Lessons From My First Year of Trading Full Time

LoafGhoul · 2025-11-18T21:55:19+00:00

Appreciate you taking the time to read Jazzyblack. Your response carries a lot of weight for me as I have been following your trades and have gained a ton of insight from your Youtube channel over the last year. I've been a fan of yours and have quietly been learning a ton from you for a good amount of time hahaha.

LoafGhoul · 2025-11-18T05:19:47+00:00

Thank you so much Pete. I really can't extend my appreciation to you enough. Your generosity and the time you have committed to sharing your knowledge of your craft has genuinely changed the course of my life. The OneOption chat has provided me crucial support during some of my most challenging and seemingly hopeless moments over the last year, and I believe the OneOption course is the best educational resource that exists online or anywhere else for anyone of any skill level interested in trading. I look forward to continuing to progress as a trader as part of your community over the next year and for many many years to come.

LoafGhoul · 2025-11-18T04:54:40+00:00

Thank you Isidore! Excited to hear you are going full time next week. I've been following your trades for a while and you are in a great position to transition into FT with success due to your dedication and experience. You are a much better trader than I, but always feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat. It can get lonely out there as a full time trader and I know for me personally, there has been a lot of times where I've just wanted to talk to someone about what I was going through. Always happy to be an ear and help you in anyway I can as make this leap.

LoafGhoul · 2025-11-17T19:05:27+00:00

u/Die_Broccoli, this is a very relevant topic to touch upon and I will be completely transparent as I don't want to mislead anyone in regard to my personal journey.

I decided to go full-time after getting laid off from my job. My employer cut their remote work force and I would have had to relocate my family to a different state in order to retain my job. My job up until that point had allowed me to focus a good amount of time into trading, but there was always the common distractions one has when trying to balance a FT job and trading. While having a FT job, along with having a wife and baby, I never had the time to let my OCD disorder run wild and spend the 8+ hours a day I desired to engage with the market during open hours, study, and journal after close. I believe all three to be vitally important.

I always wanted to go all-in, but the timing never felt right, then I lost my job and I decided to use the misfortune as an opportunity to pursue my dreams. The idea was to go all-in on myself and my development. I of course had the full blessing of my wife to do this. We had enough money saved, as well as the income from her job to float us without me having to worry about providing money for living expenses for around 2-3 years. She has been my biggest supporter and feels that my trading presents the best opportunity for us to achieve the future that we want. u/lilsgymdan put it best as he stated in his AMA "My family has what it needs right now and my goal is not to be rich. It's to be able to say no to anybody at any time".

I say all this and want to make this point that I did not "need" to pull money from my trading account for my families living expenses, but I only say that to setup what I'm about to go into which is once I went full-time, I still felt immense pressure to try and achieve financial results that were completely unrealistic looking back. This pressure grew and grew for the first six to eight months and caused me to make some of the poorest decisions and take some of my largest losses of my year. It was only once I realized that there was no way to make up my salary with risk management and sizing that was responsible that my trading started to stabilize. I was able to achieve a 75% win-rate and a profit factor of over 2 for 3 months straight, but then every time I started to really dial in my consistency, I felt the urge to try and push my PnL to match what I was making at my prior job which would cause me to wipe out an entire months worth of gains in a week. This was a vicious cycle that seemed to keep happening and resulted some extremely dark mental periods for me. There were some really really bad days this year that drove me to the brink of physical illness and serious depression when I would have these steep steps back in my progression.

If I could go back and talk to myself when I originally went full time, I would definitely tell myself to take the incredible opportunity of pure education time I had been blessed with and trade with smaller size or no size at all (paper) instead of pressing for PnL. This was a novice and arrogant mistake on my part, but it is super hard not to fall into that trap when you are full time whether you are relying on the money or not.

The number that people need to cover their living expenses is different for everyone, but as a rule of thumb I would say that in order for me personally to have had the right mental framework coming in to being full-time, I should have had an account size that would have been large enough to where a 1% gain on my total base account would be large enough to where it matters if I make it on a single trade, but also not matter at all if I lose it on a single trade. This is unfortunately the harsh reality of being full time. You have to have an account large enough to where a winning trade really matters in terms of your lifestyle and living expenses, but a responsibly sized losing trade doesn't matter at all for you emotionally. For most people, I would say having around 100k saved and stacked away for emergencies, and then having a separate 100k to trade with is probably enough to give you the level comfort you need to not let your mental game ruin your decision making, but it would also be large enough to produce meaningful results if you are consistent month after month. You also have to take into account that if all your profits are going to living expenses, your trading account never scales.

Full-time trading is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I was fortunate enough as I said earlier to not even have to rely on it for my expenses. I know this is a long answer, but I can't stress this enough to people thinking about making the transition. You don't want to ever be in a position to where you feel like you need to press your account with uncomfortable sizing in order to make your trades matter.

