Jump to content

Welcome to the new Traders Laboratory! Please bear with us as we finish the migration over the next few days. If you find any issues, want to leave feedback, get in touch with us, or offer suggestions please post to the Support forum here.

  • Welcome Guests

    Welcome. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest which does not give you access to all the great features at Traders Laboratory such as interacting with members, access to all forums, downloading attachments, and eligibility to win free giveaways. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free. Create a FREE Traders Laboratory account here.

BennyHey

Whats the Worst Loss You've Taken??

Recommended Posts

In this thread I want some real life confessions on the worst hits we've taken.

 

About 6 months into my day trading career I was into the CME currency futures. I had some ups and downs to this point but had yet to have the market really show me what it can do to a traders acct.

 

I was trading between 2-4 cars on the Canadian Dollar and was having some good success averaging down on my losers. The CAD had been stuck in a range so any time I got caught on the wrong side I would keep throwing more cars on the fire, lowering my average cost and then when the market turned my way I would get out B/E or a small profit.

 

One day I was trading on a 5min chart and we became oversold on my stochastics so I got long with 2 cars. The market continued lower, never attempting to come back a little, 30 pts lower I added on 2 more cars.

 

From this point we got a little bounce(About 5 ticks) and proceeded to drop another 30 pts. Well I stayed true to my plan 4 MORE cars LONG!!!!

 

I remember saying, they are just trying to shake out the weak longs before they rally it. In another 30-45 min we were another 40 pts lower.

 

I am starting to chain smoke and pray. My 5 min chart looks like a red ball has just fallen off a table. I tell myself with sweaty palms that we MUST get a little bounce from here, I've never seen a chart drop like this without some kind of re-trace. I decide to go for broke.....4 more cars long...and......you guessed it down another 30-40 pts.

 

I was done adding on as my acct leverage was maxed out and any lower would be a market liquidation by my broker. I still have NO stop and a limit order at B/E some 80 pts higher. From here the market drops another 40 pts and trades sideways for a while. I sat in my position another 2 hours watching it dance from -1400 to -1700. I curled up on the floor and prayed I would wake up from the nightmare I had gotten myself into but no. Finally I closed my position at 4:58 2min before the session closed. Its not a lot of money for most but for me and my $5000 acct it was quite a hit.

 

This was on a Friday afternoon so it gave me all weekend to stew over my loss and what a crappy trader I am. I seriously considered giving it all up that weekend. Eventually I decided to keep grinding and to not ever let it happen again.

 

I've had plenty of losses sense then but never that much on one trade. :)

 

When you newer traders hear pros talk about "experience" this is what they are referring to. Anyway I think there are plenty of good stories out there for us to laugh, cry, and learn from. Can't wait to hear some of yours.

 

BennyHey:missy:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

BH - the only thing that really comes to mind was trading on a new platform and not fully understanding the functionality. Bad idea. It's been awhile so I can't recall the specifics other than to say that I used the simulator till I knew the software inside and out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ah, yes ... re-opening old emotional scars by taking this trip down memory lane will be a great way to start my day ...

 

I track my biggest losses by writing them down on an airplane "motion discomfort" bag tacked to my office wall. One stock appears several times on that memorial: Montana Power Company (MTP). To make a long story short, I suffered more than a few cuts trying to catch a following knife while this stock's price fell from $40 to $0 . It was inconceivable to me -- for a few reasons -- that this company could collapse so quickly. My equity has been hit by larger single-day losses, yet this string of "oopsies" is still notable.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Benny my advice to you is NEVER add to losers. EVER. Thats like the first rule of trading IMHO. But it sounds like you found out why thats a rule. THe key to this game is staying solvent through your bad decisions, not adding to them!

 

To the OP - my worst loss wasn't my fault actually... I got stuck in a position when my broker went down. Couldn't exit, some of my orders to get out actually doubled my position size and there was nothing I could do but sit and watch as the pit launched the market against us.

 

Thankfully, the broker refunded the loss as I was documenting the problems with screenshots and video during the entire process.

 

One of the worst and most emotionally stressful days of trading i've ever had. Its one thing to make a bad decision, its quite another to be unable to fix it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On my first day trading the ES, I lost about 1/3rd of my capital. I knew almost nothing about risk management, and I overtraded--I went from making 1 trade per day on SPY to over 40 trades in my first day on the ES. The only thing that saved me from completely blowing out is that I kept my position size small (at least I thought it was small at the time). My risk/money management really improved after that though, and that day showed me that I wasn't nearly as emotionally neutral as I thought I was at that point. It was quite a wake-up call. I'm actually glad that it happened, because at that point, I was profitable trading SPY, which increased my confidence. If I hadn't taken such a big loss right when I moved to ES, my confidence probably would have grown to the point that I would have severely over-leveraged myself and eventually taken a crippling loss.

