amswak

SEC Pattern Day Trading rules apply to all equities trading accounts under $25000, whether it is $24999 or $10 (margin or not). Oddly, they do not regulate futures or forex trading in the same way. I switched to futures because the ETFs I was trading very closely tracked with the futures contract following the same underlying index.

Just a thought - I would be game to pitching in to buy Attila an iPad (or equivalent device, since my personal opinion is iOS is beginning their decline). The effort it took to continue documenting the real struggles with a challenge like this, especially on a psychological level, should be commended. This competition should be frequently referenced for other newbies thinking they are going to strike it rich quick (which most of us thought, at some point in the beginning). To ALL Newbies reading this in the future: You think you are different. You aren't. Be Prepared.

LOL, if I keep posting my balance daily (even though it isn't changing) can I try to win the ipad if Atilla drops out? :-D Atilla, I do agree with thales - I still enjoy your postings, even if for nothing more than trying to keep the spirit of the race going.

What a coincidence! I too am alive, getting ready to try out some new strats, and my balance is also still $108 + some change. btw, I am amazed in the level of negativity recently in this thread. It was called a RACE for a reason. I don't think any of us entered without knowing how much of a challenge it would be...

+1 congrats on a great day!

lol, and then, once someone wins, we can all use it as our baseline for how large of an account you should really have to make it to a million dollars. oooh, then if we make a slick name for it and call it a trading rule, we can write a book and make another million! I can see it as a best seller on Amazon now: "The Thales Number: How to Make a Million Trading" I will be waiting for my royalty check to come in the mail for my part....

I forgot about YM! Yeah, that will probably be better than TF, at least until I can get the account up to a decent amount... Thanks! Hunter

For race record purposes, I have put in $930 to date and my total losses are $821.77 (including broker fees). My current balance is 108.23. I am not sure how important it is to post statement images proving I am out currently of the race...lol. I had set aside $1800 at the start of the race, but as I said before I am not putting more money in until I get back in town in the second week of June.

Bingo. I would much rather blow $800 ten times while trying to develop a solid strategy than blow $8000 on a single attempt (which could easily be lost in one bad week on ES). Don't get me wrong, this is very difficult emotionally to fail over and over again, but each time I am learning extremely important lessons and slowly becoming a better trader. I'll get there....just maybe not in 20 weeks :\ There is no doubt that $800 is at (or maybe below) that fine line, especially with ES.

I will continue tracking the race, but I am going to be out for a bit while I sim trade some strategy ideas. I am also out of town the first week of June, so I will shoot for the second week of June to get back in. I am still set on the idea of starting with a balance of ~$800, but most of the strategies I have always used on ES can't survive the drawdown. I am pretty sure what I have been doing will work well on TF or NQ since is all price-movement based, but I need to do a little practice to make sure. ME6 was suggested as an option, so I'll look at that too. ES has been very frustrating lately for short term trading. Good Luck! Hunter

Yes. this is exactly what happens. By the time my system indicates a solid "get out," I am already so drawdown that there is no point in acting on it (i.e. a few dollars from a forced close anyways), so I have to just wait till it happens and hope for a miracle...btw, the market is atheist and doesn't listen to prayers or grant miracles...

....and I am out of the race again. It is sad, the position would have recovered and in the positive right now, but I exceeded the draw down limit for this tiny account and got shut down by the broker. New account balance: $173. This is a near impossible challenge with ES when I am only $200 from a margin call as soon as a position is opened. I will be back in the race later, but I need to figure out what I can afford to put in this account that won't end up with me prematurely kicked out... Hope the other racers are having a better trading day! -Hunter

Here's my statement from yesterday.

I'm back in. Added $130 so I am at a balance of $529. Just barely about the $500 margin requirement...

Ah, right, forgot about the end-of-week balance. Sorry, it was very long week. I ended the week at $399.66. I will have to add $100 to meet margin requirements and get back in the game. I'll post the new balance after I do that. On the upside, I thought I would be unable to trade this week due to work travel, but my plans literally went up in smoke last week so I will be around to trade... -Hunter

Agreed. This is my #1 as well. Never rationalize a loss. The moment you say "It'll come back," you've probably already gone too far.

I, too, will keep doing this until I succeed. I enjoy the challenge and, as crazy as it sounds, turning $1k to $1mil isn't even my most ambitious or seemingly impossible life goal...

Here are my statements from yesterday. Today I had a bad morning. I tried going away from my system since it doesn't do well in chop....and got chopped up. Should have just walked away. I dropped below my margin requirement, so I was unable to recover with any good opportunities that eventually came up. Ironically, if I had stuck to the system (on the 5 min bars, instead of trying to surf the 1 min bars), today would have been a big winning day. *sigh* this is the painful part of learning. Since I am below my margin requirements I will have to add a bit in, but I am not going to attempt this again until after next week when I am back from business travel. Good luck everyone!

Up $192 thanks to the AM session today. I'll post the statement tomorrow. I'm not seeing much that is enticing me to trade tonight, so I'll be back for the AM session. The next two weeks are going to be crazy for me at work - lots of business travel - so I may not get much trading time for a bit...

Here are my results from yesterday's roller coaster ride. Went up a good bit, went stupid, then went down a bit more. Day's ending balance, $722.

I am officially in! I didnt do too hot today, lol :doh:, but I definitely made out better than it could have been. I'll post my new balance in the morning. $800 starting balance.

Browns, Short answer, Yes. I am here to have fun with a challenge and maybe learn a little along the way. I posted my experience from this morning purely for other trader's amusement. You (and I) already know the amount of risk that will be required if one were to actually accomplish this feat. I figured if I am going to take that much risk, how much more was it to try a new trading platform for the first time? There is a calculated reason I started an account with only $800 and not any more. Plus, if it makes any more sense, I am only using TurboTrader to execute my discretionary trades. I still use TradeStation for timing entering and exiting of positions. Good Luck, Hunter

I'm in. I'll get the image of the account statement tonight. Started an account with $800. p.s. had a terrifying morning. Never used TurboTrader and thought it was straightforward, ended up entering a ton of market orders not knowing why they weren't filling...then found out they had all been limit orders and they all started filling at the wrong times!! Luckily was able to figure it out and still close out $100 up....LOL, my wife just called me an idiot for not at least watching the demo videos first...

Just wondering, how did everyone do today with the crazy US market ride? I was at work when it all happened and missed the fun...

The market had been showing some jitter over the last few days. I exited my real money account positions, but entered some "what if" positions in my sim account. I was soooo sure the long sim positions this morning would be good for a very small profit target so I didnt enter a stop of any kind. Lesson - dont ever forget that **it happens. Even if the markets look like they have taken certain bad new in stride, it may still turn tail suddenly. Paying for a few false stop outs occasionally it much better than losing a whole account to an unexpected (yet sort of expected) day like today. Good luck and hope everyone either had their stops tight or were in short positions today! -Hunter