Total newbie here. I started my quest about three weeks ago and it is a very steep learning curve. After reading for a few days I started with Webull and TOS paper trading. Webull has no stop loss functions so I quickly moved away from that. In paper trading TOS has a huge delay unless I fund the account. I'm really trying to get a handle on how things work but finding a platform that works is becoming a challenge. Thinkorswim paper trading's stop loss function is driving me crazy. I sometimes get stopped out but the price never drops below (trailing stop). I understand the market can fluctuate quickly and cause this but looking at the previous highs and lows it never approaches my stop when it does it. I am assuming, yeah I know, that it is because there is a delay in data vs what I am looking at on the screen going on behind the scenes. Also when trying to initiate trades with trailing stops I will enter -.20 but when I start the order I see the stop loss set far above the current price and it buys and sell instantly, it does this randomly. So please tell me this isn't me and it's bugs in this simulated format because it is not stable and seems to do different things at random. I have a Fidelity account and I plan on trading with Active Trader Pro to start but as I said I'm still learning, reading, watching everything I can for now. I want not to be in the 90-95% who fail at this. What advise do you have for me? Thanks!
Lot of talk about stop losses. What kind of stuff are you looking to trade, what are your goals? Are you expecting these stops to get hit intraday? You can trade without stop losses, if you instead set an alert.
Yes, I will be day trading. I was mostly asking if the ThinkOrSwim platform is this unstable. At this point I will likely start doing some live trading on my Fidelity account on a VERY small risk/scale basis. After trying these hokey platforms I don't think there will be any substitution for live experience. I'm getting some of the basic concepts and have made gains 2 weeks running on these paper trading platforms but in all they are terrible. They are obviously trying to get people to start accounts to have the live experience but I'm learning that a "real" broker will be necessary.
Day trading is very difficult. It's not even an issue of knowledge at that level, that will save you from being the 90% that fail within a year. You really have to understand (1) identifying a trending stock, because you are just wasting your whole day if you're in a sideways stock. And then understanding (2) how to deal with pullbacks in a day-trade framework. And a whole lot more... Here's a guy that daytrades and seems legit to me...even if he's fake, at least you can see what kind of stocks you'll have to deal with, and maybe that will help you figure out your stop losses. (I'm not sure he uses them). https://twitter.com/madaznfootballr Also he posts some vids on youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/madaztrader/playlists
I am aware, that's why I'm taking the time to learn. A good friend is profitable at it over the past eight years and if he wasn't far away I would have a personal trainer, lol. But he is retired as well and works only from 5:00 -10:00 am (west coast) every day at it, all trades are done intraday. Pre market and a few hours in the morning, simple targets with manage risk.
Just an update to anyone who is interested in learning about how the very basic things work. Do not go anywhere near TOS paper trading, it is ridiculous. Not only is market data delayed, the stop loss, buy, sell, etc are sometimes triggered by the live data timeline. It was killing me when I placed an order with a stop and it would buy at market then sell without going anywhere near my stop. I understand spikes that aren't seen on the charts but I verified this by comparing price and timeline to the live data and proved my theory. Point being, it is so full of bugs and is only there not for you to learn but to get frustrated enough to fund your account. At this time it is $500 to fund and get live data. Just corporate America at it's finest, pay to play or get nothing viable. Webull paper trading has NO stop functions so even less useful. I have been trading live on my Fidelity ATP on the smallest scale so losses will be minute and now I'm learning something.
