[/B][/QUOTE] You assume that what you say above is why people dont trade on their own and I respectfully disagree. 1. I find no stigma to day trading, I am actually proud to answer people who ask me what I do, especially those who knew what I use to do. I busted my butt to get to this point and there is no stigma in my opinion. If other people who are unskilled or unable to put the work in apply a stigma, that is there own hangup. 2. Yeah I have no risk manager except myself but why do we all need big brother if we can handle it? The key to trading is risk management and if you cannot do it yourself then an artificial oversight is not going to really teach you since it is forced. I do not need any risk manager hanging over my shoulder. If one has no self discipline for risk management then they should not be trading. 3. There is no one to help you out in a slump true, but if I am in a bad slump in an IB, I most likely get fired since I am costing them money. Slumps happen to everyone and only you are truly responsible for it. 4. No one around t keep me on strategy.... Again a trader needs true discipline not artificial control. If you can handel the discipline you can do it, if not you work under someone else. 5. I dont have institutional tools like Bloomberg but I do not need it. Penty of tools available to retail and even 100% payout props unless you are trading complex deriviatives or structured products. Trading takes discipline skill and determination and either you have it or you do not. It took me years to get here and I either had to develop risk management or measures to deal with slumps on my own or I was not going to make it on my own or anywhere else. I think the key is to match your personality and skills with your trading style. Most people start out overtrading and blow out and never understand why. I started out trading all wrong when I first got into options and it took some time to learn the right way and THEN to learn how to respect risk. I am still not perfect or a market wizard but that is why I love it, the strive to always improve myself. Why do you think athletes like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan always paracticed hard? Cause you can never stop trying to get better.
I can tell what little time you have spent in the Corporate World. Today's Corporate World DOES NOT have decent hours or a decent environment. [/QUOTE] I aware of the risks like I've stated in an earlier post. But not all jobs are that bad like the one you mentioned. Besides I'm not going to take just any job - only one in a somewhat decent environment and decent hours. And if its really that bad for me then it'll just motivate me to be a much better swing trader/investor so that I don't have to rely entirely on the job.
So true....people put themselves in bondage for what? The years pass by and they are miserable. The whole Corporate World is nothing more than a pyramid scheme to make the top of the pyramid rich as hell while the drones work paycheck to paycheck and weekend to weekend. I would almost rather die than go back to the Corporate World myself. I just need to make sure I have social outlets as I am a sociable person.
I can see you're an intelligent guy Rahula and you've given your decision a lot of thought, as well as you aren't just a dilettante in the trading game. But for my money, midlife is just nailing the shit out of the corporate scene, spot-on, 101% correct in his observations ... and like he said, it is my experiences in it that give me the motivation to continually improve my trading to the point where working will definitely be he lessor of the two options. Best regards, JJ
The career change has been easy for me because I actually like trading. It's like a hobby for me, not just an income source. When the trading day ends I'm sometimes bummed and wish it could continue for another hour. Im weird I know. As for the social stigma of a trader, that ends when I tell people how much I make and they subsequently ask how they can become one too.
Corporate life gives an outlet for our social nature but it's really bs because the friendships you make in a corporate setting are shallow. The friends you make are out of necessity rather than comfort and there are people who will backstab you in a moment's notice. You have to watch what you say to everyone. Not worth it.
Tell you the truth in my opinion over the years, people who like to trade are the ones that need a lot of satisfaction towards their ego. Just a quick question how irrotated do you get when you haven't won ones during the day?
Of course you have to watch what you say. You dont know what will offend someone or turn them off. For example, you might like to drink, but the person in front of you might have had a loved one killed in a drunk driving accident. You might own a pistol and go target shooting, but someone at the office might be anti-gun. Its all part of working with different people. You dont want to show them what you do away from the office. You want them to see you as a serious person who is focused on the work at hand. If you do show them some of the things you do away from the office, then it has to be very generic and non-offending. This isnt just about work though, its the real world. For example, you dont want to show everything to your neighbor or your family. You dont want to tell everything about your past dating history to your girlfriend or wife. You want to show certain people only so much and never cross a certain line.