trading or even the other way? What are the pros and cons of trading from home with own capital versus doing for a job?
some quick ones are that you in general can't lose money (just get fired if you suck), you usually have access to better tools ! and developers to help you out! bloomberg data etc. some other big things if you have a family are health insurance! also 401k profit sharing is fun. the biggest thing is that you only get a percentage of your earnings! I don't know what bonuses look like in terms of percentage of gains, but if you make 100k a year on your own trading, and you think you can keep scaling, consider doing it on your own.
As career trader, the salary you get is just enough to pay your bills. For example ~100K in NYC. If you and/or the desk you work with make(s) money, you get a bonus somewhere between 8-12% of the profit you generated. Bonuses are paid annually around Jan/Feb. So, you need to wait to see your piece of the pie (if any). If you break even the first year, they may give you a lifeline for another year. If you lose as mention above, you likely to get booted out. There are other issues such as risk management limitations, they come after you or liquidate your positions if you have high overnight exposure. So you have volks breathing down your neck on a daily basis. You cannot take wild bets with bank money and must work by the rules. In addition, each trader has a annual "budget" which is the target trading profit expected from you. If you meet or exceed your budget you'll be celebrated (at least for a couple of months). There are some perks as immediate IT support, quantitative finance support, etc.
I take trading at home anyday. I am my own IT department, I make all the rules and reap all the rewards or suffer the losses. No one else accountable other than myself. Awesome responsibility but not for everyone.
good thing doing trading as a career is that you willbe able to master the market. yu can get new ideas from fellow traders.
As a career trader you don't risk your own money, which is great for a bigginer. Persentage you get depends on a company you work for. However, you can both trade for yourself and be career trader on different markets (forex and stocks, for example).
Trading at home is better than working for a prop shop IMHO...as long as you have the capital to fund it. All a prop shop really does is give you leverage and market access, you can get the same market access from IB and if you have enough capital you don't need the huge leverage. As far as going from trading at home to trading at a hedge fund or bank, I doubt 99% of them would ever hire someone whose only experience was trading for themselves. Those firms tend to look down on day traders and most would file your resume in the trash can if you put day trader or indivudual investor as your occupation. You would have to be a real baller, have years of audited statements and a strategy that you could articulate and which fit the overall fund profile to have a chance.
Why would I go from trading at home to doing it as a job for someone else? That would be opposite thinking. I started trading so I could work in my boxers from home and never work for a boss again. It worked.