Trading really warps your relationship with money.

When I first started trading on my 18th birthday, my positions were (in comparison) tiny to what I trade now. I still vividly remember the first time I lost $1k in a day, and being absolutely annoyed/angry. Looking back, it was like an architect reminiscing about his childhood Lego house.

In the past year or so, I've been gradually increasing my position size. Needless to say, it's been quite rough in terms of P&L, and I wish I hadn't taken such large risks with such a stubborn, confident attitude. But quite honestly, the market action is unprecedented, breaking all sorts of "historical firsts", in terms of prices, valuations, and dozens of indicators. I am, by far, not the only guy losing money hand over fist in this Trump/FED/BOJ/ECB induced mega-bubble/low-rates experiment of the century. As one recent HF manager said in his farewell letter to clients, "it wasn't supposed to be this way." [Right before his multi-billion dollar fund closed this summer after multiple double-digit monthly losses.]

The point of this thread is to say that, for me, making/losing 5 figures on a daily basis really impedes my ability to comprehend the utility of money. It completely warps my sense of price/value, and the input (typically time) required to acquire money. I could never see myself holding a salaried position again in my life, having seen how quickly I can "make money appear" (or in my case, "disappear"). "That money takes people year(s) to make", goes my thinking. I still appreciate and "love" money very much, however, the effort I'm willing to expend to obtain it is much, much lower than compared to before.

I honestly believe if the working class found out the about trading and it's ease of value creation/destruction, society would cease to function and capitalism (ironically) would collapse. As my trading friend recently said, "it fucks with the way you think about money."

8 Comments
 

the real question is, whose money are you losing?

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

Trading is just an empty pursuit, I dont care if it goes + - they're times when my portfolio will go up 20 percent but I dont sell, because its just an numbers game. Its really just an empty pursuit when you master it. Its hard to describe when your so good, and also you remind me of the Pump and Dump kid

 
"DumbDebtGuy" How could you possible lose money in this market? Literally just buy any and all dips.

There hasn't been a dip in quite a while.

Array
 
Best Response
"MonacoMonkey" When I first started trading on my 18th birthday, my positions were (in comparison) tiny to what I trade now. I still vividly remember the first time I lost $1k in a day, and being absolutely annoyed/angry. Looking back, it was like an architect reminiscing about his childhood Lego house.

In the past year or so, I've been gradually increasing my position size. Needless to say, it's been quite rough in terms of P&L, and I wish I hadn't taken such large risks with such a stubborn, confident attitude. But quite honestly, the market action is unprecedented, breaking all sorts of "historical firsts", in terms of prices, valuations, and dozens of indicators. I am, by far, not the only guy losing money hand over fist in this Trump/FED/BOJ/ECB induced mega-bubble/low-rates experiment of the century. As one recent HF manager said in his farewell letter to clients, "it wasn't supposed to be this way." [Right before his multi-billion dollar fund closed this summer after multiple double-digit monthly losses.]

The point of this thread is to say that, for me, making/losing 5 figures on a daily basis really impedes my ability to comprehend the utility of money. It completely warps my sense of price/value, and the input (typically time) required to acquire money. I could never see myself holding a salaried position again in my life, having seen how quickly I can "make money appear" (or in my case, "disappear"). "That money takes people year(s) to make", goes my thinking. I still appreciate and "love" money very much, however, the effort I'm willing to expend to obtain it is much, much lower than compared to before.

I honestly believe if the working class found out the about trading and it's ease of value creation/destruction, society would cease to function and capitalism (ironically) would collapse. As my trading friend recently said, "it fucks with the way you think about money."

Maybe time to brush up on some risk management techniques?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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