Phase One: Change of Plans

After trading for about two weeks, I have lost nearly half of my initial capital of $400. I put an additional $800 to bring the total of the account to $1,000. I will wait until the end of the month to begin trading again. I should have $2,000 in the account of my own money and then trade spreads or sell cash secured puts on low-cost stocks. I also asked my dad if he could lend me $2,000, and he agreed, so my capital will be in the low $4,000 by the end of the month. I need to start making calculated plays instead of treating the stock market like a casino. If I am going to treat it in such a manner, I should act like the casino itself. If I begin to see success within two years, I should be able to get an additional $4,000 from my father and possibly $4,000 from my sister. That will bring the total contribution of the account to $24,000 or $36,000 if I decide to neglect to add funds to my Roth IRA until I turn 25. In the following days, I will create a well-thought-out trading plan and redo my calculation to incorporate the possible returns that others have experienced with a given strategy