Every week there seems to be a thread about this, I thought I would offer my advise. I have been trading full-time for almost 10 years. I started out with 30k and have slowly built my capital, for several years I have been making an annual income that would put me in the top 1% of wage earners. When I started I was 26 with a back up plan, if trading didn't work after 1-2 years I could easily get a job. Also low expenses, and no wife/kids to support. A lot of people on here have a family to support, also the economy being what it is there is no guarantee of getting a job. Trading can be very stressful at times, I've had periods where I didn't make a cent for 6 months. If I had a family, just imagine how hard that would be. Now I'm not trying to put anyone off with this post, after all it worked for me and I'm living the dream, but I do want to offer some positive advice. I know this is a US board, but everyone seems to be focussed on US markets and not considering there is incredible opportunity in other time zones. People seem to think the only option is to quit their job and day trade the US session. I trade in the Asian time zone, and spend about 2-3 hours a day at the screens. It is absolutely not necessary to sit in front of the screens many hours a day to make a great living. Change your mentality from "if I could quit my job I could focus 100% on trading and make a living", and realise you have a great opportunity right in front of you. Keep your day job and come home at night and learn to trade Asian futures. You have job security and your wife is happy, and a huge advantage is you can trade without pressure. If you have what it takes, you can make more money than you dreamed of, and the great thing is you can keep your job while you do it. Once you have the results under your belt and a lot of capital, quit your job. And if trading doesn't work out, you haven't stuffed your life. I really hope this post helps some of you. Trading for a living is a total different ball game than dabbling part-time. Please don't PM me asking how I trade, I'm not into mentoring or selling any services.
I totally agree with what you said. This is actually exactly what I am doing. It used to be harder when I used to get up at 2:45am to trade DAX. (I live in NY), but slightly over 1 year ago CFTC allowed KOPSI futures to be traded by US residents. KOSPI is a great contract. It is liquid, has high tick value and has decent runs. It opens at 7pm EST, next week after time change it will be opening at 8. I strongly suggest anyone who wants to make it as a trader, but does not know yet whether it is his cup a tea to try trading it. There are other decent Asian contracts, but KOPSI has the best characteristics. Regards, redduke
I trade SPI, Topix, Nikkei (SGX), Kospi, HSI and JGBs. I don't daytrade off charts, so from my perspective they are all the same. However, for the technical traders the Kospi would probably be the best/easiest, followed by the Nikkei. The HSI can be thin, and is no good if you want to end up trading size with stops in the market. SPI and JGBs can be erratic. Been with IB since the beginning and they have been great for me.
You have a good point. And a good idea to still keep their day job while trading. It's actually a good idea especially for newbies in trading like me.
What amazes me the most is that there are people who are not even consistently profitable who are willing to quit there job and go full time hoping that in the process they will learn!?! If you're going to go full time then you need to be at the point where your trading income dwarfs your day job income. Your day job then becomes a hindrance; it really is not worth your time or money. Only at that point should you consider quitting. I feel that a lot of people want to quit their jobs for psychological reasons more than anything else. They want to have that big moment where they tell their boss to go fuck themselves, they want to feel that they're actually doing something worthwhile and not stuck in a dead end job. All ego based reasons and totally wrong/irrational reasons to go full time.