This month has been one of the best months for making profit on options in spy ever… Absolutely incredible. That being said, most people will have lost a ton of money. Those people either learned how to trade during the last 3-10 years of bull market or are letting someone else manage their money.
Consider yourself lucky. You are learning during one of the toughest markets and will learn more in one month about volatility and how to trade it than any of those “professionals.” It’s totally ok to sit on the side and paper trade. The only thing you can do WRONG is to not take time at night to study days like today and every day and thus NOT LEARN.
I blew up my account three times in the first half of this year during the first down turn. I studied, and still study, every night and get up early to do so in the morning. I will gladly pay the market to get the lesson again. But just like any learning, if you expect to learn how to go from blowing your account up like me to being able to make money in any market you gotta put in the time to study. There are a lot of moving pieces: support, resistance, entry, exit, position size, etc and it comes with practice.
Becoming a good trader is without a doubt one of the most challenging and rewarding talents you can learn. Understand it won’t happen overnight though. You’re going to pay the market some for your mistakes but learn from them. And, most importantly, get your emotions and your money making mindset out of the way. Focus on winning.
I would like to add one thing to that. Focus on the process more than the results. Too many only focus on making money, but not the process of how.
