not to speak for tedspread, his humility and honesty is a welcome addition to this board, but perhaps he wants to start new with contacts, etc. best, surfer
If only things were that easy! First and foremost, I left the street to trade and to gain some freedom and independence. It is harder then you realize to walk away from main-stream wall street for Generic in Boca Raton...many of my former colleagues thought I lost my mind. I am not interested in finding a 'wall street' type of trading position or trading group (which I am not qualified for and is one of the only areas where my former contacts might be of some help)...I am interested in being a profitable independent trader. I am, ideally, looking for an independent trader or small trading group that could help me reach my goals. Further, as marketsurfer said, I am dealing in a new arena here, and would like to find some new (more appropriate) contacts that can help me become a profitable independent trader.
My guess is that you WILL have to PAY. In time spent in research and discipline and courses and books,like everyone else. Your academic background will not give you a free ride and will never make up for what it takes to be a good trader ,, which is all of the above. If you are lucky you will figure it out in 5 yrs. good luck to you.
Give up the Holy Grail. Also, give up on the idea that you are Ivy educated and a good salesman. Maybe, maybe then you will have some idea about what it takes to be a trader. If you are not willing to give these misconceptions about yourself and trading you are bound to fall. The answer is not out there like your analytical mind tells you, "if I could just learn this..." it is in how you react to market movements, ability or inability to follow your game plan, etc. That is to say, it is a lot of HARD WORK. Something it sounds to me like you are not prepared to do. Get your hands dirty, it won´t hurt. Lastly, just remember if you haven´t learned it yet in two years, you can try anything you want the MARKET does not care. Hope this helps.
Many BDs have on site mentors for training. The guys at Redwood Trading in Ft Lauderdale have been successful in the last year. PM me and I'll give you and name and number for an intro if you like.
Actually, I know a very able intraday trader of the E-minis whose personal life philosophy appears to include a desire to help others learn and grow, and currently that means martial artists and traders. He doesn't trade large, but he does trade steadily and well, and by patiently waiting for the trades he likes he seems to take money out of the market eight or nine days out of ten. Moreover, he has given a lot of thought to simple ways of expressing the core ideas of his trading style--the maxims, the setups, etc., and these simplifying conceptualizations can be very useful means by which to focus on a handful of trading ideas. Nearly a year ago he mentored me, and I found it very helpful. I don't know his current rates exactly, but I think if you're committed to this and you can reach a common set of expectations with him about what he will and won't be providing (for example, he probably wouldn't make it possible for you to simply piggyback on his trades), you could get a lot out of that relationship. If you're interested, feel free to contact me. In the meantime, I'll send him the link to this conversation, and he can consider it, too. It would probably need to be done remotely, since he's in PA. Finally, anticipating possibly suspicious reactions to these comments, this is not a veiled commentary on myself. I am not the mentor I'm referring to.
Yes, it is me who Norsk is kindly referring to as having menotored him. Here's a link to what I offer for mentoring services. http://tfms.webhost4life.com/mentaiki.html
PM me with your trading background and I may be able to mentor you . (for a reasonable amount of time). You'll need to be trading the ES during regular trading hours, have your own charting software that can hold historical data, accurate live data feed, sufficient capital to trade a contract without being terrified, and AOL Instant Messenger. Most importantly, a willingness to learn and discipline to follow the system exactly.