Trading for a living....full time....only income

Discussion in 'Trading' started by catcando, Jul 5, 2002.

  1. catcando

    catcando

    In my continuing quest for some confirmation if going full time will ever be a reality for me, I ve thought of another question for the good posters here at ET. If you trade full time, swing, day or a combination of both and sucessfully fund your lifestyle, I'd like you to reply with a simple explaination of your experience. I'm looking for people who support families, pay bills, save for college, etc, etc, etc., and do it all with just their trading income. I am not asking for any figures, I don't care if you make 30K or 250K/yr., just some confirmation of your existence. If this is not you, please don't respond. Please elaborate on how long you have been trading full time as well. Thanks!
     
    artes33 and 777 like this.
  2. Pound

    Pound

    I would be happy to chat with you, PM me.

    Are you looking to see if you can leave your job and trade full-time?

    if so, what appeals to you about this job so much?

    _Pound
     
  3. Pound

    Pound

    I have been trading full time for 6 years, now. My income is solely derived from trading.

    _Pound
     
    oraclewizard77 likes this.
  4. Banjo

    Banjo

    Many here do it, including me. It will probably be the hardest thing you ever do if you do it unless you are a very unusual person. It is doable, 90% desire for the tenacity to wade through the gator infested swamp of discovering yourself and 10% study of the mkts. I'm not belittling the study of the mkts, just trying to give you a hint of how huge that 90% is for most people, including me.
     
    ikmetal likes this.
  5. Pound

    Pound

    That is beautiful, man. I couldn't have described that any better. And so true.

    _Pound
     
  6. gnome

    gnome

    I've been a trader for 20 years. Some years I've struggled to do much more than break even. Other years, big winners. Luck has something to do with it, so it's paramount to not let the market wreck you even at the expense of missing opportunity.
    I started in the financial markets in '79 with $25/mo bank draft into Templeton Growth Fund. Today, my personal trading capital account is >$10 Million. Trading for a living can be done. Hang in there, and good trading/luck.
     
    TheMordy, Lady, Pkay and 1 other person like this.
  7. rs7

    rs7

    We exist. My trading, in several different capacities, has been my sole source of income for about 14 years. (Excluding a period of time when I was unable to trade for personal reasons....during which I still observed and stayed informed as to the market activity on an almost daily basis).

    As others here say, it is not easy. It takes time and the ability to understand that it is a career. A combined experience of highs and lows. The real satisfaction of a career comes from a progressive attitude to learn, work harder and achieve results. The time spent learning and improving, including the struggles, should be rewarding in itself. If not, then this is not a suitable profession for you.

    Putting in the proper work can enable you to make enormous amounts of money. Working at trading means analyzing your trades, recognizing your strengths and correcting your weaknesses. It means being vigilant for what is working currently in each market environment you encounter.

    Looking for things that negatively impact your trading is very important. Recognizing them lets you remedy them.

    Traders incomes can be erratic so it is important to save during the good times to more comfortably get through the bad times. And there will be times that are either downright bad, or less than what you would require if you were to live hand to mouth. Either way, you need to retain a cushion, because hand to mouth doesn't work in this profession. Or any other in which your income is erratic, which is to say, essentially, any business or non-salaried job

    Overall it is a career with great freedom and hours. It should be done by those that find it enjoyable. If it is too stressful, then again, it is not for you.

    If you trade with discipline and learn from your mistakes and successes, it can be one of the most financially rewarding endeavors anywhere.

    Notice the repetition of the words "career" and "profession". You will find them constantly in the posts of those of us that have traded as our means of support. It is not a hobby or a lark. As the words imply, it requires effort and dedication. And sometimes heartache

    By the way, I have a mortgage, a wife, two kids in college, one more yet to go in another year. I have car payments, have to pay all the usual bills, and taxes. I do not have >$10 million like the gentleman who posted just prior to me, but I have managed to live a comfortable lifestyle and enjoy my working time almost as much as my leisure time. That quality of life has a value I can't put a dollar amount on.
     
    TheMordy, 10_bagger and samiotis like this.
  8. this is my 3rd straigh year of trading. I can say that so far, I can support myself with my trading. I made 6-figures last year, and I'm up 6-figs so far this year to date. I don't live a very expensive lifestyle though. The worst part of this job is the irregularity of the gains. I went through a 16 day straight loosing streak last month where I lost 55k and seriously questioned my ability to make it in this business if the markets change dramatically. Luckilly I made about 50k of that back in the last week. I find that serious loosing spells can really wreck your ability to think right and make you question if this is the career for you. I use almost all my trading gains to buy shares of THV. I now own about 1.5% of the company. I intend to continue buying shares with almost all of my profits as long as it's around a buck b/c I can't think of anything better to do with my gains and I think it's a layup for a move to 20 by the time I'd need the capital to buy a house or something. Don't forget that I'm only 21 and my only responsibilities are my bar tab.
     
    trader99 likes this.
  9. Sanjuro

    Sanjuro

    P2,,

    If you don't mind me asking. How much trading capital do you
    use to make a 6 digit income?

    Can you do it with a 50k Account which the profits
    above 50k are taken out every month?

    Or does your trading style require a larger size account.
    What is the max risk in dollars or percentage of an
    average trade for you?

    Thanks!
     
  10. I trade with an account that is kept at 60k. I sweep it down to that every time it gets to 70k. I don't add if it goes under 60k. That way, if I'm having a rough streak, i'm trading on much less capital and hence taking much less risk. At one point 2 weeks ago, I was down to 32k in trading capital. I don't think of it in terms of risk per trade or anything else. If i like a position, I'll put my whole trading account into it. My trading account is only about 1/4 of my total capital anyway. For instance, I have 50k of MWY right now overnight. I know that's scary as all hell. I hate large overnight positions. At 4.5 currently, that's valued at 225k currently marked to market. Since IB lets you have 4X margin, it only uses 56k or so of my capital to keep that. I think that I have about 80k in that account right now just b/c my MWY position increased in value about 25k since wednesday when I bought them. I hope that answers what you're asking.
     
    #10     Jul 6, 2002