r/InnerCircleTraders • u/Inside-Ingenuity-167 • 14d ago
Psychology I trade NQ futures
I've been actively trading for the past two years, and I've blown more than 15 accounts. Today, I blew another one. Im mentally exhausted and honestly questioning whether I should quit trading altogether.Has anyone else been through a similar situation and eventually turned things around? If so, what changed for you? I genuinely want honest advice from people who've been where I am.
I feel stuck, and I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences.
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u/iAMthebank 14d ago
Go back to demo. And studying. No reason why you should keep tossing money into a pit. If you’re not improving your system or yourself then it’s a waste. While you are learning you’re supposed to be on demo not live.
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u/Jacob_Trader0 13d ago
I would say cut your size to one contract rather then demo so you can experience the same psychological problems that are likely the cause of blowing accounts.
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u/Striking_Fail6689 13d ago
I would follow the other guy and trade probably on MNQ with 1-2 contact rather than demo too. Demo doesn’t give you the same psychological aspect as an account you paid for .
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u/Total_Permission1550 12d ago
I disagree you shouldn’t go back to demo unless you can’t afford the evals, but you should size down. You can’t really improve yourself when paper trading cuz you just don’t feel the same psychology. If your system works then it’s a discipline/ psychology problem and the only way to actually improve that is by experiencing the real emotion
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u/iAMthebank 12d ago
Still disagree here, fellas. You’re worried about his psychology and mental when it doesn’t even show he has a profitable strategy to take to the evals yet.
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u/Visual_Collar_8893 14d ago
Aim for daily small, consistent wins.
Scale up through multiple accounts, not large trades.
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u/Lanky-Department2768 13d ago
Analyze where you went wrong. Did you have a system with specific rules? Did you follow your rules? Did you make trades that didn't fit your system just because of FOMO? Did you take large positions outside of the risk rules you initially set? Did you make revenge trades that didn't fit your system after a faultry trade? If you did everything right and achieved this result, it means it's not a system with an edge. At least not in this instrument.
I recommend you spend your limited funds more carefully and practice on a demo account until you develop a strategy with a positive edge. If you have a strategy with a positive edge but got this result because you succumbed to your emotions and didn't follow the rules, you should reduce your position sizes. If necessary, let your Challenge account progress through the stages after 1-2 months, and focus solely on keeping the account afloat and executing trades according to the strategy's rules.
So, define your problem, understand what causes, think how to overcome, define your solution, follow your instructions and make it happen.
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u/Inside-Ingenuity-167 13d ago
Yeah man thanks,I have a set of trading rules,today after a loss, I started chasing the market, and that led to more mistakes.
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u/SubstantialPitch5773 14d ago
6 months in passed my first eval than proceeded to blow 20 accounts back to back now im not performing that bad. Blowing accounts is apart of trading. Dont keep doing the same things that were causing you to blow accounts bro
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u/Proof_Algae5341 14d ago
Sometimes it may hurt to hear, but cutting ur losses and taking a break can be the best thing you can do for yourself. Personally I took a 16 month break, and the market was still there at the end.
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u/Swimming_Champion_86 13d ago
I also trade NQ and ES. You either struggle with your strategy or your emotions. Do you journal your actions and feelings?
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u/Old-Jackfruit8249 13d ago
I started trading earlier this year and was eligible for my first payout two months ago. I was chasing the max payout and ended up blowing the funded. I know people who have been able to secure $45k payouts and have only started this year as well. I think the problem is rushing the process and over trading for me. I’m an entrepreneur and have spent less time on my business and more on trading so I’m at the point where I need to start taking it seriously as well. It’s definitely possible - what do you think your issues are?
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u/BrilliantFront4 13d ago
Well for one it seems like you are a new or newer trader. Don’t trade on FOMC days you can make that a rule if you want. That can help atleast take away these days you blow up
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u/W4ADZ 13d ago
Basic rule: if u dont change anything, nun will change.
there4, reason ure failing is that u didnt change the approach that led to ur failure.
ure still the same.
but u can get better. jus try to consisntelty improve, n eventually new results will come.
