Im 19 looking to get into trading as career/business... i spend countless hours daily reading books on trading and economics but i want to know what other things i should do to get an edge?
Stop reading the books. Start trading on paper. Questions will arise, but do not ask public too many questions. Most of the questions should be adressed to yourself. Or find the answers in the books. The answers probably will not be there, but at least your reading will be more practical. Continue trading on paper. When the the moment will come , and you will be able to answer all your questions yourself without help of public or books - that's imho the time when you ready to start trading real money. And then you will loose. Why? Because your answers were wrong ... or your questions were wrong (it takes time to start asking yourself the right questions). Back to the paper. And that how back and forth, moving from paper to money, and from money to paper, which will correspond with periods of felling your self either genius or dumb-ass how the novice should move forward and develop an edge.
I highly recommend you just go to college and you can still trade/learn about trading because many Universities now have professional trading rooms, classes on trading and lecturers from some of the top institutional firms in the world. Heck, they even have university trading competition championship against each other (international competition). I made a list of some of these universities awhile back in 2011 @ http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/day-trading-at-16.224638/#post-3256766 Its an old list. Yet, more Universities are now offering classes in trading for their business school students and building professional trading rooms. Thus, I'm sure if you did a careful research you'll find a dozen more universities to add to my list at the above link. I personally think its a great way build your business network regardless if you want to become a private trader or a professional trader working for a firm.
Yeah, it hit my like a ton of bricks. I forgot to add " in a city with" to the sentence. This guy could be in the middle of Montana.
Not answering your question per se, but in general, find something you will be good at. The world does not need another crap trader.
Read this, from my friend an ex hedge fund manager and multi millionaire-- then think about college. http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/0...arents-should-not-send-their-kids-to-college/ If you don't like to read, here's a video
Make relationships with all strata of the trading, economic, and social world. There is only one true edge and that is information. relationship arbitrage is the real key to success in the markets. while these other paths will teach you how to use the tools and how to understand how things work--- markets are constantly changing, information is the only constant. therefore relationships with folks who are proven profitable can help guide you to success If you want to know how to start, just let me know, I'll be happy to help. good luck! surf