Hello, I have posted a few times on this site with questions and have always received a wealth of information. Thanks. My questions is this: I am a young 30s small business owner who generates an annual salary for myself of approx 100k. The business I own has unique hours weekdays (early afternoon till evening 4 days a week and Saturdays). I also have a strong interest in the market and trading. It is something that I would like to incorporate into my life. I have a prop firm in NYC who is willing to let me come on with full knowledge of my current work schedule. I told the firm that I could trade full time two days per week and 9am-1pm 3 days a week. Through all the posts that I have have read on the site they are definitely one of the more reputable names in the industry - if you can say that. They are going to sponsor me for my S7 and away I go. My question is there anyone else out there who has had a similar relationship with owning a business or holding down a job that generated a decent living outside of trading. I am not about to leave a business that generates decent cash flow day in day out to be at terminal so I can trade the close every day of the week and be worrying about my mortgage and bills. (By the way - I am married - no kids - not overextended financially) On the other hand can I develop as a Trader while maintaining this type of schedule. Also with all the the info on this site what % of Prop traders that actually stay in the game are consistently generating 100K + per year. Is it wiser for me to continue to just focus on my current business and fill my SEP retirement account and follow the market in my own time. Thanks for any input.
You can ABSOLUTELY develop as a trader with almost any schedule. Just choose a time frame (perhaps daily or weekly) or a methodology that allows you to trade and not have to see each and every tick. At least for right now, until the greatest of all things happens......you CAN'T afford NOT to trade. And I do sincerely hope this happens for you!! Personally I trade using daily charts for futures (approx 4 day holds) and weekly charts for forex. My orders are entered usually within the first fifteen minutes of trading for a given market. I enter and exit on stops. This allows me to "work" outside of trading. When I started trading more actively, 9 years ago, I worked at night to be able to track and trade the markets during the day. (I had the benefit of youth on my side as sometimes this meant staying up for 2-3 days straight at times)(not healthy, but the drive was there) I also had a construction company from 2000 to 2005. This allowed me a lot of flexibility when it came to the markets and my schedule. All the best to you!!
Your situation is actually the BEST way to do it. You have steady income outside trading, so it will alleviate much of the stress involved. go for it.
I agree wityh everyone else, go for it. I would just add two things. Even though you have a decent amount of money START SMALL. I don't think that can be stressed enough. Start as small as possible that it will still matter to you. Second I would look at keeping consistant hours. maybe trade everyday from 8-12. become an expert on the morning. trading 12-4 two days a week sounds like a disaster to me. You won't get comfortable with the time frame. All times are not teh same. Hope that helps,
Thanks for the responses. Greatly Appreciated! Also a general question - on the prop side of things - of the traders that actually make it past the initial period what % actually stay on and actually start over time generating for themselves on average an income of $100k or more per year. What does the distribution look like? Is just a select few who make a nice wage while the rest fight on a daily basis for the money to pay their basic bills. I know this is also a very general question but any one who has worked at prop firm for a while and has insight into this I would appreciate it. Thanks