Yes, I abhor off days. All I want to do is trade. I don't feel right unless my mind is totally mangled by the time I go to bed. I don't go home on holidays. I'm lucky I still have friends and family who care about me. I live to trade. It makes me happy, and I'm not ashamed of it.
All though I am fairly new to daytrading (since june of last year) I to have rarely taken a day off, for example i even traded dec 24! Recently I was in california for 10 days and managed to go a whole week without looking at marketwatch even! I think it totally depends on the company you travel with and the company you are surrounded by. As a fellow action junkie i to have this problem of missing out on days but thats also because I enjoy what I do so much that even though it is a job and it pays the bills I'm always enjoying what I'm doing, and I think the rest of us can vouche for that as well. So if you have to check a few quotes in between pool bars and bikinis well fair enough
What's the point in making money, if you don't give yourself the time to enjoy it. I have 4-6 weeks off every year to spend holidaying with my family - no computer, no markets, no newspapers, no trading. The markets will always be there, with profits waiting to be taken. You're not going to miss out.
I used to hate taking days off. We used to always go on vacation on the west coast, love Tahoe, so that I could trade for the majority of the day and then enjoy something later before coming back to research. Life goes on though and things change. A trader is who I am, its my identity as a person, but it's not all I am and I hope to have a long time to enjoy this newfound knowledge. Brandon
I just enjoy my life and what I do so much that everyday is a vacation for me.. But, I really had to bust my ass for the last 6 years to actually get here.
Yes..it's quite a shock to the system when vacations for 3 weeks and spending 25K....and then losing 60K as forgone income on top of that. Be sure to have a lots of fun on the vacation. Because it sucks quite hard when building up for the estimated quarterlies.
<i>OP:"I guess if you're making high six figures or even $1 million or more, then taking days off will be easier.... " BlackJack: "no, the more you make the more you wanna work, because of the opportunity cost of not working."</i> __________________ Blackjack has this one right. Back in the Golden Age ('98-'00) I was putting up numbers that make my current earnings look like micro-peanuts... and I couldn't bear to miss a single minute of market action. Now? Screw it... it's not like I'm going to miss a 200 point move in QCOM or CMGI, so missing a week or two is no big deal at all. (Yeah, some stocks still do put up big moves, but nothing is half as predictable as it used to be.)
I know it can be quite addicting sitting in front of the TWS casino screen consuming crack, err.. financial news... Thats what this thread is about at the core.