How many of you guys here trade for a living? Just wondering what made you choose to make this your 9-5 job as opposed to having an actual job and swing trading on the side? And more importantly, what do you have laid out for you for the future? Do you plan on trading for the rest of your life? Do you have a plan B in case trading fails? There is no job promotions as a trader and writing "Day trader" as your past occupations in a job resume certainly won't give you any brownie points unless you're applying for an Investment company or something... Trading for a living seems like a very risky "job" to take on. For one, cash inflow is extremely unstable and you could go broke in a matter of minutes. For the other, it seems like you're wasting your life in the sense that you're not really gaining any real skills/putting your skills to work like in a 9-5 job. I'd just like to understand the mentality of those that trade for a living. What if one day you were wiped out completely. What is YOUR Plan B, then?
First, never have any position that can complete wipe out. Next do whatever it takes to make money on the side while you build capital account. Obviously, easier to just work for a operation such as bank or fund and get paid to learn.. Interesting to see how many respond to this... not many I bet
Trading is a business and requires a lot of skills that are very, very real... Maybe not the skills you need when you work in a 9-5 job, hence, the reason why many can not make it in the real world of trading.
There is no steady stream of income in trading, and there's too many uncertainties. If, for example, a person trades for a few years and decides to take a break in order to go back into the labor market, his skills have no doubt become rusty. Comparing himself with other job candidates alike, he certainly won't have the competitive edge the employer is looking for. Trading for a living is basically like selling one's soul to the devil. But then again, those that trade for a living probably have their money diversified into other types of investments. Sorta answered my own question here haha
Not entirely true. I left an entry level software job in 2003 to trade full time. 18 months later I got another software gig and my skills were actually better as part of my trading experience which included building a custom automated trading system. In fact, my experience using third party activeX controls (the one provided by IB - trader workstation) got me the gig at my current employer as I work for a SDK (software development kit) company. fan27
When one goes to their 9-5 they are trading time and work for Federal Reserve Notes. So you already trade for a living. Who's to say you don't get fired tomorrow or your company goes belly up. No guarantees in your trade or in mine. Every transaction is a trade. Manage Risk, Trade wisely My .02
Successful traders go onto managing hedge funds. Successful hedge funds end up owning big companies. If you are a successful trader, you will in time have 100,000s of employees working for you.
Don't some successful hedge fund managers just want to trade for their own account and not worry about other BS after x amount of years dealing with others BS? Less stress is worth more than money isn't it? That all being said, who in the trading world has made over 100 million dollars without managing OPM ? Do any exist? I thought I saw a name or two in the Market Wizards but can't recall.