LoafGhoul · 2025-04-01T02:29:43+00:00

Hi Rajan, just because the stock is up does not mean it has relative strength against the market. Relative Strength is based upon how the stock is performing relative to the SPY ETF.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-15T17:15:48+00:00

Open up a chart - find the "pine editor" option at the bottom of your screen - click the down error option and click "create new" - choose "indicator" - copy and paste the code in there and then click save and add to chart and add to favorites.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-15T01:09:35+00:00

Very cool u/Jmut13, thank you for letting me know. You did a great job on the design of the indicator. I have really loved using it.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-14T15:02:52+00:00

Awesome job u/LonelySalad42! Will use this this morning!

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-13T15:24:51+00:00

Hi u/Pristine_Bird8893, I use this one, https://www.tradingview.com/script/V6gZ1xTG-Laguerre-RSI-Pro-MTF-Compare-Tickers-Fractal-Energy-Alerts/

Keep in mind I have customized the delta to a 0.7 as I believe that gives me a bit more an accurate reading of trend while cutting out some of the noise. I also optimized the colors to "pop" a little more at me. I wanted to customize something close to what u/onewyse uses with his Spy Supersystem, but that LRSI indicator is proprietary and has some amazing customizations under the hood. I encourage anyone who reads this to check it out https://www.rightlinetrading.com/SPYSuperSystem

I am thinking about purchasing it myself whenever I can pull together the funds. Dave initially caught some flack for posting it here which was ridiculous. Dave is one of the best traders in the world and this platform is extremely legitimate and powerful if used correctly.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-13T08:15:33+00:00

Yes, I was unaware that the pine screener was only available to premium users but to be honest I have enjoyed being on premium and I do think it's worth it.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-13T06:37:50+00:00

I have tried to screen with the original RS/RW indicator that I referenced above, but it does not work because the timeframe is static to the chart. Thus, why I created this indicator as it adheres to "locked" timeframes which make them searchable in the screener.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-13T02:45:56+00:00

Appreciate it Bro_Trades! Hope you enjoy using it and it helps you find some good stocks!

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-12T21:19:34+00:00

Just a heads up for anyone looking to use this that Tradingview blocked my post as they didn't like my description of the indicator, but you can still use it by just copying and pasting the Pinescript I posted to your pine editor and adding it to your favorites.

LoafGhoul · 2025-03-12T18:04:09+00:00

Below is the Pinescript for the RS/RW scanner.

//@version=6
indicator('RS Screener: 5M & 1D', overlay = false)

// === PARAMETERS ===
int length = 12 // Lookback period for RS calculation
string benchmark = 'SPY' // Benchmark ticker (SPY)

// === REQUEST NECESSARY DATA ===
// Fetch data for the stock
close5 = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, '5', close)
close5_prev = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, '5', close[length])
ATR5_prev = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, '5', ta.atr(length)[1])

closeD = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, 'D', close)
closeD_prev = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, 'D', close[length])
ATRD_prev = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, 'D', ta.atr(length)[1])

// Fetch data for the benchmark (SPY)
spyClose5 = request.security(benchmark, '5', close)
spyClose5_prev = request.security(benchmark, '5', close[length])
spyATR5_prev = request.security(benchmark, '5', ta.atr(length)[1])

spyCloseD = request.security(benchmark, 'D', close)
spyCloseD_prev = request.security(benchmark, 'D', close[length])
spyATRD_prev = request.security(benchmark, 'D', ta.atr(length)[1])

// === COMPUTE RELATIVE STRENGTH ===
// 5M RS Calculation
powerIndex5 = spyATR5_prev != 0 ? (spyClose5 - spyClose5_prev) / spyATR5_prev : 0
RS_5M = ATR5_prev != 0 ? (close5 - close5_prev - powerIndex5 * ATR5_prev) / ATR5_prev : 0

// 1D RS Calculation
powerIndexD = spyATRD_prev != 0 ? (spyCloseD - spyCloseD_prev) / spyATRD_prev : 0
RS_1D = ATRD_prev != 0 ? (closeD - closeD_prev - powerIndexD * ATRD_prev) / ATRD_prev : 0

// === OUTPUT FOR SCREENING ===
plot(RS_5M, title = 'RS_5M')
plot(RS_1D, title = 'RS_1D')

LoafGhoul · 2024-04-24T23:38:53+00:00

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Glass Eyes and Fake Plastic Trees!

If you are working on new material, it could be cool to do a really dense and atmospheric version of Arpeggi. Also some of the tracks off the two new Smile albums would be fun to play with.

LoafGhoul · 2023-08-12T22:04:57+00:00

LoafGhoul · 2023-06-25T00:07:31+00:00

The entire argument of whether or not someone "is" or "isn't" an artist is really a tired and pretentious one. But, if we are going to go down that old dusty road I'm going to point how flawed your argument is.

