The trading experiment.

Previously posted on https://www.publish0x.com/?a=46dBr8Dod7

Good morning/evening
 
I have not posted in a while, but that is not to say I have not been busy. I have been using the time to learn new trading skills and get back to good old research.
 
I felt I needed to do more, to buy and hold BTC is easy. I was excited in the bear market when BTC was on sale and I am excited now watching it go up but I wanted to learn more. I wanted to understand and practice how to execute different trades and how to make the right decisions using different tools and charts. I am not saying I am there yet but if I never try, I will never learn.
 
The sort of things I have been learning are about the different accounts, all I used mostly was spot buy and sell so Margin, isolated margin, futures all needed to be looked at and tested. 
 
MARGIN. Borrowing funds that are collateralized by what you have in that account. If I had 10 open positions the funds can move from different positions to prevent you being liquidated.
ISOLATED MARGIN. This is restricted to what funds you have in that individual trade, the trade is 'isolated'
CROSS MARGIN. You actually buy the token, and you can long or short that token, with or without leverage.
FUTURES. This is betting on prices of a coin or token going up or down without borrowing and using a contract without actually buying the token.
LEVERAGE. This is where you can 'use more than you have'. Amplify gains or losses.
LIQUIDATED. Your position is closed as you have run out of funds or the market has gone in the opposite direction to your trade.
STOP LOSS. This is set to minimise any losses you may incur.
TRAILING STOP LOSS. As above but it moves.Set at a percentage to track your trade in 1 direction.
TAKE PROFIT. A price you can set to exit a trade and take profit.
 
Fistly in practice mode I looked at tokens and placed an imaginairy trade and followed it as though I had used money. (There are accounts you can use for this, that was my step 2) I had a few practice trades and then some real ones. But I must add I did this with really small amounts.
 
So what have I done? What trades did I execute?
 
Well I went long on XRP, no leverage (the XRP army failed me) I was expecting good news and thought the price was going to go up.
 
I went short on APT 3X leverage (ok that one didn't work) Looked at token unlocks and expected a sell off of tokens but that did not happen.
 
Short on BLUR (LOL just as I did that one well it went up for the first time in like a year) I shorted it on that line, just before it started going up.
 
Long on LINK, no leverage (Still in this one)
 
There were around a dozen or more trades, some with small gains and some small losses.
 
What I will say though in my defence just as I started to short a few tokens BTC had a run and dragged the price of some of those tokens up.
 
 
What have I learnt from this experience?
 
 
I am not ready for leverage, I think you have to be more experienced in trading, plus I hate the thought of 'borrowing' or using money that is not mine, although if APTOS had gone down instead of up my thoughts may be different.
Timing. I had the whole bear market to short tokens!
Interest and fees were minimal, I did not need to worry so much about that but it varies.
It sometimes feels like gambling more than trading.
It is time consuming, I am still a bit slow and triple check everything.
 
This is a work in progress and I would not suggest that this is a strategy to follow. But again I have funds set aside for this and only small amounts for each trade, also my post's are more of a recording of thing's I am doing or have done in crypto and to look back on. It has been fun and I will keep practicing. Most trades have been on Kucoin as that is where most of the trading fund and play money are located.
 
My portfolio is also rather different now as well, but that is a post for another day.
 
As always thank you for reading and please feel free to comment.
 
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