whats up guys. i'm new to this site, but have really enjoyed since i discovered it. i'm in college currently, but have been trading stocks short-term for about 3 years. i have read the books, found the sites, and had the best time doing it. i know i want to trade professionaly (equities) when i'm done with school. what i was wanting from some of yall "pro's" out there, is maybe a breakdown of income potential threw trading at a prop firm. i know this will provoke plenty of posts about learning curves, the individual trader, commisions, bull and bear markets, and all the other variables that go into trading for a living. put all that aside, and give me a real view into income potential: high-low, conservative-riskier, and whatever you want to add. i would appreciate it.
This is your first post. Yet you are quite familiar with the kind of stuff that gets posted on ET. My guess- Boomer=Aphexcoil=40yrotrader= a bunch of other people who all write like they are the same person= FasterPussyCat perhaps?
Come on guys, maybe he is serious. I also like to hear any suggestion. Want to make a living, not necessarily rich but steadly basic one. Can we? Thank you.
It's really up to you.. You have complete freedom to trade what you want, so I don't think stating an income range is of much value, because it's just throwing meaningless numbers around. You do need low commissions, so DEMAND them from your firm/broker. Don't listen to these guys who tell you to suck on it and pay 1.2 cents cause you are new. (It costs less to clear a trade than you think!) Prop firms' leverage and the recent slashing of commissions I think do provide the best opportunity today to make a living trading equities with very limited (under $100k) capital. In any case, whether you win or lose, it takes guts to do this full-time - so best of luck to you!
Realistically with proper training you can be doing around 100K a year, in your second year. The learning curve these days for a newbie is about 6 - 12 months. After that, the more risk you start to take, with proper risk management, you could get over 200K. To make more then that, you'd have to get really good with your current risk level, or take it up a notch. The million dollars days are pretty much over, except for a few individuals. Prop is the best way to go, cause you can get the most bang for your money. With most prop firms, they'll start you off with around 100K in leverage, and increase that as you get better.
PuffyGums, I am not anybody else but boomer. check my homepage, and you will learn of the truth in my words. look forward to talking with all you yall. (I'm a southern boy)
With your background shoot for working on the trading side of an investment bank instead of a prop firm. Very large income potential.
Knight Hires, Promises Profitability (Nov. 8) -- Knight Trading Group, which was in the red and laid off about 33 percent of its workforce over the last 12 months, is back hiring again. Knight, the largest market marker on Nasdaq, may be slowly emerging from a painful period, a period which has hurt many other dealers. Knight will return to profitability next year, according to Thomas Joyce, Knight's chief executive and president, who since last May, has been installing his own management team. He said the dealer is in the process of adding 10 percent more pros. In pure headcount terms, that means dozens will likely be recruited by the Jersey City-based dealer. (In the 2002 Traders Magazine survey of Market Makers, Knight listed 236 "position" traders. On top of that, the firm has a core group of several hundred other employees.) The beleaguered market maker has suffered big losses over the past 24 months, in part because of the switch to decimal pricing, and also because of the collapse of the online trading markets. The firm has scaled back and is reappraising its overseas business. It recently eliminated some 40 pros employed by a Knight trading operation in London. Joyce expects earnings in 2003 of 19 cent a share -- or a pre-tax margin of seven percent. This is based on a new plan that will stress institutional trading, including an increase in bulletin board business. The company is also making an effort to attract soft-dollar business. "We are not basing this on a bull market next year," said Joyce, who had upbeat assessment of the firm's future at a news conference in New York this week. "There is a tremendous untapped institutional opportunity," he told the news conference. Joyce expects the firm will see a 12% jump in trading revenues next year. They are projected by Knight to go from an estimated $430 million this year to $481 million next year.
I started trading full time in January of this year and agree with Calibertrader's post. I lost money for the first 4 months, got to breakeven after 6 and passed my 1st year goal of $40k last month. I already had some experience in the markets, so I didn't have too much in the way of the typical beginner's "psychological problems". I've learned that a lot of it depends on your style and if the market is conducive to what you are doing. The bulk of my money was made in July and October when the market had the blow off bottoms and lots of volatility. It was easy to make money then, but those situations aren't normal and you need to always be adapting to changing conditions.
esc trader: Are you saying from your above post that I can go to my broker(after I'm consistently making, say, ten round trips a day, of course) and negotiate a lower rate? I'm currently paying $10 each way at MBTrading.