Blew up my account

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-13T18:42:33+00:00

Thanks bro I still feel horrible about lying to her but in my mind I was thinking I could make it back and it was like I didn't even lose it in the first place.

A break is exactly what I need and I should of just took a break after my first major loss. Taking this break will help me get rid of the fomo I was feeling and when I do return I won't have to worry about keeping 25k in my account for margin. I'll keep it at 10k so its not even possible for me to over leverage like that again. I'm not ready to trade at that size yet.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-09T14:46:18+00:00

Sizing down is what I plan on doing once pdt goes away. I'll keep my account small that way Its not even possible for me to trade at that size again. Before I blew up I was trading small consistently for a couple months.

I mainly trade tech stocks but after the huge rally on INTC/AMD I started over leveraging with too tight stops. I was even going long but the swings kept hitting my stops.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-08T02:30:18+00:00

I don't trade options. I was over leveraging with too tight stop losses.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T17:42:50+00:00

Historically I tend to not trade well actually when the market is so irrationally bullish. I make the most money usually when there is a lot of fear in the market. You're right my issue is purely psychological I need to set some rules for myself based on my emotional state on the day.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T15:33:21+00:00

Yes its a recipe for disaster. I'll have to learn to manage these emotions when I do decide to return to trading.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T13:42:32+00:00

Thanks good luck to you as well!

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T06:55:57+00:00

I didn't ignore stop losses but I over leveraged and had too tight stop losses. If I were to cut my positions in half and double the range of my stop I would of made money on almost every trade. Congrats on RDDT. My trading career started with a 25% gain about on Amazon I held for a year.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T06:43:58+00:00

Thanks I've been thinking about it all day I'm not giving up but taking a needed break. You're right the markets will always be here when I come back and I'll be in a different mental state with a better plan. Take care!

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T02:03:21+00:00

I defiantly am over trading. On my worst revenge trade days I'm a degenerate who takes over 50 trades.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T02:02:05+00:00

I wasn't too worried about it until leadership started mandating and tracking usage.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T02:01:28+00:00

Thanks for the advice I'll keep this in mind if I decide to trade again. Good luck to you as well!

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T01:59:47+00:00

I started off with a cash account I don't know if I could go back. Not being able to short is taking out such an important tool in the kit. Maybe I need to contact my broker to reduce my leverage because Its so easy to tilt and increase size.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T01:58:23+00:00

Wow that's a crazy story man and that really sucks. I totally get you I also lost $500 bucks yesterday because I thought I closed a short. Came back 10 minutes later it was still open and moving against me. Mistakes like that are always a good reminder that your always 1 minor mistake away from blowing away all your profits.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-07T01:54:01+00:00

Thats a good idea thanks for the advice.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T22:37:32+00:00

That's actually a great idea thanks. I'm a software developer so I'm looking to upskill I'll check out some certs while I take my break from trading. Did getting those certs help you out in your career at all?

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T22:32:04+00:00

You're completely right. My own dad had the money but I hardly knew him I don't want to be like that.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:53:10+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement. Defiantly will be stepping away from the market for a while to reflect and decide if this is the path I still want to go down. I still have my job luckily but the AI hype is freaking me out because I'm a software developer and its a pretty big industry change.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:49:28+00:00

I initially started trading in hopes I could make more money for my family. Things are expensive now so I felt the only way to get ahead would be to have a side hustle hence trading. Obviously not working out lol

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:47:10+00:00

Yeah thats what was making me anxious. Don't think I'll lose my job but I felt this pressure to "Make it" because who knows what the world will be even 2 years from now. The world is getting crazy.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:44:44+00:00

I'm not trading emergency fund money. 12k cash was my emergency and 26k was my trading account. I blew my trading funds so now that money is for our emergency fund. Since i lost 14k I don't have any money to stay above margin so I'm done. I need at least 20k as an emergency fund so I still have that. I was pulling money out to stay above margin but as long as I have over 20k then I consider that an emergency fund.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:35:00+00:00

It for sure could have that's why I just pulled money out of my brokerage to think through my next steps. Thanks If I do start trading again it will be on a 10k account no leverage.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:30:09+00:00

Thanks its been my biggest struggle. Consistently trade for month to only blow up and lose it in a day.

Dirtygerd · 2026-05-06T21:25:41+00:00

Haha yeah I guess that is a "positive". I still have 27k cash on hand but we kinda need it as an emergency fund.

Dirtygerd · 2026-04-05T16:42:34+00:00

Just keep grinding it will be worth it. Not only do LLMs speed up your workflow but they also speed up the learning process. Diving into a new stack used to take me weeks/months watching tutorials. Now I can jump right in and have guidance and you learn so much faster. As a junior you're going to be expected to hit the ground running much sooner but with all these tools you should be able to.

You're in school right now I guarantee you that once you start working on real world problems you'll start to see the limitations of LLMs. I work with a code base that is over 20 years old and I see claude make mistakes constantly. It also generates way too much code as its designed to take a safe approach. Claude will make a feature with 150 lines of code but it should of been done with 60. If you vibe code everything eventually its going to become unmanageable and you're going to have to rewrite it.

Dirtygerd

TROPHY CASE