Is it good to work for a forex brokerage firm?

Have I made the right decision?

I’m 22 years old, and I was studying my last year in my 4 year economics degree, and I would get an Ms. However I jumped of my degree and moved to the capital city and started working for a brokerage firm full time 60 hours a week and during the holiday working as an insurance agent, totaling 75 hours work a week. However I only need to complete a course to get a bachelor in economics (three years full time study), and I will start this course in February 2010, and thus get my bachelor in 2010, with an age of 23 years.


I’m working for a Forex brokerage firm and my work is to call people and persuade them to investment money in managed accounts, where I get a fixed percentage of the investment made. The firm firmly tells me that my work is called FX broker, however I think am just a plain phone seller as am not acting as an intermediary between a buyer and a seller.

Other background information: I’ve been trading currencies for 5 years. I can trade currencies successfully and make about 300 pips a month. My ultimate goal in life is to become a currency trader working off home. I do however not have enough capital. I’ve calculated that I can save about 40k USD in one year time, and then quit booth of the jobs I’m currently holding and then day trade currencies on my own, and live for free at my parents’ apartment. I can alternatively or simultaneously start my own company where I sell signals, with a proven track record, and let people try the service for free for two weeks, and upon completion of the two weeks period they have to pay a certain amount of money to continue their subscription. I will be deemed credible to some extent since I’ve a bachelor in economics, and been working as a broker for a major brokerage firm. If I can’t day trade currencies successfully off my home, I do however at least have a bachelor in economics, and and experience working for a major broker firm and as an insurance agent, and can then look for other economic related jobs.

Or I could quit both my jobs upon completion of my degree 2010, and then look for a good study related job. I will then have one year experience working as a “broker” and as an insurance agent and have more money in my account. Or I could have continued my fourth year and not have these experiences.

Did I make the right decision, if:

1my ultimate goal is to become a currency trader working off home?
2 my ultimate goal is to advance in the finance business?

 

I don't know if you made the right decision or not. Because there are people who die of lung cancer and have never smoked cigarettes. What I mean by that is regardless of how much time you have spent preparing-- life throws curve balls.

If you want to be a trader, start with $1,000 and go from there while keeping your jobs to support your trading. If you don't want to trade... get in line for a job. There is really no "set in stone" path as most finance/economic professionals need to be flexible. I know people with physics, mechanical engineering degrees working in finance/economics/programming. Either for a trading desk or a research firm.

Flexibility & Adaptability are key. You need to be a chameleon.

 

If your ultimate goal is to advance in the finance business, surely, a PhD wouldn't hurt?

 

Yes i want to be a trader, but i need to watch the market constantly, and cant have a normal full time job at the sime time. I can however have a part time job during the holiday when the market is closed.

I can save 40k usd in one year, i do however think that 40k is too little, and it would uncounciously make me trade riskier in order to seek higher returns.

with 30:1 leverage, i could trade 1 lot for each trade. My trading strategy involves having 4 accounts, all with different strategies, which allows for a maximum of 4 lots simultaneously.


1 lot, 20 pip stop loss, accounts for 200 usd, which would be 200/40 000= 0.05 for each loss

return in usd =300 pip*10= 3000

3000/40000= 7.5% monthly or 238% compounded.

Is this deemed risky or conservative? (though in reality i will adjust trading size of each strategy to the different time horizons of each strategy so that each loss constitutes 0.5% of my account size, since stop loss will differ due to different time horizons)

I would however be more comfortable with 0.5 lot or 0.025% loss for each trade, but the return would be really low, only 1500 usd each month. Thats what im saying, 40k is too little.

 

Try a different time frame so you dont have to constantly watch. But with the advent of mobile trading I don't see why that would be a problem while you are maintaining a job.

$40K is more than enough. I don't know why you need 1 lot open on 4 different accounts. Instead of taking 100s of trades why don't you narrow it down to better probability ones and use only 1 standard lot? If you can catch 100 pips a day with 1 trade at a time that's $100-$1,000 (mini to standard). try 50:1 and 100:1.. I don't see why you need to trade so much. 1 standard lot at a time with precision can amount to more than 6 figures in a month. Open 1 standard, don't make other trades until that trade is off your books, etc. one trade is easier to manage than 4 trades all in different accounts.

Aim for 1,000 pips a month or 250 pips a week..

 

1) forex trading is really hard. I am not convinced you can continue your "300 pips a month." How many YEARS have you been "successful" like this? You likely will find out your ideas stop working, and suddenly.

2) trading on the side and trading to support yourself are two different things. Depending on your trading income is called "scared money." I don't think you should consider quiiting until you have at LEAST $250K saved. Life has a habit of suddenly nailing you when you don't expect. Maybe give up the shorter job or cut back your hours to get more trading time.

As they say, the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. Something to think about.