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You are right to a degree. However, even with an edge, if the trader's psychology is off there will be problems in either making or keeping the alpha+ return on their investment. Psychological issues keep traders from following their trading plans, which in the end makes all the difference in the world.
that's why i said psychology is 50% of the equation...im giving full credit to it's importance. Hell, i've read all of Douglas' books several times and watched his seminars several times...i believe that he 100% knew what he was talking about...it is important stuff.
back to OP...it sounds to me like he has more of an edge issue. loss after loss after loss with no significant winners. Every time i have thought I have developed an edge and made solid returns it just turned out to be luck mixed with extremely favorable conditions and eventually i give it all back slowly but surely.
I predict that Fade hasn't faded: "This isn't the Beginning of the End, but rather the End of the Beginning". I've blown-up several accounts ($10-20K range), but at least was disciplined about it; I took 'The Death of 100 Cuts' route to maximize my Return on Tuition. After 3-6 months of time-out, I always was haunted by the 'What if I had done X instead of Y' question, and was compelled to take another shot at trading. After several years, several gurus/methods/indicators, and several asset classes later, one thing was clear: I had been a naive idiot in years 1-4 ... had not understood what a tough business this was ... or the true nature of the market, disguised by precise-looking charts and indicators. These days, I use different entries, timeframes (bigger) and stop-loss techniques than I had used previously. So Fade, if you're still out there, take this as a sympathetic encouragement to 'get better, not bitter', once you're over the initial shock/grief/anger/shame/discouragement.
BTW, do you have a good grasp of what a 'stop-hunt' is, and what your role is in it (Hint: you're The Victim)? If this is news to you, you really should watch this video by Mark Chapman; his explanations were very helpful to me ... YMMV.
We as traders most likely had all blown an account or 2, Prop firms in general are all built to fleece you and scam you. Ap_x is place that encourage revenge trading, cheap resets and 1 day pass accounts for gambling addiction. Go for a real prop firm that has real brokerage accounts. The only one I'm aware of that will give you a broker account daily so you know you have a live brokerage account is Bl_sky and not only that they have a discord group that will "teach you" how to trade for success. Don't worry about blown account as many have had to go from full time trader back to a J.O.B to start over again.. Trading is a tough career. only 5% make it long term. Take heart we are all trying to be in that 5%
I also in my career brough my trade account from $15k down to 3k in 1 day believing it would retrace by end of day, which it didn't till 3 days later.. lessons learned about, dollar averaging, "hopium", revenge trading, and trade psychology in general. That was a decade ago and lessons are learned.. Try again, low contracts or Micro's. SIM if you need to. It's journey of self-discipline and trade rules.
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'Roger' re the Micro contracts, Fade. If you're blowing through $10K in 1 day, you're seriously over-sized on your trade. Micro-Euro is all I do, then I can always scale-up a bit if the trade is working well.
I went through this experience as well, and it is nerve-racking. But one of the most important things I learned from the experience is that the issue is me. It’s not the market. There is no manipulation, not to the extent that it can do damage to the extent that it does damage to us. The thing is us; it’s always how we see things. For instance, the losses you suffered were a result of a tilt that happened. It is an instinctual aspect that we need to control, and that’s easier said than done. In the heat of the moment, that instinct becomes our driver, so evolving from that stage requires humbling yourself and accepting that that instinct is present, and it is there, and it is human.
So, how do you get over that? After an experience like you’ve had, take a break, think about yourself, think about those instincts that we still have and how they drive us in the world. Learn to take a step back and assess yourself, assess things that are part of you, assess those instincts. Going through that process, you’ll become introverted in a way, but you’ll be able to better acknowledge that instinct when it shows itself. You’ll realize that when that instinct is present, any further action in the trading space guarantees failure. That instinct is useful in the world out there, but it is not useful when you’re sitting behind a computer having to trade.
Chaos at one level of magnification is harmony at a higher level of magnification.
As you say Psychology is definitely a core part of this activity. Absent of sound psychology, we are just a button, pressing stimulus machine. And a button pressing stimulus machine, enters the market based on random stimulus and loses money.
Psychology is that element that says I’m not going to enter here because I don’t know what will happen, I haven’t studied it, and I don’t have a feel or grasp of it.
Chaos at one level of magnification is harmony at a higher level of magnification.
