I almost ruined my life on Monday. I have been bored as fuck WFH and stupidly started doing riskier and riskier stock trades (0DTE QQQ options) over the last 6 months, culminating in me losing $200k on Monday (about 50% of my net worth that's taken 10+ years to save) and barely saving it.I am super fucking lucky that I was able to recover it (by doubling down) but holy shit it scared the fuck out of me. I have no idea how I was capable of this but I guess I have a gambling problem. I called my brokerage already to tell them to turn off my Options access (but those fuckers are dragging their feet). Pretty sure my life would've blown up if things went slightly differently, fiance would've freaked out, parents would've been like wtf? House dreams out the window... jesus. Don't be like me.
>>62722737lol
next time just screenshot the reddit post
>>62722737Why did you do it? What did you feel before doing it?
>>62722737I've got a tip for you: you should look into the Saylor Moon portfolio. 50% MSTR, 50% SpaceX. Life is dull without a bit of whimsy.
>>62722810It's all from me buddy, but don't believe if you don't want. >>62722813I was doing some stupid scalping method where I'd try to make 1-2k a day on QQQ 0DTE calls/puts. My strategy was dumb, if it moved against me, I would keep buying and scaling up until it moved the other direction (and hopefully made back my losses). If you look at the chart on Monday, it just went up non-fucking stop, so I had puts that kept getting raped until I got super lucky in the afternoon and there was a little reversal. It's insane how it snowballs, I started just buying $500 chunks, then I was in $10k before I knew it, and then $20k, and then I would roll to a higher strike price, and within a few hours I was down $200k. I kept thinking "there's no way it continues like this" and would buy more to try to make back the losses. Absolute retardation and I am still shocked I did that
>>62722737Yeah I'mma be real with you dog. You need to close your brokerage account. Or at the very least set up a kind of circuit breaker that will automatically exit everything if you go above a certain percentage loss. I don't think you should be actively trading anything anymore. Just DCA into spy or your IRA/401K or something. Trading out of boredom especially is a sign that you need to stop before you end up committing suicide from a lifechanging loss.
>>62722737Don't you now owe capital gains tax on $200,000 lmao?
>>62722833>My strategy was dumb, if it moved against me, I would keep buying and scaling up until it moved the other direction (and hopefully made back my losses)so martingale?
>>62722836Yeah agreed - not closing my brokerage account, but blocking options access going forward. It's weird because for the last 10 years I was a good little ETF boy and recently had the urge to do some higher risk stuff. Not sure why that all changed this year, I guess boredom. I either need to get some more hobbies or a more engaging job I think. >>62722844If you realize $200k losses and then realize $200k gains in the same year, from a tax perspective it cancels out, so no. >>62722847Basically, yes. Lots of small wins until one day like this can ruin you like I experienced first hand.
>>62722859>If you realize $200k losses and then realize $200k gains in the same year, from a tax perspective it cancels out, so no.Did you actually sell the first batch before rebuying it along with the second?
>>62722833yeah, Jesus Christ, dude. You need to stop. If you wanna actually be a trader, and you're hardcore serious that that's what you wanna be when you grow up, then sim trade. Stay in the simulator for a couple years until you're proven to be profitable. Stay in the simulator, trading whatever strategy without worrying about PnL or the sim balance just to learn the technicals until you're consistently profitable. Like at least a profit factor of 2 for like 90 days. And then don't go live until you've doubled the sim account from that point on, trading like you would a real account.Also, don't allow yourself to actively trade with your net worth. Never leave a meaningful amount of your net worth in a trading account. Once you're ready to go live, open up a separate trading account with the minimum amount needed to trade your strategy. One where it'll take a while to transfer more money into, so that you can't go insane and blow your life savings. And before you ever go live or even consider sim trading, read books on trading. Not "how to trade" books, but biographies and memoirs, and books on trading psychology. The Market Wizards series, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, everything by Mark Douglas, Best Loser Wins, Pit Bull, etc.You got extremely lucky. Phenomenally lucky. By doubling down and doubling down, adding to a loser, you did the financial equivalent of putting a revolver to your head and pulling the trigger six times, and every time the bullet was a dud. Do not ever do anything like that again.
>>62722833Martingale strategy with options…mouthbreather.
Gambling addiction is a bitch. It's weird how money just feels like ephemeral digits one moment, but the moment you lose it (or almost lose it) it hits you what that money could actually be used for: a house, car, debt payments, sex with a 10/10 escort everyday for over a year.
>>62722737If this is actually real, you need to never go near any kind of trading platform as long as you live. Dumb luck gave you a second chance, there may not be another.
>>62723168Yup. It's insane how the brain works that way. Even though I "understand" all the psychology I still fell for it completely. Stay diligent out there bros. Don't do what I did and chase fast gains.
