Looking for some outside help

Hi everyone, I've debating posting this for some time, and honestly I'm not even sure if this is where I should/can post this, but here goes. I'm a US based beginner trader who left his full time Director position in early 2024 to mainly take care of my kids while my wife works.

I don't specifically need trading income, but it would be nice, and I have been working at this for about a year and a half with no consistent success. Like many new traders, I found/find myself strategy hopping, trying to find what works for "me". But, as most of you likely know, you can't go very far until you find a new strategy that is "sure to win big"! Understanding what I know about win rates and how that would actually manifest in a string of wins or losses, I am finding it difficult to determine if what I'm doing is working and there are periods of losses, or if I am just not doing something right. My confidence is taking huge hits, and it's causing me to jump ship onto the next strategy.

I have been inside my head with this for a year and half, and I'm hoping some outward discussion would be helpful. With all of the amazing systems and users on this forum, maybe y'all can help me out.

Here are the hours I have available to me:

08:30 PST to 13:00 PST (Tues-Thurs)
19:00 PST to Late (23:00PST?) (All Days)


Even as I write this, my brain is a maelstrom of information, systems, instruments, you name it, and I can't even focus on one particular line of thought. Man, this inward journey is a real trip!

In the end, I'm not sure with the hours that I have if:

 

1. I can make this trading project work
2. What I should be working on

I'm not a professional, that much is clear, and maybe you all aren't either, but if you're making this work, I'd love to hear from you.

I am simply a bit lost, and it's unclear where my focus should be. I have the knowledge of the markets, I am ironclad in my risk control, but I just can't seem to make anything stick. And I know it is because I am analyzing something incorrectly, but without someone rapping my knuckles when I keep doing the same shit over and over again, I'm not learning.

Thanks in advance everyone.

Most people will tell you not to “jump ship,” but that’s the best thing you can do. As soon as you sense something is off with a method or system, jump ship and try something else. It’s only after you’ve gone through a lot of different things that you start to figure out what works for you.

For me, it was eventually candle patterns. For someone else, it’ll be something completely different. But the certainty is, the only system that works is the one you design for yourself, by yourself.

Don’t waste your time on nonsense YouTube videos. They’ll just send you down a rabbit hole full of buzzwords and fancy terms, and in the end it’s all just clickbait. None of that stuff actually works. The only thing that will is the system you build for yourself, by yourself.

Welcome to the journey. If you’re driven and determined, you’ll get somewhere eventually.

I think you're information over-loaded. Probably, you're a person who likes to learn a lot. I am very much like you. In my trading journey, I am extremely diligent in learning.. I spent thousand of hours learning from YT, from books, from "gurus"... you name it.. I did them all...

You lack direction because you do not know what you really want. Start by asking yourself these questions..
What kind of trader you want to be? Long Term, Short Term, etc..
What time frame do you prefer to trade?
What instruments do you want to trade?
What strategy are you deploying in your trading?
The list goes on and on... you need to ask yourself questions which you then answer yourself. You are the trader who will trade your own account, so reasonably, you should answer these questions yourself.

From your past failure in trading, what have you learnt? How can you be a better trader?

You may need to jump from strategy to strategy for the experience. But ultimately, you will need to decide what kind of strategy are you willing to put in all your time and effort to be really good at it.

And so, my advice for you is to take what is useful to you and make it your very own (just like what Th3W1z4rd said "the system you build for yourself, by yourself).

There are so much things about trading which is impossible to include everything here so above are just my random thoughts that came into my mind.

There's the answer :

"Even as I write this, my brain is a maelstrom of information, systems, instruments, you name it, and I can't even focus on one particular line of thought. Man, this inward journey is a real trip!"

I think *there's* your answer tbh.
How do you know though? Have you tested them? Because if you had, you'd likely come to a different conclusion.
What works for you, works for me, works for everyone. Whether or not you follow it depends on confidence, which depends on rigorous backtesting or knowledge of how things operate behind the chart. Short version, don't be quick to blame yourself, assume nothing works until you can definitively prove it. THEN, go back to trading.

