The most common problem faced by day-traders and it's easy solution which is extremely difficult to implement.
A thread.
( uses concepts I have discussed many times before in separate threads)

Problem : I have a good system, I understand charts and/or price action, but I simply can't make money. I hold my losses too long or ( this is most common) I get out of profitable positions too fast and cannot sit for the whole move
At many firms at NASDAQ, day-traders are seen as elite sportspersons playing in a difficult taxing game. That's why, they have regular sessions with sports psychologists. They are advised to follow the basic routine of sportspersons.
Train ---- Play tournaments --- Rest
The cycle repeats
We retail day-traders here neither rest nor train.

Rest = taking time off markets
Train = trading in markets in training mode

Understanding REST is easy, simply take time off markets and spend time with family or do something you love
But what about training ?
Paper trading or trading on a simulator is never good training as it never gives you the same psychological issue while actual trading. Deep down you know this is fake, you are not making or losing actual money
As you are never making or losing money, you will not be able to be in the same psychological state / pressure which comes in actual trading. Your decisions while paper trading or simulated trading will be vastly superior or actual trading
The solution:
Trade 1 lot ( I am speaking about intraday options trading, cash traders can do this with a simple share of any stock) following your system/process for one month. This sounds easy, right?
Try implementing this, you will understand the massive psychological discipline and strength it requires. Majority fail to do this over a month and go back trading their normal volumes and thus face the same issues all over again
If you are in a trading slump for long and aim to claw back, give yourself 3 months.
First month = 1 lot
2nd month = 2 lots
3rd month = 4 lots
4th month = follow money mgmt/position sizing with a small bet per trade
I have used this "one lot" rule twice in my trading career to resolve my psychological issues while trading. In my time on twitter, have advised this method to probably hundreds and thousands of traders over the past few years.
So far, very few traders ( around 5 or 6) have followed this method diligently as I have outlined and come back to me with the results. Not surprisingly, all of them were profitable to various degrees
There is no short-cut solution is you are facing the same problem. No guru, no webinar/seminar/handholding/setup/system will be able to solve this issue.
As one of my students rightly said " when we go to a gym, the trainer can show us all the moves. But it's us who have to appear at the gym everyday and do the exercises if we have to improve our body"

Same with trading. Best of luck ! 🙏
Anthony Saliba, the only options trader to be interviewed in the first Market Wizards book was the original one lot trader. Indian fintwit has nicknamed me also as one lot, what a great title ! Thanks

https://t.co/oqCwSz8kfW

More from Subhadip Nandy

Ok here is the explanation. Grab a cup of coffee and read on. If you have not read/noticed this, you will see intraday options movement in a new light.


Say we have two options, one 50 delta ATM options and another 30 delta OTM option. Normally for a 100 point move, the ATM option will move 50 points and the OTM option will move 30 points. But in a high volatile environment, the OTM option will also move nearly 50 points

To understand why this happens, first understand why an ATM option is 50 delta. An ATM option has the probability of 50% of expiring as ITM. The price just has to close a rupee above the strike for the CE to be ITM and vice versa for PEs

Now think of a highly volatile day like today. If someone is asked where the BNF will close for the day or expiry, no one can answer. BNF can close freakin anywhere, That makes every option of an equal probability of being ITM. So all options have a 50% probability of being ITM

Hence, when a huge volatile move starts, all OTM options behave like ATM options. This phenomenon was first observed in the Black Monday crash of 1987 at Wall Street, which also gave rise to the volatility skew/smirk
This is actually an interesting question and a correct observation. Many people before you also have made this observation, so I am going to explain this the best I can


I am trading since badla days. There being long meant you had to pay badla / interest and being short meant you received badla. Similar to an options buyer having theta burn and an options seller being theta positive. So the bias among pros were being short bit

Now, as of now I am an options buyer. All my strategies are geared towards options buying, so I have a theta burn continuosly. I do use strategies to cover that a bit, but still the burn is there

Now, let's consider how an options buyer makes money. His enemy is theta, vega can be friend or enemy ( coming to this in next tweet) , Delta is whether his view is right or wrong

Now say I am bullish on BNF and I buy calls and I am directionally correct . As BNF goes up, generally IV will decrease. This leads to a double whammy.
1. Vega hurts me
2. Theta decay increases.
So, the position does give money, but slowly

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Ok here is the explanation. Grab a cup of coffee and read on. If you have not read/noticed this, you will see intraday options movement in a new light.


Say we have two options, one 50 delta ATM options and another 30 delta OTM option. Normally for a 100 point move, the ATM option will move 50 points and the OTM option will move 30 points. But in a high volatile environment, the OTM option will also move nearly 50 points

To understand why this happens, first understand why an ATM option is 50 delta. An ATM option has the probability of 50% of expiring as ITM. The price just has to close a rupee above the strike for the CE to be ITM and vice versa for PEs

Now think of a highly volatile day like today. If someone is asked where the BNF will close for the day or expiry, no one can answer. BNF can close freakin anywhere, That makes every option of an equal probability of being ITM. So all options have a 50% probability of being ITM

Hence, when a huge volatile move starts, all OTM options behave like ATM options. This phenomenon was first observed in the Black Monday crash of 1987 at Wall Street, which also gave rise to the volatility skew/smirk

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