am an ‘‘arty-creative’’ type… musician, writer, etc. From an artistic family, surrounded by artists. I was not math-minded or an economics student, just a guy with a desire. Finally, I decided to act on it. So here I am. A brand new trader. The truth is, in short, I love it. I love everything about it. I believe I can and will be good at it. The flip side is, it is… hands down… the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted. However, I refuse to quit.
Here are my difficulties… first off I know my biggest weaknesses intimately. 1. Impatience, 2. Excitement, and 3. Impulsiveness. I am learning to mitigate them, but it is amazing how and where they pop up. My difficulties though seem to arise regardless of my level of self-discipline…
Difficulty #1- Finding a strategy that fits my strengths. I have found several different strategies I like, but each seems to have a flaw that annoys me. 2-hour 4X Binaries… I’m great at reading the market direction, bad on time. Can’t figure out the best time of day to trade. I’ll spend hours looking to match my written entry criteria, somehow miss it, and miss out. Then see an hour later how all the indicators were so obvious! Apex’s ‘‘Premium Profits ITM Binary Strategy’’… love this one and have had success at times, but the market can jump so fast in 10 seconds you lose everything and with a small account you can blow it QUICK. I like using it in 5-minute binaries, but still too volatile and scalping without waiting till expiry with $75 risk to make $10 doesn’t make sense, even with a stop. Spread Strangle on a 4X Daily Spread… I really like spreads, and again, good at predicting trends, but getting it to go into enough profit to cover risk on BOTH tickets seems rare to impossible or time to make significant moves. Also, finding my entry point seems elusive.
Difficulty #2- Missing the obvious. How is it that these traders say things like ‘‘Man, I traded the EUR/USD all day today and did great!’’ When I watched the SAME damn chart, with the SAME indicators, and the same 6-hour period and all I saw (based on all my training) was unsafe, volatile, static consolidation? How is it that I can spot a beautiful uptrend on the S’n P 500 with an accurate closing price for the week on a Wednesday evening, but miss the next 24 hours it’s going to drop and test support causing at $80 loss on a 24-hour contract??? WTH???
Am I trading the wrong instruments? Are Binaries not for me? Should I trade a more traditional market? Am I just a moron? I want this to work. I want to do well. I want to be a great trader. I want to be disciplined.
Help me out here guys.