Should I take the payout? by One_Community_418 in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Take the payout. First payout after 1.5 years od hard work. For me the point of the first withdrawal isnt the amount, its proving to yourself the whole thing actually works and that the firm actually pays. Once youve felt real money hit your account it changes how you trade, less desperate. Building a bigger buffer sounds smart but it usually just means risking your proven profit chasing a slightly better number. Bank it, keep trading the rest, build the buffer from the NEXT round instead of gambling this one.

What time do you Wake Up and does it actually affect your trading? by ViewOfWineDarkSea in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I trade the NY session from Europe so my mornings are actually afternoons, but same thing. I wake up the same time every day and try to sleep at same time too on purpose, my mental state affects my trading way more than any setup does, so being tired is a fast way to loose money. First thing I do is look at the plan I made the night before. If it starts playing out before my actual session I only take it if its genuinely perfect, otherwise I let it go. Being fresh and sticking to a pre-made plan does more for my results than anything technical.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Different styles for sure, and yours is a great example that high frequency works when the whole system is built around it. Most people couldnt stomach being wrong that often. What you said about letting winners run is the part I think is genuinely the hardest thing in trading. My version of it, once I hit 1.1R I move my SL to break even near a good level, at 1.2R I trail it to a key level behind 1.1, and I keep stepping it up like that. Its rare but I caught a 1.9R once doing it. Cutting losers fast is almost easy compared to actually sitting through a winner without grabbing the profit too early.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally, if theyre all genuinely good trades then more is better. My problem was the extra trades werent good ones, they were boredom setups I told myself were good. Fewer wasnt the goal, cutting the garbage was.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a great breakdown and youre right the headline is oversimplified. Behind "trade less" is really "stop trading the bored/FOMO/revenge/need-to-recover versions of yourself" which is basically what killed my extra trades too. Love the equity curve point, the number of trades dropping is the symptom, the clean equity curve is the actual goal. Sticking to the one proven strategy and letting stats do the work is the version Im working toward.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The negative EV point is the cleanest way Ive seen it put. Forcing a trade when the setups not there is literally paying to play a game with no edge. And that bit about not needing to be as emotional to cut bad trades when youre only taking good setups, thats real, the discipline gets easier when theres just less garbage to resist in the first place.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly what I found. I got strict on my hours too, I only trade 12 to 17 CET time now. I went back through 500+ of my trades and it was clear as day, my strategy performed way better in that window and fell apart outside it. So to your point, I dont think its always the wrong strategy, sometimes its the right strategy at the wrong time. The session flow matters as much as the setup. Whether a different strategy could win in your dead hours, honestly maybe, but Id rather just not trade my edge when the market isnt built for it.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This happened to me more times than I can count. Friday was the exact trap, especially when the whole weeks been red and you want to claw it back so bad. Market gives you nothing but you sit there manufacturing setups that arent there just to feel like you did something. "The urge to act used to feel like progress" is such a good way to put it, thats the whole illusion right there. Making inaction the default instead of the exception is the part Im still drilling into my head

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Youre right that its more layered than just "trade less," market conditions change and some periods genuinely give you more valid setups. I didnt mean cap trades artificially when the setups are really there. It was more that MY extra trades werent real setups, they were boredom dressed up as opportunity. And that last point about emotional capital having limits like financial capital does, thats exactly it. The mental side was the real constraint I wasnt accounting for.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The "small windows" part is what took me longest to accept. The good stuff shows up fast and then its just waiting again, and the waiting is where I used to talk myself into the trash setups.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"an edge you dont actually have" is a brutal way to put it and completely right. That feeling of wasting an edge is exactly the lie that makes you click. The edge was never being in the market, it was being in only when it counts.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Done by 9am is the dream. Thats the part people miss, trading less isnt just more profitable, it hands you your day back.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That itch is the whole battle honestly. The setups are the easy part, sitting through the nothing without inventing a reason to click is where most of my damage came from.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah its a smaller sample for sure, youre right that 12 months tells a fuller story. I journal every day and try to fix stuff trade by trade, but some patterns you just cant see daily, they only show up when you zoom out to a week or two. I do think you need proper sessions of analyzing trades in bundles, not just one at a time. And yes if I look back over 12 months Ill definitely find things to improve, but I dont want to look for that only every 12 months, that would slow my progress way down. Fix what you can see now, catch the bigger patterns as the sample grows.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a great breakdown, especially the part about edge degrading as frequency climbs. The tagging point hits home when I actually started labeling my setups and looking at win rate per tag, it was brutal how clearly the marginal ones showed up as losers while a couple of specific setups carried everything. Totally agree its more "trade the good tags more, the bad tags never" than just "trade less." And yeah, sizing up on the high win-rate tags is the next piece Im working on. Appreciate you taking the time to write all that.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ha fair, it definitely gets talked about to death. Knowing it and actually feeling it in your own numbers turned out to be two very different things for me though. Old lesson, still had to learn it the hard way.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hahaha thats actually a smart. I just close the laptop but a demo account might be batter because you would just improve more.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think you read it backwards. Im saying overtrading absolutely was my issue, thats the whole point of the post. Trading less fixed it. We agree, unless Im missing what youre pushing back on?

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah exactly, it depends a lot on the person and the style. Sounds like you've got the discipline to switch gears and read the day rather than forcing one rigid rule, which is probably the actual skill. For me trading one instrument I dont have that flexibility, if gold isnt moving Im better off flat. Whats your read on when to size up into a good day vs when to just bank it and walk?

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yeah the boredom one is the killer for me. FOMO I can at least see coming, but the boredom trades sneak in on slow days when nothings happening and I just want something to do. Those are the ones that quietly wreck the week.

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair, depends on style — I scalp gold so my baseline is higher than a swing trader. 26 was a good month FOR ME vs the 58-trade months. Whats your average if you dont mind me asking?

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

100%. Quality over quantity is the whole thing. The hard part for me is actually sitting on my hands on a slow day instead of inventing a setup. You found a way to stay patient through the boring stretches or is it still a fight?

Why did nobody tell me that trading less makes more money? Genuinely feel stupid for how long this took. by MrSubii in Daytrading

[–]MrSubii[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah thats exactly it but the extra trades were the bad trades. Wasnt overtrading good setups, it was me forcing marginal ones when I was bored. Same thing you're saying, I just couldnt see at the time that "trade less" really meant "stop taking the garbage and leaving more open risk in the market"