Edited by diablo272

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My first interface with market, I did buy share at the price of 240 and it landed at 230 immediately I did my stop loss at that point, hence the share jumped up to 600:doh:, recently I’ve learned my lesson, patience, and speculations, had drove me over,, never trust the market even though it’s right :newbie:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ah, yes ... re-opening old emotional scars by taking this trip down memory lane will be a great way to start my day ...

 

I track my biggest losses by writing them down on an airplane "motion discomfort" bag tacked to my office wall. One stock appears several times on that memorial: Montana Power Company (MTP). To make a long story short, I suffered more than a few cuts trying to catch a following knife while this stock's price fell from $40 to $0 . It was inconceivable to me -- for a few reasons -- that this company could collapse so quickly. My equity has been hit by larger single-day losses, yet this string of "oopsies" is still notable.

 

LOL you really write your biggest losses on a barf bag??

 

:missy:BennyHey

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't know about worst loss, but what about worst win? My first trade. I made $32,000 in less than two weeks starting with $2,000 on a currency futures trade whilst working at Burger King. And doing all the wrong things.

 

Since that time I have wrecked a few ships on the rocks (never a blow out) blinded by the seductive sounds of the Market's siren call...........

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The bubble bust was the single most important event that boosted me to a serious education into the trading profession. I appreciate your honest and realistic experience as a trader. We all need our constant reminders to sharpen our discipline swords.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

you're going to puke when you see this ...

 

shorted 40 lots in gbp/usd between 2.11 and 2.1140 with stop at 2.1150 on Nov 9th 2007. Lost 10K but the risk/reward I had in mind ... ;)

I felt that day cable is finished. The opportunity cost was undescribable.

 

:crap:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I thank you for throwing your money away so that I can make mine. Without your losses I would have no winners. Next time when you sell I will buy.

 

Seriously..., I received my "come-upons" in forex and only later learned what a trading plan and good money management were about. That was a 5k education and then some.

 

COTtrader

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
you're going to puke when you see this ...

 

shorted 40 lots in gbp/usd between 2.11 and 2.1140 with stop at 2.1150 on Nov 9th 2007. Lost 10K but the risk/reward I had in mind ... ;)

I felt that day cable is finished. The opportunity cost was undescribable.

 

:crap:

 

JESUS- $10K Really man? I think I would have put a bullet in my head on a $10K loss... seriously.

 

The question though is- WHAT DID YOU LEARN? I have had my share of losses- I LEARNED something from every single one of them- without the lesson- the monetary loss is second stage to the knowledge gained and the idea that once that mistake was made- to never repeat it. Figure it cost you $10,000- I'd sure as hell be certain to be sure I learned something from that. Hope you figured it out.

Aaron

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This recent March 9th - I lost around $2000, when I got caught with several pharmaceutical companies and Obama made a statement about national health care that sent that sector into the dirt. I also had some shipping stocks that day. YUK.

 

Dumped out taking the loss, as I was afraid things were just going to get worse. Good call on the drug stocks - they continued to fall. Drag is the shipping stocks rebounded over the next two days, and would have washed the losses. BLECH I suck.

 

 

Today made me happy though!!

 

:)

 

 

ANdy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Worst day loss is recent - March 9th - about 2K. Had a bunch of Biotech and Shipping stocks.

 

1) General market fell (we know)

 

2) Obama said things that directly impacted drug stocks

 

3) Shipping stocks have been volatile.

 

YUK!

 

Market fell so fast, so far I got rather freaked that day, and dumped all the biotech/drug and shipping stocks at a loss.

 

Drugs went lower, sadly Shipping rebounded the next few days, and it would have washed my losses. DRAT!!!

 

 

 

 

Today (Mon Mar 23) made me happy though!

 

Andy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi all. A great topic to make my first post on lol. I can't remember exactly, this was around 2 years ago. I was shorting the Gbp Jpy (and was up around £8k on the day. I took the profit and went long, why I don't know!! I lost £9k in about an hour. The size of the loss didn't bother me as much as knowing that it should have been my biggest daily win up to that point....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

November 2007. Coming from being a floor broker to trading off of the computers I learned an expensive lesson that the 2 are completely different in nature. I was short 100 dec/march cocoa spreads at even money. I went to take a bathroom break and it traded up to 70 premium!! By the time I got out at 65 premium I had lost everything!! (65,000$) I was gun shy for a long time after that!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

simple

 

you can trade against your gut reaction

 

 

this way, you will be a big winner !!

