true, but you can compensate it with today advance paper trading platform, not possible some year back.
If your trading is flextime, or ends at 3 pm, why don't you also become a real estate agent... It's flextime also. Most people don't even see houses or are at home before 3 pm anyways..and weekends you are free from trading and that's when most agents are the busiest anyways. Being an agent and getting listings should be a bit easier to make a living than making a living in trading off of 5k account. At least one deal you can at least $2000 to even $5000 in your area after the broker split and everything else is paid for. And not to mention.. agency business is a real business in the real world where anything and crap happens..that's true business entrepreuership education there... sure beats your MBA which are mostly in theory
BWC, That's not a bad idea at all. My mom is actually a part time realtor in the DC area. I'm assuming you pursue something like this? I read an interesting post looking for brokers in the high-end manhattan real estate. This obviously could be a lot of bull but it had a link to an article in the New Yorker, stating first year brokers average salary was $350,000. Not too shabby. I take this with a grain of salt obviously. I guess what I'm looking for is an opportunity to trade as a stream of income, not so much for a living. The thought is if you can build enough wealth, why trade-stick it in a bond and live off the interest. I got a buddy working at State Street in Boston, handles one account, $150 million, if he parked it in a bond making 4.5%, that equates to almost $7 mil a year!!! Yeah I know, the first 150 mil is the hardest. Anyway, more wandering in my thoughts. Since this is still an investing board. No trades today, up across the board: ELN, MO, MSFT,
I wanted to.. but I work on a typical 9-5 job and currently have to take care of baby daughter while wife works on weekends..so not much time for RE. But if I had a flex time job or something like your case, I definitely would. Heck, if I was single or have no kid yet, I would do it. Had it all 'set up'..then the baby came unexpectedly. I still stick to trading as that's a passion over real estate..otherwise I'll try to squeeze in as much time as I have on RE. But NYC Queens market is slowing down.. I seen houses in my area getting relisted 2 or 3 times and no activity..yet construction still building up new houses. Not to mention competition in NYC is fierce..(about 80% people have licenses) with agents violating/stretching the laws and older veterans listing agents picking or taking advantage of newbies. NYC RE agency is a separate animal compare to all other 49 states. That article you read should only apply to full time diligent workers with lots a luck or connections.. so you're right in taking it with a grain of salt. Your chances of being a realtor in DC should be better and not as tough as it is in new york. So you can try that route.
BWC, One thing I should state; I really enjoy the Baltimore/DC area (went to school in Baltimore) however the Tri-State area is home to me. And in the center of it all, is the Milford Plaza, no jk-manhattan. What a place! And that's where I want to be heading. Now having said that, I have done some homework on real estate investing. Here are my thoughts on the current RE market: TOLL reported that demand for housing will likely slow down in the coming months, National Association of Realtors is projecting a 4% slowdown in sales. The big picture looks like decrease demand for housing, decrease prices, and although we have higher interest rates-the next year or two may offer some good buying opportunities. Especially in the rental markets which are always in demand in the NY metro area. You seem like your much more in the middle of the RE market, what are your thoughts? POS's flat @ 10:30 am
Hey man, I sent you a Private Message, not sure if you got it. Let me know how things go and if you want to grab a drink in Boston. Its my last week here!
Real estate broker is a commission business for the most part not a salaried position. You are basically an independent contractor and you do not get paid until you close on your first sale (not sell but close). And depending on the size of the house or condo, it might be a check for $5,000. So imagine waiting 4 to 6 months (if you are lucky) for a $5,000 check while still paying bills monthly. The market is saturated with realtors and you will spend most of your time looking for customers and doing open houses before you see any check. That is why you see mostly retired people or wives (second income) as realtors. Once you take off you can earn 6 figures in a few years but like any other business you spend the first few years begging for customers and gettig paid little. I have said this before that no recent college grad should be trading for a living on their own money unless they are walking into a few millions in a trust fund and even then they could lose most of it being a newbie. Best bet is to go work for a trading desk as a clerk and learn all you can while getting paid. On down time you can ask the traders questions and learn a lot more on their dime then on your own.
I'm going to start looking for an exit on the MSFT trade. The Bill Gates memo made me look a little closer at this security. Original intent of this trade was to ride the Xbox/Vista ride for a few bucks. Xbox will begin selling on Nov. 22??(I think) Looking at the technicals; RSI is looking oversold and resistance coming in @ 27.50/28. I have (2) 25 LEAPS, maybe I will sell (1) and hold on to the other, see if it breaks through the resistance. I think there might be a correction coming up. Any advice? On another note, I'm officially done with work and will be going out of the country for about two weeks. Not sure about internet access and will definetly be in a different time zone. Question to the posters, what type of stock screeners do you guys use? Can anyone recommend one which utilizes both technical and fundamental criteria?
Started looking at some B-Schools and I got a lot of research to do. I was hoping maybe someone in a similar situation has already done some of that. What schools and specific programs would be beneficial to work on a trading desk for a Goldman/JPM/Meryill? Or is an MBA even really sought after? I'm not talking about I-banking, M&A, quant, anything like that actually trading/market making. Thanks!
Been a few weeks away on vacation. Now I'm back home studying for the GMATS - kinda. Anyway, my real positions are looking real good: 100 ELN +$500 1 ELN 2.5 '08 C +$400 2 MSFT 25 '07 C +$160 2 MO 70 '07 C -$140 I'm confident that the MO pos will turn around and show a big profit. I'm contemplating taking some off the other 2 pos to lock in some profits. Any thoughts would be appreciated! The real action is on the paper account. Closed the following: 100 ELN 5 JAN P +$2200 5 DNA 95 JAN C -$480 3 ECA NOV 55 & DEC 50 C +$285 5 KFT JAN 32.5 P -$630 500 MRK & 5 JAN 32.5/30 C +$480 5 NKE '07 85 C +$270 Attached is the OPEN positions (didn't feel like re-writing!) Please note I'm trying something new. I've written delta neutral (I think) JAN strangles on PFE & RMBS. The reason I picked these two stocks was using Optionsxpress Dragon, they both had low ratios of Historic Volatility/Implied Volatility. So I think I'm selling lots of volatility. I did not take into account theta values, but I assume its pretty high on these so close to exp and OTM. Here are my delta calcs if someone would be nice enough to check it: PFE- $20.99 22.5 Call - .3256 20 Put - -.3199 Ratio 1:1 so I sold 10 Puts & 10 Calls RMBS - $16.37 15 Put - -.3117 17.5 Call - .4664 Ratio: 1:1.5 so I sold 10 Calls and 15 Puts My questions, did I calculate the proper deltas? Also does it make sense to write the options so close to the current price or should I write with strikes farther away and just write more options? I figure I have till Jan. exp to roll up/down, adjust etc. Thanks!!!!