My 9-Day Options Buying Journey: From Success to a Tough Lesson

Hey Redditors, Over the last couple of weeks, I embarked on an intense journey in options buying, aiming for a 10% profit on margin daily through intraday trades. While I achieved some remarkable milestones, my winning streak ended on the 9th day. Here's a detailed breakdown of my experience: --- My Trading Performance (16/12/24 to 26/12/24) Starting Margin: ₹4,739 Daily Goal: 10% profit on margin Winning Streak Performance: Day 1 (16/12/24): ₹4,739 → ₹871 profit (18%) Day 2 (17/12/24): ₹5,610 → ₹538 profit (9.6%) Day 3 (18/12/24): ₹6,148 → ₹712 profit (11.7%) Day 4 (19/12/24): ₹6,860 → ₹816 profit (11.9%) Day 5 (20/12/24): ₹7,676 → ₹702 profit (9.1%) (Weekend: 21st & 22nd December) Day 6 (23/12/24): ₹8,378 → ₹1,154 profit (13.8%) Day 7 (24/12/24): ₹9,532 → ₹1,144 profit (12%) (Christmas Holiday: 25th December) Day 8 (26/12/24): Opened with ₹10,676, added ₹8,000. Total margin ₹18,676 → ₹5,851 profit (31%) Day 9 (27/12/24): The Day the Streak Broke Opening Margin: ₹24,527 (₹9,000 fund transfer added) Total Margin: ₹33,527 Trading Outcome: Loss: ₹3,532 Brokerage and Charges: ₹4,798 Total Trading Loss: ₹8,330 (-25%) Payout: ₹16,000 Closing Margin: ₹9,197 --- Lessons Learned 1. Discipline is Non-Negotiable: The streak-ending day taught me the importance of sticking to my strategy and knowing when to stop. 2. Brokerage Impact: High trading volumes (258 lots) on Day 8 and Day 9 led to significant brokerage charges, which amplified my losses. 3. Emotional Resilience: Recovering a ₹18,000 loss during the day only to close in the red was mentally draining but insightful. Takeaways and the Road Ahead This 9-day journey was a mix of triumph and hard lessons. While I didn't achieve my 10-day goal, I’ve grown tremendously as a trader. I’m now revising my approach, focusing on reducing brokerage impact, managing risk more effectively, and learning from this experience. I’d love to hear from fellow traders—how do you manage emotions and costs during rough trading days? Let’s learn and grow together!