 

 

 

but easier to say--- very hard to get it into practice, even demo account

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You wanna loose money fast? Try trading wheat while over leveraged. I lost $3600 in about 10 seconds. But that didn't hurt as much as being up 9 grand and finishing the day with 2 grand. Needless to say, i don't trade ANY grains these days.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Date: 25th November 2024. New Secretary Cheers Markets; Trump Trade Eased. Asia & European Sessions:   Equities and Treasuries rise, as markets view Donald Trump’s choice of Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary as a stabilizing decision for the US economy and markets. Bessent: Head of macro hedge fund Key Square Group, supports Trump’s tax and tariff policies but gradually. He is expected to focus on economic and market stability rather than political gains. His nomination alleviates concerns over protectionist policies that could escalate inflation, trade tensions, and market volatility. Asian stocks rose, driven by gains in Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Chinese equities fail to follow regional trends, presenting investors’ continued disappointment by the lack of strong fiscal measures to boost the economy. The PBOC keeps policy loan rates unchanged after the September cut. US futures also see slight increases. 10-year Treasury yields fall by 5 basis points to 4.35%. Nvidia dropped 3.2%, affected by its high valuation and influence on broader market trends. Intuit fell 5.7% after a disappointing earnings forecast. Meta Platforms declined 0.7% following the Supreme Court’s decision to allow a class action lawsuit over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Key events this week: Japan’s CPI, as the BOJ signals a possible policy change at December’s meeting. RBNZ expected to cut its key rate on Wednesday. CPI & GDP from Europe will be released. Traders will focus on the Fed’s November meeting minutes, along with consumer confidence and personal consumption expenditure data, to assess potential rate cuts next year. Financial Markets Performance: The US Dollar declines as US Treasuries climb. Bitcoin recovers from a weekend drop, hovering around 98,000, having more than doubled in value this year. Analysts suggest consolidation around the 100,000 level before any potential breakthrough. EURUSD recovers slightly to 1.0463 from 1.0320 lows. Oil prices drop after the largest weekly increase in nearly two months, with ongoing geopolitical risks in Ukraine and the Middle East. UKOIL fell below $75 a barrel, while USOILis at $70.35. Iran announced plans to boost its nuclear fuel-making capacity after being censured by the UN, increasing the potential for sanctions under Trump’s administration. Israel’s ambassador to the US indicated a potential cease-fire deal with Hezbollah, which could ease concerns about Middle Eastern oil production, a region supplying about a third of the world’s oil. Russia’s war in Ukraine escalated with longer-range missile use, raising concerns about potential disruptions to crude flows. Citigroup and JPMorgan predict that OPEC may delay a planned increase in production for the third time during their meeting this weekend. Gold falls to $2667.45 after its largest rise in 20 months last week.Swaps traders see a less-than-even chance the central bank will cut rates next month. Higher borrowing costs tend to weigh on gold, as it doesn’t pay interest. Always trade with strict risk management. Your capital is the single most important aspect of your trading business. Please note that times displayed based on local time zone and are from time of writing this report. Click HERE to access the full HFM Economic calendar. Want to learn to trade and analyse the markets? Join our webinars and get analysis and trading ideas combined with better understanding of how markets work. Click HERE to register for FREE! Click HERE to READ more Market news. Andria Pichidi HFMarkets Disclaimer: This material is provided as a general marketing communication for information purposes only and does not constitute an independent investment research. Nothing in this communication contains, or should be considered as containing, an investment advice or an investment recommendation or a solicitation for the purpose of buying or selling of any financial instrument. All information provided is gathered from reputable sources and any information containing an indication of past performance is not a guarantee or reliable indicator of future performance. Users acknowledge that any investment in FX and CFDs products is characterized by a certain degree of uncertainty and that any investment of this nature involves a high level of risk for which the users are solely responsible and liable. We assume no liability for any loss arising from any investment made based on the information provided in this communication. This communication must not be reproduced or further distributed without our prior written permission.
    • SNAP stock, big day off support at https://stockconsultant.com/?SNAP
    • SBUX Starbucks stock, nice breakout, from Stocks to Watch at https://stockconsultant.com/?SBUX
    • INTC Intel stock settling at 24.25 double support area at https://stockconsultant.com/?INTC
    • CORZ Core Scientific stock, strong close, watch for a top of range breakout above 18.32 at https://stockconsultant.com/?CORZ
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.