one more thought. If you somehow could get some "consulting" on the side just for a few hours a day, it will allow you to focus less on the money and more on making good trades.
Lots of good replies....I would strongly suggest that you keep in mind that u may not have an income for quite some time. Losing the 30k on something you want to give a shot is part of life ( scared money makes no money ) ... if you can survive on no income for a while and deal with the emotional swings, i would say give it a shot....who knows...
Ninja, FWIW give some thought to trying swing / position trading. It's very different from day trading in some ways, but the fundamentals are more or less the same. The biggest advantage (in my opinion) of swing trading is that more decisions can be made in non-real-time (a new word!!). When day trading you have to make accurate decisions quickly. Swing trading only requires accurate decisions. Swing Trading doesn't require larger stop losses. Most people who short term trade risk no more than 2% of their portfolio - and that is really pushing it. Swing trading is no different - in fact, because you carry overnight positions you have to be even more sensitive to risk exposure. Anyway, hope this helps.
If you decide to start with swings, try a 50:50 long/short mix. This way you are less vulnerable to market risk. On days when the market tanks, it's nice to have those shorts in place.
I'm right there with lightningsmurf. I'm in my first year of experience (although I've studied the markets for 3.5 years). I still don't take much money out of the market, but I don't need to because I've found a way to live fairly happily on very little income. My suggestion would be to swing or position trade as your major way of making money and teach yourself to daytrade on the side. I'm pounding out pretty steady gains (while small) position trading. As ligntningsmurf said position trading allows you to take your time and make good decisions. Additionally your overhead is far less as well as your level of stress. At this point in my trading career I really don't have any hugh passion to become a real intraday trader although I love to read these boards and learn as much as I can about the markets (another bonus of being a position trader). Daytrading can probably make you more money in the long run, but at what expense. Lastly, but most important, you must realize that the warnings from these posters about 99% failure rates are correct, but at the same time you must completely believe you are in that 1% that will be successful. My experience is that I make money when I'm confident and I lose money when I'm not. Good Luck
I agree with Lightningsmurf and bundgrider. Market success comes from an ability to identify and act on setups which have a high probability of profitability and the ability to manage risk which includes management or adjustment of the trade. As Lightningsmurf points out, with daytrading these tasks must be performed on the fly with very little time for examination. As for the risk, even to learn daytraders must have more total dollars at risk to trade the size needed to overcome transaction costs than is necessary to learn to trade as a swing trader. As a swing trader it is quite possible to use incremental purchases (adding to winners) to reduce the initial risk. This is much more difficult as a daytrader. Also as bundgrinder mentions, a great way to reduce market risk as a swing trader is to be delta neutral. This is a strategy used by many successful traders if they are carrying overnight. My main point was that most daytraders I know can swing trade. But not all swing traders I know are able to daytrade.
My suggestion: Learn 2 or 3 stocks really well. Track them tick by tick. Find stocks under $25 with over 15M average daily volume. Start trading 100 shares and move up till you can trade 1000 shares looking for 3/8 to 1/2 point daily. Keep it simple. Big volume Naz stocks will follow the indices for the most part. Only stock specific news will cause them to vary. Learn the support/resistance points, every move they make!! Be sure you have a direct access screen and be very sure that you get the ones with the SELL button!! If you can maintain the discipline to take your stop losses then you should make some money.
learning 3 STOCKS and knowing how they move.....but never ever stick with them too long ......because the way they move changes after a while just compare lu nt or cisco with two years ago to today and you will see what i mean.