Trade stocks/ETFs or options.
The index ETFs by design are skewed to the upside, so the strategy becomes simple: buy+hold/buy the dip.
Mind the news/economic calender.
YT channels I watch:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJ...DVYZKTz--pS39w
https://youtube.com/channel/UCpBPTKot6Im9SWs1upQMZKA
https://youtube.com/channel/UCfdPOTevbfCh_QHsyPeZ8MQ
https://youtube.com/channel/UCNEAKk8qPF_BHnnipA9EBQg
https://youtube.com/channel/UCqyrm14zcbZw6pdQeHXPF8w

paper trade till youre consistent. ive lost a lot of money in the market in the decade however there is a tremendous of money to be made at an incredible rate. you cant be greedy and get all of the volatility for yourself its a zero sums and fear sentiment is your journey discover. firstly there isnt a market unless there is a demand so you have to dismantle your perspectives many people say buy low then sell high but there are scenarios when its buy high and sell higher. many strategies have indicators and many most indicators dont even give you signals at the right moment so jumping strategies is only going to confuse you sure it doesn't hurt to learn how the indicator functions. ive learned the most by reading forums blogs youtube. there are many methods to make an analyses no one is gonna spill the beans all in one place. The market assumes every participant has access to all of the information. know what type of player you are... whats your goal?

Knowledge doesn't matter. Entry based strategies do not matter in an efficient market. I enter randomly in my account linked in my profile. Odds and probabilities are still on point. Don't waste anymore time trying to figure out entries and exits. Know the math, execute your goal.

Hi mate, have a look at TooSlow, he's pretty solid and been around forever. Stick to that for a few months.

Just try not go down any rabbit holes or into outer space worm holes

Hi all
Like i posted in another thread.
First learn why and how the market moves

Prohexa

Happy Saturday my dear like-minded chap!
So please tell me, do you have funded account now? When you speak of losses and wins, you mean real ones or simulated?

youre asking in the wrong place here matey. this place is full of losers who think they are winners and work hard to convince you that they are, but they arent. the winners dont come in these places - these places are for those still learning there's nothing wrong with that, but you wont find real traders on these forums - when you become a proper trader you actively avoid these places because you dont want the influence to affect you, and it does.

what you have to do is learn to make your own decisions and stick to it. one setup over and over again, if it doesnt work for the next three trades then take the day off, sometimes you will have losing days and some days are what i call 'brokers benefit' days - you can't win on those days no matter what you do - dont change things because you have a few losers because if you never settlle on something then you wont know if it worked or not.

so many people confuse this game but it's really pretty simple. if it's going up, buy - if it's going down, sell - all you need is to define a trigger, stop looking left and start looking right, bit like the green cross code. and stop trying to devise a system that works all the time, aint no such animal. of course some think that it exists this 'holy grail' but in truth the grail is in your head. heres a system for you - open a chart, lets say a 1hr chart - shrink it so it uses 50% of the screen. now, is the price in the top 1/4rd of the chart, the bottom 1/4 of the chart or the middle 50%? - if its in the top 1/4 then you are looking to buy, bottom then you are looking to sell, in the middle? skip this one. then define your entry trigger do you buy on an up bar or buy on a down bar? what does the bar look like? what events are around? then after you have defined this system - trade it. forget backtesting because it's bollocks, trade it forward on demo or real if you can afford it. real is always better because you will do things on demo that you wouldnt on real. then do the same thing for at least 50 trades. if you cant do 50 trades the same then go get a job cleaning cars because trading isnt for you - trading should be boring so make sure you have plenty of other things to do as well.

Rule number one is Fail Fast -when i take a trade i want it to be in profit fast. dont sit there nursing +1, -1 pip trades going nowhere - that's just corporate noise and itiots. I want my trades to be in profit fast otherwise they are gone - fail fast, win slow. same thing again and again like you are making a big mac at maccy d's - same every time. learn to use ATR or ADX - this means your system will be transferable between any instrument and any timeframe - atr makes your system universal. atr stops with contraction triggers are an excellent way to trade.

there are lots that i could advise on here but there will be tons now who come on and say i'm talking crap, it's an unfortunate side effect of these forums that the ego kings have to be here.

I wish you well on your journey