The joy of doubling my capital hasn't even settled in, and the non-farm data has dealt me a blow—this is already the 8th day of my struggle in the contract market. Yesterday, I just added 40U, and my account finally climbed to 150U. I was thinking of taking advantage of the market this afternoon, but now I can only stare blankly at the screen.
The operations in the afternoon actually went quite smoothly. After the market dropped, it rebounded. In this one-sided market, going with the trend is definitely correct. I picked my moments to try some event contracts, and the most eye-catching was the ETH long position at noon, which I held for two hours and made 50U. But my hands were itchy, and I couldn't resist selling early; later, I watched the price surge to 2530, and I regretted it terribly. However, at least it validated that my thinking was correct, which made me feel a bit more secure.
Who would have thought that as soon as the non-farm data came out tonight, the coin price turned into a rollercoaster, bouncing around to the point of dizziness. I had originally planned to bet my 150U in batches, mainly using U-based perpetual contracts and flexibly adding event contracts, but this chaotic market completely disrupted my rhythm. Especially with the 10-minute event contracts, the volatility is so fast that it’s impossible to catch; one second I’m in profit, and the next second I might be stuck. In the end, I simply switched to watching the 1-hour K line to find support levels to place orders, avoiding the 10-minute short-term trades as much as possible.
This cautiousness is something I learned after paying a painful tuition fee a few days ago. I used to think that the higher the leverage, the faster I could profit, but ended up giving back all the hard-earned profits and almost getting liquidated. Now, I’ve finally learned to follow the rules: first take a 10% position to test the waters, then if I profit, I’ll add to my position in two increments, each time only adding 10%. I no longer dare to bet everything like I did before. More importantly, no matter how much leverage I use, I must set stop losses; this has become second nature to me—once the market reverses and there's no stop loss, my capital could disappear in the blink of an eye.
Regarding event contracts, I've figured out a few tricks: they are only suitable for volatile markets, especially for 10-minute short-term trades, where you need to first check the 15-minute K line to determine the direction. For example, if the K lines are oscillating within a range in the last few hours, then look for low points to go long and high points to go short; however, if the overall trend is upward, you must not go short at potential breakout points and must wait until the trend is clear before taking action. There's another pitfall I’ve fallen into several times: never place an order during K line transitions, like between 11:00 and 11:15, when prices can jump around easily, making it very easy to trigger stop losses.
The most crucial lesson is to learn to 'admit defeat'. After two consecutive wrong calls, I must force myself to stay calm for an hour before returning. There was a time I lost three times in a row and stubbornly held on, ending up with nothing; now I truly understand: in the contract market, staying alive is so much more important than making money. Those who shout 'All in' in the live streams, very few can last until the end of the month, and I don't want to become one of them.
But tonight, as soon as the non-farm payroll data came out, all the hard-earned rules I had summarized became irrelevant, and the price gapped up significantly. I realized that when faced with such news-driven volatility, the best action is 'no action'; being less active can lead to fewer mistakes.
Looking back at when I first started trading contracts, I was only thinking about doubling my money, thinking it was no different from betting on highs and lows; now, with just 150U, I understand that 'survival first' is not being conservative, but having the confidence to stay alive. I used to think that seasoned traders setting stop losses were too rigid, but after being liquidated a few times, I understood that they are not timid; they know that only by staying alive can they slowly make profits. This 150U doesn’t seem like much, but if I act recklessly like before, I might be left with only half of it by tomorrow.
Now I stare at the screen every day, my mind filled with how to survive a few more days in this chaotic market. I realize that trading contracts is not about luck; you need to analyze K lines to find support and resistance, monitor news to judge trends, and calculate leverage to control positions. Every step must be taken carefully. The market never shows mercy, and those newcomers who shout 'I will definitely profit next time' often disappear from the market the next day. I don't want to become one of them, so I can only learn bit by bit, step by step, even if it's slow, at least I can last a few more days.
