1 There are no chronicles of great daytraders because there just is no skill there to build. There are lots of chronicles of great investors, money managers, and speculators. All the great investors/speculators and all the greatest trades are about finding vastly asymmetric risk/reward opportunities that RARELY present themselves. You need Huge Gains to grow an account and its just impossible to achieve if you close all positions at EOD. 2 The best way to not trade is to not watch the quote monitor. If you watch all day you will be compelled to trade all day. Your brain has a way of seeing patterns in randomness when its just randomness. Its best not to look at randomness if you want to maintain your sanity. Its better to write trade ideas, rank them, and then execute only the best. 3 A losing trade is 10x more emotionally devastating than a winning trade is pleasing. It doesn't matter how small the loss - losing is just devastating. As Mike Tyson said, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face". Losing is like getting punched in the face and the stress it triggers makes you stupid (lots of studies done on this). 4 Consistency is a fairy tale in trading. Trading opportunities come in Feast or Famine cycles. Since there is no regularity to trading opportunities there can be no consistency. But the bills are always consistently due each month so the lack of consistent income is stressful and I noted what stress makes you in #3. 5 The line between luck and skill is very clear in sports, art, science, and most endeavors. But in trading that line is very vague. On net John Paulson probably hasn't make a penny for investors yet he is a billionaire. (He lost more billions being long gold then he made being short sub prime). How much has Victor N. made net for investor's? Maybe zero, and yet he is the greatest speculator (I admire him greatly) who has mentored more billionaire HF managers than anyone. 6 I think most people that get into trading do so because (1) they are not making enough from their job or (2) they don't like their job. So they look to trading to fulfill the fantasy of being independent and wealthy. But its unwise to quit your day job unless you have millions saved up from working/trading then even in the worse case scenario you can live off interest and some principal. 7 I'm not a young man anymore. I now have a family and need to start thinking long term.
Thanks for explaining your family situation. Personally, I have always discourage people with "responsabilities" to get into trading. This is just confirming my bias.
after ten years... hell, in way less than ten years, no trade is devastating or euphoric. Losses are mildly irksome and profits are mildly pleasant. trading, done right, has very little emotion involved. becomes boring as hell, for the most part. just a profession that takes time, educational investment, personal study and hard work
Don't lose hope. Take a step back and detach yourself from money, it's great feeling. If you have six figures in the bank you are still way ahead of most people anyways, but forget about where you are at. You are young trust me, I have lived many ups and downs. Try to get into the fire department or get a sales job and work at night...you can do it buddy in the meantime downsize. The worst thing that can happen to you has not one thing to do with money . I know you won't understand that but trust me. Wake up tom and just choose to feel happy. Good luck brother
Losing is supposed to be a part of your strategy. Cut Losses Short is ancient wisdom in the trading world. And fortunately trading is nothing liked a boxing match. As somebody who's been punched in the face, I'd rather take a losing trade any time. Toughen up or get out of the game.
thesniper is looking for advice on finding work after quitting daytrading. Not to be lectured on the perils of trading.
Let's cut the bullshit people ok? Not everyone is fit to be a trader. Say goodbye, wish him well and carry on, just reading his opinions about trading confirm the above.
I do have a degree (Econ/Finance) and I got a dead end job for 36k/year out of college. A coworker had an MBA and was making 50k. And this was 10 years ago, its a worse situation now. Now you need to graduate from a top 10 school + have postgraduate degree + have a strong network to get a decent job. Education is the biggest racket in America today. Most cashiers/waiters/baristas are college educated, some are even lawyers. And whatever jobs outsourcing hasn't killed robotics and automation will (including trading). To surivive in the future you need to be: (1) a brainiac with strong technical skills (2) a business owner or a (3) a top 1% rent/dividend collector - everyone else will suffer. Maverick - you're one of the few guys that has met thousands of traders. You know for a fact that anyone that is daytrading in 2014 is just wasting their time. The daytrading era of the late 90s and 2008/2009 is long gone. I've tried every strategy on every asset class at every time frame. I'm not going to say nothing works because there are classic strategies that do work. But daytrading doesn't work and using tons of leverage doesn't work either.
Sorry, I did not want to lecture. The pressure of trading is high enough, for me to more often than not discourage people with responsabilities, as when times are not good, the "responsabilities" can really add significant stress. Nothing more. You have an economics/finance degree + experience of trading : have you tried enquiring about risk management roles / trading coach / trader teaching position ?