To anyone who is not shy... I am relatively new to all this, but I have always wondered. Does anyone here make a living by only trading? Just wondering if it is possible. Hope I'm not getting too personal!
I derive my primary source of income from trading now. It took me a year and a half to get to the point that I was consistently profitable to make trading my primary job. I also would recommend that you take into account the added pressure that comes with trading as a primary job and assess your emotional suitability for it.
This thread is in little dated but should answer your question: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=807&pagenumber=1
As long as you are consistant it isn't dificult. Im a college student, and my only expense is beer, but for those of you with families, you have to condider the stress of NEEDING to make money. It can lead to forced trades. Consider it this way. 220 trading days a year. $500 a day, which is very easy is 110k. 2k a day, which isn't that hard will give you a half mil. As long as you don't have too many bad days, you should be fine if you can trade well.
First of all, I don't trade for a living (maybe some day). I made decent % return last year, but haven't traded really at all this year (too much to do at work). Anyway, my opinion is that when your bills depend on your trading, it's a completely different story. Ever see someone on "who wants to be a millionaire" say: "it's funny how you suddenly doubt yourself when you get up here." That, friends, is what you call pressure.
Even though it is fun to dream, it's nice to get a hard shot of reality. It lets you know what you're really dealing with. I am young (22), but I do have a wife and son, and another baby on the way. All of your comments are much appreciated. Thanks again for the insight. LN
Look at trading as a pursuit at least like anything in the real world. Ask yourself, What does it take for me to be a player in this activity? Know the statistics of starting your own business. The Small Business Association states that 9 out of 10 small businesses fail within the first year of operation. How many people join a gym for a specific purpose, yet never do what it takes to accomplish it? How many people make it into an Ivy League school? Are you strong enough to identify psychological "thinking" from emotional to using pure reason, and logic. Disciplined enough to change habits? Etc, Etc, Etc, My point here is that successful people know what it means to make a commitment. Seminars are full of marketing B.S.. Its part of business, and its your job to see through that, and extract only the needed information, which is minimal. (Buyer beware) To get a start understanding successful traders characteristics, read "Market Wizards", and "The Mind of a Trader" P.S. Before entering any high risk activity the proper training is required. The best training is under as close to live conditions as possible to provide yourself with close to the stress of live fire. Papertrading is recommended until you prove to yourself consistancy of being green short-term. Then start with 100 or 200 share blocks(less if needed), until you prove to yourself the same consistancy under real stress. Just like the real world, a business will fail if they grow to fast. Making a plan, and recording your consistancy results will tell you when your ready to grow.(Take the next step in your plan) Jeffrey
I trade a lot since my job as a software consult allows me time to look at the market. I am using some simple style so that I wont need to spend too much time on trading (I watch about a dozen mid-big caps, and play intraday break-outs after 9:45).. put in an initial stop, and once you are somewhat in the money, move the stop to break-even and there you have a 'free' position that will work for you (hopefully till the close or hit profit target). check the 15-min chart once in a while to see if you wonna move the stops/targets. Meanwhile, I am looking at forex stuff... seems the Yen moves around the clock, and the Canadian$ has nice moves from 7am... folks on the west coast may also play the European sessions where the Euro and Swissy etc move quite well. My plan is to keep my 6-digit salary until I can accumulate about $2m from trading then quit job.
dozu888 I hope you reach your goal. Does anyone actually have or know enyone with an established corperation set up for tax pourposes? Wade Cook (I hate to use the W word) advertises a seminar to set up a "Nevada Corperation" and I have seen books about setting up corperations at the book store.