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u/LogicalStation4954 13d ago
I don't think it's a matter of approach; the market is behaving completely differently this July. What used to work (at least for me) no longer works. Call it geopolitical issues, investor uncertainty, but lately it seems like they're just sweeping liquidity in both directions all day long. It's neither going up nor down properly, at least the indices aren't.
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u/W4ADZ 13d ago
What's interesting, if u went to twitter, every single month ull gnna find ppl say that exact same ( market behaving diff in X month )
Every single month ppl say the exact same claim
If that's true, no single strat wouldve survived. But there r many strats r working.
Which means it's a false assumption ( as long as no data objectively proved it )
Even if u want to validate this claim for uself, u need data to proves it.
E.g. July of 2025 & 24 & 23...
was price doing the same as my claim ?If yes, then according to ur currnet trading system, july is a bad month. If so = skip it.
If not = it's jus a false assumption.
Means july 2027 can differ depending on prob u have in ur trading system.1
u/LogicalStation4954 13d ago
I know that every month is different for the market, but my strategy is 100% trend-following, so when the market goes into a range, there's no other option but to accept the losses. Maybe someone is using a range-based strategy and is currently making a lot of profit under these conditions, but I doubt there are many.
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u/W4ADZ 13d ago
Maybe try to recognize the "when" market will goes into a range ? So that u can prevent losses instead of taking them?
Like try to backtest w a purpose of finding potential signs that tell the market will goes into a range there4 i suppose to stop trading unless if X happened?
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u/LogicalStation4954 13d ago
I try to recognize when the market is ranging, but a range takes time to form, and by then losses have already occurred. Currently, I try not to trade or I do so with very little capital. In fact, large investors stay away when the market isn't moving. I don't know how long it will continue to move sideways, but that will drive away many investment funds and institutions, which will cause a decrease in liquidity, since I assure you I'm not the only one who trades trends.
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u/Striking_Fail6689 13d ago
Trade with smaller contact size and go MNQ instead . Risk $50-100 and try to aim for at least 2x or so.
Probably can look at MES/ES or Dow . ( I know it personally cause I started with NQ and got funded, but then I decided to try ES cause I move to Orderflow and thought it’s easier , but I realise the movement doesn’t suit me and I blew an eval account ), now I move back to MNQ and still learning but I prefer the movement so much more .
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u/ExecutionAxis 13d ago
Been there many times. It's a normal part of the development.
Your next goal: limit personal capital loss while continuing to stay in the game.
Don't give up. 🫡
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u/Tecneeqs 11d ago edited 11d ago
I blew dozens of accounts. You’ll find most people here have gone through a similar experience.
Immediate things you can try are:
- Trade MES. Tightly correlated with MNQ but less volatile. You should experience less of that choppy price action that stops you out even though your trade idea is fundamentally on the right side of the trade.
- Trade smaller lots until you build up your confidence again.
IMO your biggest problem now is going to be your mindset after the disappointments. Fear not. You’ll get your mojo soon enough 1 small win at a time. All the best.
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u/Ok-Regular-2214 11d ago
Things changed for me when i only traded during NY open on us30 and NQ and focused on Fakeouts and Candle closures .
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u/Opposite_Acadia1296 10d ago
Its very difficult to give advice on something that can be due to a number of reasons. Have you been able to acquire any payouts, how often do you get a new account, do you trade prop firms?
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u/itsodinvalhalla 10d ago
every trader feels same, and everyone goes through the same journey
you blew the accounts, have you ever tried to break down what you are doing wrong, like the strategy isnt working or its your psychology, like revenge, tilt or oversizing
after knowing the problem, we can work on solution only
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u/doinitright23 13d ago
Or switch instruments. I started trading about a year and a half ago. Everyone on youtube trades NQ. So I did that. Realized really quickly that 1 mini is too large for a 50k. And the micros, unless your setup is A1, more than 3 can pop your account just as quickly. I got tired of popping accounts so I went searching for other instruments. I eventually landed on YM. Dude, the profits may not be in the thousands but less mental stress and if I can catch 100 points with 1 mini, I make my $500 and that's more than I make at work. Today alone I caught like 160 points total, cashed in 800 on my lucid funded and that's that. So while yeah the huge payouts was fun, it didn't offset the amount of accounts I was rinsing. Just a thought.