Well said Hurricane. I've had winning streaks like you're experiencing and when that happens experience has taught me that I'm due -- due for a clocking I've spent a lot of time running Monte Carlo Simulations and the end product looks exactly like a stock chart. I would agree that the randomness element of the market is around 90%. There are definitely instances where a big position is being sold (or bought) at $X and each time it hits that price it's like running into a brick wall. There isn't much random about that. Huxley is a recruiter for trading related jobs and the main ingredient they look for in a candidate is a quantitative background. All the big banks do some major number crunching, as do the reputable prop firms. http://us.huxley.com/us/JobSearch/S...29&Submit=Search&Mode=JobSearch.SearchResults
If a person says the market is mostly random it is because he IS a thinking person. It takes a lot of brain power and time to analyze the markets from a statistical standpoint. Simply getting into the schools that offer these programs requires a high GPA and GRE score. "Lazy thinker?" That's actually quite funny. When you use stats to base your trades on the strategies are limited only by your imagination and your acumen for mathematics. Here's an example of Time Series Analysis. Still think Quants are lazy thinkers? http://www.unizar.es/galdeano/actas_pau/PDFVIII/pp425-435.pdf And then there's the programming aspect of trading and ability for your application to learn and adjust to changing market conditions. I can assure you quantitative traders are anything but lazy thinkers.
Hi CL, Well its a tough road but the potential is there. I suggest you stay with your job for the time being and read some books and practise with a sim account. Don't trade real money until you are consistently profitable for a month on one ES (that is if you trade ES - perhaps a grain corn or wheat or soy beans would be better). You will need to find your style and reading Market Wizards will give you a sampling of different approaches. You will need to develop a strategy with an "edge" so that means either making more on a winning trade than a losing trade or having more winning trades than losing trades. Is Day Trading worth it? == very hard way to make money if you're only looking to be self employed then starting your won business is easier and more likely to succeed. Where should I start my education in day trading? Are there any books you would recommend...etc? ==> Sniper trading : essential short-term money-making secrets for trading stocks, options, and futures Author Angell, George. ForeX trading for maximum profit : the best kept secret off Wall Street Author Horner, Raghee How long will it take me to get good at it? ===> Could be never perhaps 0.5% of retail succeed. How much money should I start out with? ===> Depends if you followed the advice above about sim and what you are trading and how much practice you do before starting, $20,000?? Do I have to do it everyday to start off with? ==> see above I hope it helps PM if you need more. Good luck
chances are you will end up KNOWING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about day trading except you will be much older knowledge=profitability, there is no other knowledge in this particular case..
There are many fly by night outfits out there that just want your money in their "pool" ... they claim they will teach you IF you put $10,000 - 50,000 up in an account for A YEAR (THAT CAN NOT BE TAKEN OUT WITHOUT PENALTY BEFORE YEAR IS UP ) They let you sit in their office for a while ,while telling you to trade 100 share lots and charge you commission on every trade .... this will eat into your money little by little and eventually they will say you are ready and "take the reigns off" and let you trade any share amount within your account balance PLUS their intraday leverage they give you at maybe 6 or 10 to 1 ... without proper training and risk management you will lose your money in months maybe less ... I suggest a firm that allows you to trade on a simulator WITHOUT much "locked up " money ... anjd A TRUE SIMULATOR THAT CAN NOT BE GAMED ... in addition align yourself either in their office or via IM with a PROVEN TRADER who makes money , he or she will give you insight .... SIMULATOR AND SUPPORT WITH LOW START UP IS IDEAL ......... IF I COME ACROSS ONE I WILL RECOMMEND ...........
=========== CC7; Its strange but most of these posters dont seem to like the idea of a lazy/random walk down Wall Street. This may or may not help your daytrading.But it sure helped me; Market Makers Edge[daytrade] book.Frankly my day trading results were so much worse than random, it made me question the idea of a random walk down any street. LOL Problem with many old but gold trading books, they may have only a ''fraction'' of some good patterns. Clarkc7, dont kid yourself. If you find your daytrades much worse than random-dont keep walking down Wall Street.LOL. But on a more serious note, consider the multimonth charts in ; Market Makers Edge. How long will it take? Sorry i cant answer that-that would be a prediction.
The most important factors to become a successful daytrader: Family background is the most important. Rich parents to fall back on when loosing big. Successful traders are good salesmen. Can convince riskmanager they can make back the big loss. You have to be likable. Don't be a daytrader for more than 3-4 years no matter how much you are making - sooner or later you will loose all of it... Move onto something else ...otherwise you will become a pathetic joke of the society