Olio di Balena

This Time, the Market Won

This Time, the Market Won… A Painful Lesson I Won't Forget

Unfortunately, things don't always go according to plan. We don't always achieve what we set out to do. Sometimes life has a brutal way of bringing us back down to earth.

The past few weeks had been absolutely amazing for me. Everything seemed to be going almost perfectly. Every single day, I was getting closer to my goals, and I was starting to believe that this time, I would really make it.

Unfortunately, this beautiful journey ended with a very hard landing.

The day finally came when the market won, and I took a really painful beating.

I got liquidated. And it was a massive liquidation.

Does it hurt? Am I angry? Disappointed?

You have no idea how much…

We all have our dreams, plans, and goals. Every day, we work toward something bigger. We see the results of our efforts and start believing that anything is possible.

And then, all it takes is one day, one bad decision, a few moments of inattention, and everything falls apart like a house of cards.

And you know what?

The worst part isn't losing the money. The worst part is losing the dreams that money was supposed to help me achieve.

It's the realization that the goals that seemed so close just yesterday are suddenly far away again.

That you have to start over, fight again, and rebuild everything you've worked so hard for.

Let's Talk About the Numbers

My starting capital for this trading journey was $3,000.

In less than two months, I managed to achieve some truly impressive results. Unfortunately, it all ended with a liquidation of approximately $11,000.

That's a huge amount of money, especially considering how little I started with.

One thing that made me feel a little better was something @atnazo reminded me of.

Despite everything, I didn't actually walk away from this trading journey empty-handed.

During this period, I had already withdrawn $4,300.

That means that even after this painful liquidation, I still ended up with a profit of $1,300 compared to my original investment.

Sure, it doesn't seem like much compared to what I had in my account just a few days ago.

But it's still something positive.

There's another important thing worth mentioning.

Thanks to my previous profits from futures trading, I managed to build up my Hive account to approximately 400,000 HIVE.

Looking back, I think that was one of my better decisions.

The money I invested in Hive was no longer easily available for trading. I couldn't simply use it within seconds to open another risky position.

Maybe that decision actually saved me from even bigger losses.

In hindsight, I see it as a form of capital protection.

So What Actually Went Wrong?

The market experienced a sharp drop in a very short period of time.

However, the drop itself wasn't something that should have destroyed my account.

The biggest problem was my own mistakes.

At that moment, I was at work. I didn't have enough time to properly monitor the market or react calmly to what was happening.

And that's when I started making mistakes.

First, I opened two additional positions, trying to average down my entry price. Unfortunately, I entered far too early, and the positions were too large.

Later, I tried to save the situation by opening positions in the opposite direction.

And then something happened that ultimately finished me off.

I wanted to open another long position, just like I usually do.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the slider controlling my position size was set to the maximum.

As a result, I accidentally opened a massive position, much larger than I had intended.

The market moved against me almost immediately.

In just 30 seconds, that single mistake generated approximately $1,500 in losses.

At that point, the situation was already extremely difficult.

Work, lack of time, stress, emotions, and desperate attempts to save my positions.

Everything came together at the worst possible moment.

But I'm not going to make excuses.

I was the one making those decisions, and I'm the one responsible for the consequences.

The most painful part, however, was what happened the next morning.

The market had already recovered almost completely.

If I hadn't been liquidated, my positions could have returned almost to break-even.

Just imagine that feeling…

Looking at the chart and realizing that if you had somehow survived a little longer, the entire situation could have ended completely differently.

Well… that's how financial markets can be sometimes.

Life Goes On

Trading requires an incredibly strong mindset.

When everything is going well, you start feeling almost invincible.

You begin to believe that you understand the market, that you have everything under control.

And then one single day reminds you just how wrong you were.

Moments like these can really crush you emotionally.

Especially when the numbers on the screen represent real dreams and plans for the future.

But I'm trying to remind myself of one very important thing.

It's only money.

Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't.

You can earn it, lose it, and earn it again.

But there are things in life that can't be measured in dollars.

Health. A happy family. Your children's smiles. Time spent together.

All of these things are worth far more than any trading result.

And that's what I'm trying to focus on right now.

I'm not planning to give up.

But I also know that I can't keep making the same mistakes and expect different results.

I'll probably start another trading journey at some point.

But first, I need to take a little break.

I need to rest, clear my head, calm my emotions, and most importantly, learn from what happened.

In my next post, I'd like to share some new rules that I want to introduce into my trading strategy.

Rules about capital management, position sizing, and risk control.

This time, I don't want to simply promise myself that I'll be more careful.

I want to create specific rules and actually stick to them.

Before I finish, there's one more thing I'd like to say.

Not every failure means the end of the road. Sometimes it's simply a very expensive lesson.

I hope this time I've truly learned something from it.

Wish me luck, everyone!

See you in my next post! ❤️

Comments · 6

@offgridlife(73)· 4h
I had some pretty big losses over the years…. Now I’m just very happy earning 5-10% with Dividend stocks and Certificates of Deposit. It add up over many years and you will be able to retire early .
@stevenwood(70)· 1d
AGH! Bloody hell!

Don't you find it strange, incredible to believe that thing that so often 'instantly' happens the second you click the button that signifies your commitment... It's like the second you press it, somebody, somewhere hits a button on a graph that starts it tumbling downwards...

I have found that very intriguing throughout the years. In that moment it feels almost as if the world only really reacts to me, not the other million people active in that market in those seconds of time.

I would say 'bad luck' at this point, but it may not be!

It may actually be fantastic timing. Think of it this way.

One day, you may be in a situation where 20K... 30K...40K is at stake, do you think the result of the harsh lesson you have just learned may be of great use at that moment?

Expensive lesson for current, 'today you', of course but lessons are often expensive, my friend you learned with money, not health, not your integrity or your home.

Sometimes when people say things like that 👆👆👆 it can piss you off, it's like they don't get it... I promise you friend, I do (through oh-so-many dumbdumbdumb choices actions and decisions!)

The withdrawn money, the Hive too! Put some real focus on that, things that you likely would not have achieved, always withdraw 'some'. I'm only saying what you already know, sometimes hearing them a second time from outside our own in head can be useful.

What about trying something with a smaller bank, that can be exciting when small acorns grow to become oaks, I know, I know, it doesn't scratch that 'big itch', at the beginning.

In fact, it is like watching paint dry! 🤣 It can teach some extremely useful, creative lessons though!

The worst part is losing the dreams that money was supposed to help me achieve.

Haha! You didn't, but you know that now, when you wrote that, it felt raw, painful, it felt true. Time thought and perspective can really help, right?

But there are things in life that can't be measured in dollars.

Health. A happy family. Your children's smiles. Time spent together.

All of these things are worth far more than any trading result.

I wrote too much already, you are probably throwing shoes at your screen, trying to make me 'shut-up!' 😁 I won't comment more on your words above - because you are not a dumb guy and feel everything I could possibly say, in your heart already. I just placed your words there again, for you to see, again.

I won't wish you luck, I will wish you 'good learnings' from all that has happened before, that is valuable.

Me and mine wish you and yours - health, wealth and happiness 🤍😎🌻
@angeluxx(75)· 5d
Don't stop trying; at some point, everything will turn out just as you planned—just be persistent. I wish you great success.
@favour20045(69)· 5d
That's not a fair one. Its just life, we fail, we win and we learn all at the same time. As always, I wish you more greens and wins ahead.
@wiseagent(82)· 5d
Better luck on the next moves.

In this minefield, everything is unpredictable.
@fieryfootprints(75)· 5d
Best of luck. I think that you are really brave for even trying this trading thing. I already sometimes feel a bit crazy for investing in Hive...But I still believe that it is the best investment I could make.