Here’s how I finally stepped into the Stock Market
I’ve recently started paper trading using IBKR’s TWS. Last year during the lockdown, I had an epiphany about the stock market and ever since I’ve been obsessed with learning everything there is to it. Even though TWS is every beginner trader’s worst nightmare, I managed to find my own setup which displayed tools necessary for my trading strategy.
I’ve been steadily building my stock/option trading knowledge through various educational YT channels, Udemy Tutorials, and Books. I’ve avoided gurus, FOMOs, and “random-ticker-to-the-moon” conspiracies.
If you’ll be, if you’ll be my bull run
Got a ticket for a world where
We belong
So would you be my bull run
Ooh-ooh”
Sooner rather than later I came to the conclusion that day trading, scalping, and long-term investing are not gonna fit my short-term desires either due to time sensitivity, emotional and psychological state of mind or simply due to the risk they bring along.
That’s why I settled on SWING TRADING.
If you are not familiar with the term, it resembles the style of trading that attempts to capture short to medium-term gains in a stock over a period of a few days to several weeks.
Why?
First of all, I don’t have to spend 1–2h per day using Finviz and TradingView to carefully screen the stocks and handpick a handful of them to hop in. Secondly, I don’t have to stare at the forming candlesticks 3h per day and lose my nerves. Lastly, it simply fits perfectly into my daily routines.
I’ve built the trading strategy myself, not following any advice. I’ve set my trading budget to $1000 and kept a trading journal for each and every trade (image below). How do I decide how many shares to buy? Simple:
I write down my SL and TP. My 1R and 3–9R are automatically calculated (1R entry price minus stop-loss; 3–9R take profit minus entry price). My max risk per trade is 4% out of the total trading cap. So the number of shares to buy is calculated by dividing max $ to spend per trade with 1R.
I’ve been 2-weeks in, and my portfolio success ratio sits at 67% (not bad). It’s easy to trade with fictional money, I’ve heard that once people go in with real cash, things go south. Nevertheless, I’ve given myself a period of 3 months to paper trade and further explore any vulnerabilities in the strategy, know what to look out for, and still learn and grow.
After that, it’s GG WP! I’m all in!
