Like a lot of people that have become interested in trading, I have a comment that I'm sure is shared by a host of interested would be traders. It seems to me that raising capital would be the biggest barrier to entering the markets. In addition to that, I have a few questions. 1. Could some of you share how you came about the capital to start trading, both part-time and full time? 2. Does anyone have a unique way of advising on the key steps for setting up a business plan, which would include raising capital? None of my friends and family would support me with capital( and I can't blame them) to start out. In order to provide a basis for you folks to respond, I will give a list of the books I have read so far on the aspect of trading. Financial Freedom Through Electronic Day Trading; Day Trading on the Edge; Market Makers Edge; The Art of War(that one was really cool!);Elliot Wave Theory(Pretcherts);Pit Bull;New Market Wizards;Psychology of Trading. Thank you in advance to your input.
How 'bout doing an ol' fashion IPO to raise trading funds? Make sure your business plan has 5 year projections and shows sky-high profits and you'll soon have idiots bangin' on your door.
Apply to a prop. trading firm. You don't want to trade other people's money without the proper experience and guidance.
"It seems to me that raising capital would be the biggest barrier to entering the markets." O boy, you have a lot to learn. The biggest barrier is KNOW-HOW.
Good luck man, I got mine from my dad. Worst case, just work a real job and save money. That's what a lot of people do. You only need a few k's for an emini. I wish I had more to add. Reading books won't make you money or success. You need real money. Open an account and trade 100 shares at a time. Honest, it's hard. I have a really great track record over the last few years and I've found it hard to even raise capital for a fund I've created.
If I could do it all over again.... B4 you even blink at a L2 screen.....If you are planning on utilizing margin overnight.....selling naked options, etc...... Set up an LLC or corp structure and do all of your trading through that. People will take you much more seriously as an organized and professional business.
Traderkay, could you plz give me a few examples of what you would do starting out putting "know how" to work as far as raising capital. Plz let me know the things that YOU DID in place of "you have a lot to learn." I'm 37 years old and am quite aware of the fact that I have a lot to learn. Thx Also, could someone be so kind and pm me their trading plan so I would have a good idea about what course to follow. I understand if anyone doesn't want to. Thx again.
One of the best things you can do is NOT have alot of money to put in the markets. Yes at one time I realized that I had alot to learn, but thought I could learn it in a relatively direct manner. What I came to realize was at that time I really, really had alot to learn and had no idea how much. Someone had a Deming quote which describes the situation of a learning trader: "Hard work and best efforts will not by themselves dig us out of the pit. In fact it is only by illumination of outside knowledge that we may observe that we are in the pit" New traders have NO idea how little they know. The worst ones are the knowledgeable newbies. They are the ones who potentially can do alot of damage if they have access to cash, but they think they know what they are doing. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=198241&highlight=deming#post198241
Best trader I ever knew started with $5K. I started with $10K. Worked a full-time job and traded every evening. I agree 100% with Puff that you could never learn the craft without actually doing it. Paper trading is good for wiping your a**. And you will go broke experimenting with anything bigger than the absolute minimum. Trading is a tactile human experience. So shove that neural net right up your a**. You cannot replicate human impulsive unpredictability. I feed off of false breakouts and blind 'Johnny-come-lately' trend followers. Thanks for the liquidity. Get your hands dirty and mix it up. P.S. : Nobody will give you any money without a track record. Period.