If you make 3 million dollars trading and put it all in bank accounts earning 1% uhh that's a nice yearly salary for doing JACK crap. I'm in my early twenties, I have zero desire to work for anyone else. period. In the end financial freedom is all about PASSIVE income. Trading is active. Real estate rental is passive. Interest bearing accounts are passive. If you could successfully set up your trading to work without your presence it would be passive too. (that's no small feat) I'd rather spend my time on the beach or giving back to my community then working for some biotch.
Ahh...the naivete of the inexperienced. I was bright-eyed and had visions of mansions and Porsches and Easy Street when I started trading. Then I learned the truth and hopefully you will too! The glory days of daytrading died in 2001...
Why would anyone want to be a self employed daytrader, when you can do the bidding of thieves in high places, for a small % of the gross take. On second thought , guys like GrubStake got paid pretty well.
It's probably still possible to make a $1M doing prop trading/daytrading, but it's like probably 20x harder. In 1999-2000, when you had ton of stocks that regularly move 10-20pts a day it was much easier to get a big move. But in the end, I think it's up to the trader. Just as many daytraders lost their shirts in the 99-00 as well because they didn't learn about risk mgmt, discipline, blah blah,etc. good trading to all and keep dreamin' -99
What makes you think I don't trade? I've been trading for 3 years! I'm just saying that if someone goes into trading nowadays because he wants to make a few million bucks, he's got another thing comin'! Thank god my trading position also pays a salary!
"Ahh...the naivete of the inexperienced. I was bright-eyed and had visions of mansions and Porsches and Easy Street when I started trading. Then I learned the truth and hopefully you will too! The glory days of daytrading died in 2001..." folly and misfortune!!! Yes i want to make a few million dollars. However you inferred from my post that I expected to make that kind of money in a short time! More wrong you could not be. I have no illusions about trading, the work required, the experience needed, or the capital that must be put to work! My plan is a ten year plan...to make the first million. I am in-experienced when it comes to trading yes. I am not naive nor foolish. By the way, I do not want porsches and mansions. I want a house near the beach and to live simply. Easy street? If you are a trader then you know trading is one of the hardest things in the world to do! You assume too much mojambo. The thrust of my origina post was to say that "Trading is a vehicle that will help me arrive at my destination." If my destination is to live simply and do no "work" then I need assets that provide passive cashflow OR a giant cash pile (also an asset) that throws of a tiny %. Day trading will provide me income AND account growth for MY needs...which are obviously different than YOUR needs.
Most of you misunderstood me. I want to trade my entire life as well, but not day trading. I would someday like to work in a futures pit for instance...its just something Ive always wanted. Yeah, we all have career goals other than make money. I am in my mid twenties, and there is no fucking way I will be daytrading my entire life. Im talking about pursing the big big big money....the eight figures that so few can get: but why not try for it at some point?keep educating yourself (CFA, licenses, etc), and use day trading as a stepping stone to other trading jobs if you can (and if you want). Maybe you can start your own trading firm someday. One of my career goals is definitely to start my own company...there is no way I would throw that chance away becuase 'daytradings cool and you dont have to deal with bosses and shit'. Grow up, realize that when you are 45 daytrading may not even exist somehow. It is a great job now, but dont rest on your laurels, because the occupation may not be around for ever, or you may hate it down the road.
The choice of whether to go it alone or trade for someone else boils down to whether the freedoms associated with your home-based $100k to $250k a year (an acceptable and achievable range of profits for a home-based daytrader with a few years of experience) offsets the politics and commute associated with an additional $300k from working at Goldman or other I-Bank. It's a lifestyle choice... and for those consistently making more than $500k a year in their pyjamas, the choice is a no-brainer...
... don't count on the futures pits being around indefinitely... technology's gotta catch up with the pits sooner or later...