“I am quitting trading”

Originally posted July 2010

“I am quitting trading”, I have probably heard that phrase more than any other phrase in my trading career. Well besides, “fuck” or “you mutherfuckers”. There is massive attrition in independent trading and there is/has been a lot in institutional trading. This pattern was evident from the beginning of my trading career. It took almost a year before I got my mentor to be my mentor. He had seen 100’s of people come in for a few weeks and waste his time. I thought he was just being a dick.

Knowing when to stop trading is difficult. Fewer is more for me as a trader. If I am still trading in the afternoon it is because I messed up the first part of the day. (Note: If you are new to trading you need to be in front of the screen as much as possible, but that does not mean you have to trade. As a wise man once said, you have to earn your “chart eyes”.) The market could change and it may become advantageous for me to sit there all day. I stop trading when I am limit down, when I can’t concentrate anymore, when I no longer have an advantage, or when I have hit my profit goal.

When would I quit trading? I take a lot of time off, I get burned out sometimes. I love to trade but just like Fewer trades a day is better for me so are Fewer trading days per year. I have seen many traders forced to leave because they ran out of money. There are many things in life that the idea of is way better than actually doing it.. Traders have a lot of freedom, the job is exciting, it changes, and you get to control your own destiny.

I would quit trading for the same reasons I would end a relationship. If I was not getting at least half of what I was putting in. If it was sucking my life, my passion, money and I was not getting anything in return I would be gone. If I ran out of money and/or love it would be over.  We start to miss an ex after looking through pictures. Everything looks awesome, we were happy.  The thing about pictures is no one ever takes a picture of a horrible moment. There are not pictures of you fighting or her nagging, etc. I used a picture as an example because they are not subjective. It is what it is, as the youngsters say. Memories are subjective. You can trick yourself into thinking of the good ones or the bad ones.  Those are the reasons I would step away. It is different for everyone. Good luck.

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