A Little Peace After the Trading Storm
After yesterday, I needed to clear my head and unwind from the stress that trading had once again brought into my life. So I took my kids for an hour-long walk in the forest. The weather is still lovely — it was sunny and fairly warm, making a walk in the woods the perfect choice!
The girls were happy and smiling as always. And, surprisingly, I really had nothing to complain about this time — they were so well-behaved throughout the walk! 😊
What happened yesterday?
Until late afternoon, my trading was going almost perfectly. I was making good entries and quickly closing my positions for a profit.
I was working the afternoon shift that day. While at work, I opened another position that soon showed a small profit. I wanted to close it, but just then, someone walked into the pharmacy and I had to put my phone away.
By the time I picked it up again, the position was already in the red. An hour later, I was down around $500. Looking at my overall result for the day, I should have taken the hit and closed the position — even with that loss, I would still have been in profit.
Unfortunately, I didn’t. After getting home, I watched my loss grow as the market kept dropping.
Fighting Until 3 a.m.
That was when I started taking action, and the stress really hit me — probably harder than it ever had while trading.
I aggressively opened positions in the opposite direction, trying to reduce the loss. These were quick trades, but the amounts involved were huge. Some positions had a notional value of as much as $160,000, so even a small move against me could cause a massive loss. The threat of liquidation was constantly on my mind.
I couldn’t sit still at my computer anymore. I had to pace around the house just to calm my thoughts a little.
I kept fighting until three in the morning. In the end, I managed to finish the day up around $800, although I still had open positions.
When I went to bed, I was still holding a long that I didn’t want to close. Just before falling asleep, though, I decided to open an equally sized position in the opposite direction to limit the impact of any further drop on my overall result.
That turned out to be a good decision that night — the market fell even further.
Once again, luck was on my side, but I feel like I’m taking bigger and bigger risks. It’s costing me more stress and energy each time. I need a moment to catch my breath, and today’s walk with the girls was exactly what I needed.
40 Days Since Liquidation
Over the past 40 days since my liquidation, I’ve managed to grow my capital from $3,000 to $9,800. That’s a $6,800 gain in just over a month. I’m really pleased with the result, although yesterday made me feel just how much stress has come with it.
Here’s hoping the next month brings equally good results — and a lot more peace of mind! 🙂
