Should I make the switch?

Go with your desire, start with $50k if you can and be prepared to lose $20k of it. Have living expenses for 6 months, and immerse yourself totally in your trading education.

If you have cut it within 6months, well done, ur on your way. Otherwise go back to IT.

 

Hi tradervic. I recently went from my full-time job (I'm an ex-ITer) to fulltime trading. I put about half my money in a trading account and gave the other half to my wife and told her not to let me touch it. In only four months I have had the worst days of my life and the best days. I've learned so much in the past four months that I cannot even believe the mistakes I was making back in June/July when I look back at my trading diary.

Mistakes cost money. Losing money is very very painful. The pain is unbelievable. The more money you lose the more pain you feel. Some books say you should ignore the pain. That is clearly BS. The reason a child is in pain when he touches a lit stove is because the brain is telling the child "DONT EVER DO THAT AGAIN."

It seems that the primary ways to avoid/minimize the pain while you are starting out (while still giving yourself the opportunity to learn) are:

a. have money set aside to live 6-12 months at least.
b. have very very small position sizes. VERY SMALL. When I started out I was having position sizes that equaled 150% of my account. BIG POSITION SIZES ARE BIG MISTAKES! No matter where your stops are. Now, my average position size is about 5% of my account and I put on 4-10 positions a day. I rarely have a down day greater than 1% and my good up days can be between 1-3% with most days between -.5% and .5%.
c. Have a bulletproof system/plan. Don't make up new rules in the middle of the day. Thinking too much hurts the head when you stare at a quote screen all day. Pretend you are a robot and your system is your boss. You can change it at night. Just do your system during the day.

This is only my two cents based on limited experience. However, I was in your situation just a few months ago and in a few months you might be in mine. MINIMIZE THE PAIN, REAP THE GAIN.

 

Trading is difficult. Trading part-time with short term timeframes is even more difficult. I know some of the member of this board successfully trade and work full time, but I would caution against it.

Trading is very competitive. You're up against people who do this full time, have better commissions than you and have much better financial backing. The only way to take some of their money is to be 100% focused all the time.

Personally, I don't think that active trading in general can be successfull without a full time commitment. The odds will be stacked against you.

Others will disagree (probably strongly )

 

I'm in the same position as Tradervic. I've got a very good paying job which I like, but am fascinated by the possibility of trading full time and the perks that go along with it. I've been very frustrated by not being able to follow and execute trades intra-day. Now comes the interesting part. My wife works part time in an IT job at a university. I really don't need her income to survive comfortably. I've been trying to teach her the basics and providing the set-ups for her to watch EOD. She's has a comp sci degree and is an intelligent person but this trading game is complex. I've put limits on her position size and she actually just started trading this week. Her first (and only) trade so far netted her $140 and she was thrilled. She even followed our strategy (almost). I'm not sure how well this will work out long term but it's my vicarious attempt to trade and profit from the market. If anyone else has attempted this approach, I'd like to hear about it.

P.S.

She loves trading also, but I've got to assure myself that her emotions don't override the discipline needed.

Good Luck and Big Profits

 

Vishnu: “Don't make up new rules in the middle of the day. Pretend you are a robot and your system is your boss. You can change it at night.”

Absolutely fabulous and practical advice. Spoken like a supreme deity.

During the course of my trading career, I’ve kept a journal in which I've written down possible alterations to my existing plan or entirely new ideas on a daily or weekly basis. At month or quarter’s end, I would then begin to actually modify my methods.

Allowing time between alterations while recording my observations has helped me to bypass aberrant runs of what falsely or prematurely appeared, at the time, to be indications of a breakdown within my system. I was then able to focus on only those elements that truly needed modification.

 

Shorty, that's hillarious (great) about your wife trading! Not about your wife trading, but that she's trading and you're guiding her with "the system". Pretty soon she will not need your income!

Maybe she can start visiting the boards here at ET.

 

You couldn't have said it any better than this.

This is the real key to success.

 

Leave this "tradin' thing" to the professionals. Us. We need less competition.

Only kidding.

 

I am, of course, biased since I have been trading a long time. What I have told many, many people over the years is that Having a Job is where the risk is (ala 10,000 brokers, and 50,000 IT types being laid off in the last few months). I certainly do NOT encourage people to take up trading unless they are totally dedicated, and can survive through the "learning curve"...money wise. I do, however, advise people to look at entreprenurial endeavors as opposed to clock punching, no matter what your field of expertise. I have a seperate Management Company that has helped many people find a way to take their skills and start working for themselves, or forming a viable business (I am not seeking clients, I have had to limit my business to current people only due to time constraints with Bright Trading).

Anyway, you have to love what you do, be independent, and have an upside potential in whatever you choose IMHO.

Good Luck in whatever you choose to do.

 

I agree. It is risky to work for someone else. When you do, you are, to a large degree, abrogating your resposibility for your own financial success and placing it in someone elses hands. In either case, working for yourself or someone else, if you fail, your $crewed, but when working for someone else, even if you succeed, you can still end up loosing. All you may end up with is a "sucker button" for your lapel.