Day trading as a living should be impossible

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by abdul_mcgee, Nov 10, 2010.

  1. wrbtrader

    wrbtrader

    Family with kids for me. Yeah, I use coupons when going shopping and try to wait for the sales.

    Yet, one thing about being an at home retail trader, there's less expenses in comparison to commuting to an office.

    Mark
     
    #61     Nov 11, 2010
  2. Exactly right. You should first identify yourself in a cosmogonical sense of life, as a whole.
     
    #62     Nov 11, 2010
  3. Please repeat what you just wrote in full sentences. I have a problem with fragments. I'm not being sarcastic, I think I'm missing a part of my brain.
     
    #63     Nov 11, 2010
  4. So what are your monthly expenses? Including accounting fees, taxes and everything else?

    You'd be surprised what you find out once you go past amateur budgeting.
     
    #64     Nov 11, 2010
  5. But only trade it because it has ACTION ACTION ACTION..and who needs to sit and wait for the real signals.

    Aint that the truth?
     
    #65     Nov 11, 2010
  6. Bob111

    Bob111

    what accounting fees are you talking about? for last decade or so i do my taxes(and all relatives) by myself..our corp accountant double check them for free before IRS..that's once a year + 4 quarterly estimated payments(which is really easy to calculate)...$35 for tax cut soft.. all other expenses-1.5-3K max..few utility bills=300-400,about 300-350 for property tax..food about 500,gas 300..kid classes are about 400..that's about it...practically no cloth expenses,since i'm trading from home wearing only undies..:p
    i'm not sure,what i suppose to find...or look for..are going to teach me about budgeting? you can't be serious..:p
     
    #66     Nov 11, 2010
  7. I agree, our costs are high. We used to live on $900/month :)

    But really, we live a very good life. I've managed to save 50-75% of my income annually.
     
    #67     Nov 11, 2010
  8. PS: Since we are talking about it, I pay $200/month in accountant fees for them to do all the work and be my therapists.

    Also, if it wasn't clear, I have two businesses.
     
    #68     Nov 11, 2010
  9. spindr0

    spindr0

    How do you know you're going to be on the right side of an intraday move of up to 6%? Just because it's there doesn't mean it's easy to nab.

    Are you insane? No. But if you think that you can paper trade for a few months and then regularly generate a monthly return of 8-10% with real money then you may be in for a rude awakening and possibly a blown out account.
     
    #69     Nov 11, 2010
  10. spindr0

    spindr0

    The problem with this is that the intraday moves aren't linear. The are multiple reversals and you only know the results in hindsight. You may be up 1/2 a pct then down 2 pct before being up 1 pct and that may occur multiple times. Tick by tick data is very different than 6% intraday ranges.

    Margin is a double edged sword. In 3X ETF's, what goes up 3X as fast also goes down 3X as fast.
     
    #70     Nov 12, 2010