Before I ever thought about trading stocks, let alone trading stocks for a living as I have done for nearly ten years, I was a sports gambler. You form an opinion, best done through research and back testing, and then you take a position. I have never read a book on trading although I read a good deal. The market is about testing one's wits and one's will. I have a resume of some academic and professional achievement as I was a respected professional in another life. But now in society's eyes, I am a daytrader, which society views as some sort of gambler which I was, and I was never ashamed of. The market on the other hand does not give my resume or achievement much cred. Just as gangstas earn their cred in the thug life, traders earn their cred in the same way, on the street, albeit that we are talking about two entirely different streets. I love trading because it supports some of my inherent antisocial tendencies. When you trade on your own, there is no office politics, no mulligans or do overs, no arbitration, or no stinking legal remedies. There is no crying in baseball and there can be no whining in trading, although this forum provides a place for those to whine with whom the market has had its way with.
Thanks again for the replies..... I just noticed other post asking the same.... my apologies for the redundancy.
First post on Elite Trader. I'm still a college student, but have a job lined up with a large prop shop/ market maker in Chicago. While I have next to zero trading experience, I have been actively trying to study and read books, so I feel I could possibly make a recommendation: Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. http://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Random..._bbs_sr_1/103-7294350-6199022?ie=UTF8&s=books It's about accepting that the markets are random, and that "success" may just be dumb luck... it also makes a case for disproportionately buying options rather than selling them because of the "Black Swan" problem (you don't know black swans exist until you see them) One firm I interviewed with was so entranced by this idea that they named the company after it: Cygnus Atratus (Black Swan in Latin). Probably preaching to the choir here, since you all have lots of experience and I have little. Nevertheless, if you haven't read Fooled By Randomness, you may find it at least somewhat interesting.
Your not preaching to the choir at all here. This Trading and Financial game is easy to learn, Yet, difficult to master. Just when I felt some what comfortable with what I learnedâ¦â¦and even tried paper tradingâ¦â¦BAMM ! ! the market throws another (random) curve ball⦠..LOLOLOL So as I have stated, âALLâ comments and suggestions are appreciated. I will bring it all together and hopefully put together a plan that works. Kudos for having the job lined up prior to going to college. Did they discuss which licenses you will be required to get and when ? My employer gave 6 months to get the 7 and 63. Funny, because the investment advisor I worked for didnât require licenses. Trades were placed with various brokersâ¦â¦.yet no licenses were necessary to place the calls. But my current employer use STC: http://www.stcusa.com/ for the study material. Then I used books from Schaums to cross reference the information. Thanks for the suggestion Chnmille and good luck in Chicago.
How does one get started...and how did you get started ? -- I saw the movie wall street. I wanted that life style so bad I got on the computer and looked up "careers in finance". At first I wanted to be like Gordon Gekko...a money manager, then I thought about being an Investment banker, then an Analyst. The problem was that you had to be genius just to walk in the door. Not much later I found this thing called day trading (year 2003) in the "Investing" section of the book store, and bought the book "Beginner's Guide to Day Trading Online". I was hooked after that, and wanted to do it ever sense. It seemed like easy money, something I could do at home, "work" my own hours, no education required, and I didn't need much money.At 19 I opened my first trading account and never looked back. Trading is much harder than I could have ever imagined at the time, but it's my passion, and one day it will pay off.
I read Davars book and I made up my mind I wanted to buy CA stocks. I walked in a Charles Schwab brach and said I want to buy CA and they asked do you have an account with us so I said what is an account... I walked out with 22 shr of CA I think.
"Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb" after reading the reviews, i bought the book...Thanks again.
Update....... Started with $10,000 and kept my account open at my employer even though they charge $29.95 per trade. I am using the high commission as a deterent from trading to much until i finish with my learning. IB is looking good, when I am ready. I have passively swing traded the following stocks: RIMM, TIVO, NVAX, BRCD since opening the beginning of the year.....and as of Friday's close, I have a little more than $17,000...thanks mostly to RIMM. Only position currently holding is RIMM ($101 cost) and NVAX ($2.97) . Earnings this week for RIMM so they may see a little pop over there. My intent is to establish a strong foundation with Equities and then branching out from there. Any suggestions, comments on things to consider, read or try will be appreciated.