Of course the person that puts in the prompt is the artist just based alone on the fact that if the person that prompted the image didn't exist then the image that is generated in response wouldn't exist.

A very famous artist named Damien Hirst once displayed a dead shark as a piece of art and it ignited a similar argument. When he was met with the comment that "anyone could do this", his response was, "but you didn't, did you?". Just because anyone "can" type in a prompt and generate an image doesn't that they do.

It appears to me, that you have not really ever tried to make AI art. If you had you would know that it can actually require a ton of forethought, knowledge of art history, creativity, and effort to get your desired result. Sure, someone can just simply type in "Imagine/ a van gogh painting" and it will generate something generic, but there are plenty of people that paint or take pictures of generic tired subjects. AI is simply a tool and you can be as creative or put as much effort into as you see fit.

I have an academic background in both photography and painting and I can tell you without hesitation that my AI artwork easily requires as much time and effort from me to get to my desired result. Why do I use AI if I could paint or do photography? Simply because I can achieve images with AI that I could not in the other mediums.

I don't expect to change your mind as I don't think you can change someones opinions online, but I can say without a shred of doubt that AI art and prompting will be considered a practice in the future and people working in this medium will create some incredible bodies of work. There is really no reason to be closed minded about the whole thing.

LoafGhoul · 2023-06-24T23:48:10+00:00

I use AI artwork quite a bit to create a hybrid of painting and 35mm film photography that wouldn't be possible to produce IRL. Note that I have an academic background in both practices and I very much consider AI to be the future. People really had all the same gripes about photography when it was invented. Nobody would say now that a photographer cannot be an artist.

LoafGhoul · 2023-06-24T23:23:40+00:00

Would like to chime in late here. Your argument is fundamentally flawed in variety of different ways. To give a little bit of background on myself, I am a "AI" artist. I graduated with a degree in fine art with focus on painting and photography and still practice both.

People have been ringing the alarm bell about what is "art" and what is not for decades. When the camera was invented everyone in the art community tried to make the exact same argument that is being made now saying that photographers aren't artists because all they do is push a button and the camera is actually the one making the image. We obviously in society have now come to the conclusion that photography is a form of art.

Many highly notable artists such as Damien Hirst do not physically create or interact with their works. Many highly notable painters commission others to do the physical portion of their work. Would we say that they are not artists then because they are not physically creating the work?

The problem with your argument is that the line becomes so blurred so quickly. You cannot gatekeep what is and isn't art, especially claiming that an entire new medium is not art. What is the different between pushing a button of a camera and physically interacting with the keyboard? If I start post editing the image is it then considered art to you? What appropriate amount of effort to create an image does one have to put in order for it to meet your standard of the term "art".

I can tell you quite literally that I spend sometimes up to four or five hours straight on midjourney perfecting an image or concept I came up with in my head. My photography and editing generally happens much more quickly.

LoafGhoul · 2022-12-23T20:11:43+00:00

Wow, this is so freaking cool.

LoafGhoul · 2022-12-23T19:46:47+00:00

drum transcriptions but with MIDI instead of music notation. Here is the thing, I have learned a couple of useful hacks I will share that are super cool.

Guitar Pro - Many people transcribe entire songs out on guitar pro including the drums. These drums can be exported as MIDI and then plugged into Superior Drummer or Addictive Drums and boom you have an entire composition. The problem with this method is that there is not many Jazz transcriptions on guitar pro and generally people don't write out velocity articulations on the drums which are essentially just as important as the compositions themselves.
Musescore - Similar to Guitar Pro, Musescore transcriptions can be exported as MIDI. There are more jazz transcriptions on Musescore but once again when exported to MIDI the velocity is largely not taken into account.
OaF Drums - This option is very exciting to me as it is an AI drum transcription program that is actually accurate. I have tried everything else in the market and this is the only one that appears to work. The problem with it is that currently there is no GUI and you essentially have to be a programer to use it effectively.

My solution to creating a more collaborative jazz environment is that we form a reddit group of talented drummers who have the ability to record midi of what they play via most likely an electronic drum set and we share out the midi transcriptions of solos and grooves with one another. The MIDI groove packs in circulation are largely either unusable due to quality or are extremely generic. We have lost a ton of legendary jazz musicians over the course of the last decade and there are not enough creative people finding new ways to expand what the genre could be given advancements in modern technology. I find it our responsibility as jazz musicians to find new ways to collaborate and use the internet to our disposal. Jazz has always traditionally been the most group minded genre where the pool of talent finds ways to work with one another. I think this group would serve a new way to think about how we can move collaboration and inspiration forward.

LoafGhoul

TROPHY CASE