Oh no! Risky Business!

Today, I learned a very important lesson, including why it’s absolutely vital to start small when getting into risky business such as CFD (Contract for Difference) online trading, managing risks and losses, and growing slowly and steadily rather than trying to get rich quick.

My new “job” has been going so well with such a high success rate in my online trading that I got overconfident and perhaps even a little greedy. By March 26th, I was up 502% on my initial investment that I deposited on March 1st, which is just absolutely mind-boggling to me. I mean, imagine increasing your capital by over 500% in a single month, perhaps even every month. That’s absolutely bonkers! And the fact that it’s even possible for someone like me makes it feel almost illegal. But of course, it’s not without risk, and I ended up making mistakes and getting a taste of just how risky it can be if you’re not careful. My high success rate made me overconfident, obsessed with closing every position in the green—refusing to accept any losses, however small they may be— and this resulted in me making some very unwise decisions and I ended up losing everything.

Early Success and Overconfidence

Since the beginning of March, I’ve been trading GOLD CFD on IQ Option, making small but steady gains; opening 10-20 positions per day, taking small gains (2-10% profit) on each position. I got a little greedy and overconfident, and started trading without stop losses, relying on my account balance to hold positions open, and opening multiple positions at the same time on the same commodity, often in the same direction albeit at different points on the chart, and for the second half of March, every single one of those positions closed in the green. I was so good at it that I multiplied my initial investment six times in a single month—over 500% profit!

Here’s How it all Went Wrong

I stopped paying close attention to GOLD-related market news and political news, only focusing on the trading charts in front of me and just doing my thing, which up until today, was very successful.

The GOLD Spot price was sitting at around $3030/ounce at the time and was on a downward trend from a previous high. I was following the downward trend, opening SELL positions along the way and making great profit.

The price then went up a bit, and then sideways for a while, which is good for scalping (buying and selling on the jumps and falls of a steady and predictable up/down cycle). I kept my initial SELL positions open, expecting that the price would continue on its downward trajectory back to the $3000 to $3010 zone.

Then all of a sudden there was a sharp rise. I should have checked the news and the TradingView platform as to why it jumped, but I was comfortable in bed, just trading on my phone, and the jump wasn’t high enough to signal distress, or so I thought. I still kept my SELL position open, and opened another SELL position as soon as there was a slight downward curve after the jump, confident (overconfident) that the price would continue to fall to the 3000-3010 zone.

Then, another jump, larger this time, and I started to panic a little, but still sure of the overall downwards trajectory, not knowing why it would jump up so much all of a sudden. I thought, okay, great, it’ll definitely go down so I’ll open yet another SELL position so I can continue to profit greatly from the downward trend.

During this process, I opened a total of five SELL positions, sure that the upwards move was just a temporary situation and that the GOLD price would settle in the lower zone again. I didn’t bother to check why it jumped nor put a STOP LOSS on any of the positions because I had a large enough balance that would enable the positions to stay open even if GOLD jumped as high as 3040. It surely wouldn’t go that high again, not now, or so I thought.

I had such great success with all positions prior that I got into a state of mind where I refused to close any position at a loss, however small. I wanted 100% profit. If GOLD stayed below 3040, I could use my balance for holds, and wait for it to drop down to 3030, 3020, or 3010 for 100% profit on all five SELL positions.

But guess what happened? GOLD jumped to $3040, $3050, then $3055, and then kept creeping further upwards from there, too fast for me to do anything about it. I just watched as my holds quickly ate away my entire account balance and it automatically closed all five trades at 100% losses when it hit zero.

I was in disbelief. How could this happen? What on earth made the GOLD price jump so high and kept it climbing? It made no sense based on the trends and charts from the previous days. I only learned after the fact that Trump’s newly proposed tariffs and news on slumping US stocks is what caused the sudden jump. Had I been paying attention to the news, I could’ve foreseen this and wouldn’t have opened five SELL positions along an upward slope, but I was blissfully unaware, thinking that I’m saving my ass and opening multiple high profit positions on an overall downward trend.

What I Should Have Done

I should have been paying attention to the news, and I should have immediately closed the single SELL position that I had open (even if it was at a loss) rather than being adamant not to make any losses. I shouldn’t have dug myself in even deeper by opening even more SELL positions, overconfident in my predictions and the ability for my balance to keep holds open. I should’ve closed the single SELL position, accepted a loss and immediately opened a BUY position at the jump to 3040. But no, I was unaware of why the jump was happening in the first place, and my overconfidence in the downward trend and greed for 100% success and profit made me open five SELL positions that ultimately resulted in me losing my entire account balance.

From Success to Distress

I went from having over 500% profit on my investment to having nothing at all.

This caused much distress and disappointment. My dream and goal of becoming a successful trader as a means to financial freedom and independence vanished before my eyes as I watched my balance drop to zero in a matter of milliseconds, unable to do anything about it. I wished I could just go back in time and close the SELL positions (or not open more than one to begin with, and most definitely put a stop loss on it). I wish I had opened a BUY position on the jump to 3040. I wish I could blink and see my over 500% profit account balance again, but it was all gone.

Lessons Learned

• Always pay attention to the news!
• Never open multiple positions in the same direction!
• Always set a STOP LOSS!
• Accept and manage losses. 100% success is unrealistic and impossible!
• Do not try to chase and recoup losses in the same direction that caused the losses in the first place; that’s a really dumb thing to do!
• Do not trade with emotion—trade with logic, paying attention to market news, trends, and charts.

Disappointed But Not Discouraged

Even though I made over 500% profit on my initial investment, the investment was really small ($10). I turned a $10 deposit into a $62 balance before losing it all. Ultimately it wasn’t a huge loss but a learning opportunity. This is why it is so important to start small and grow steadily over time. Imagine if I had put all my savings into this; I would’ve lost it all. Only trade with what you’re willing to lose—for me that is $10 per month; the price of a Netflix subscription or one McDonald’s meal.

This loss didn’t discourage me. I shall try again next month, with another $10 deposit, until I’ve had many months of success, managed losses, and overall profitability.

If I can learn to make this work and be good at it; great!—then I’ll invest a larger amount (perhaps $100) and slowly built it up over time to a point where I can withdraw enough profits to cover my expenses. If I keep failing and fucking up for months on end, then I’ll… well, I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t want to stop trying to make this work. This has to work. I want to make this work. I need to become good at this.

As someone on the Autism spectrum with ADHD, DSPD, and extreme social anxiety, online trading is the perfect job. I can do it in my own time, at my own pace, from anywhere. It’s even ideal for Van Life. I don’t have to work with anyone, try to convince anyone to buy anything, nor market anything to anyone. I can just do my own thing and (hopefully) make an okay living in doing so. I honestly don’t know what else to do. I crave independence. This has to work!

I shall try again. If I can replicate my 500% profit success that happened prior to the major fuckup, I can easily turn this into a livable income within 3-6 months. Even if I only double my investment each month—even if I only increase it by 20% each month. I just have to not get overconfident—I have to pay attention to the news, the trajectory charts, and I have to accept losses and trade with logic rather than with emotion.

Let’s see if I can replicate my pre-loss success rate again next month, without the major fuckups. Watch this space. And in the meantime, do enjoy my music!

Thank you for reading and thank you for your support!

#CFDTrading #Business #Personal