Trading for People who have a Job

what timeframes would you suggest for trading fx; I use 5M and 10M to trade gold intraday but that does not seem to work with fx so have you got any suggestion for me ...

 

What does this look like in terms of holding times? Do people put in stop losses for these longer periods? Is swing trading just long term scalping?

I am a software engineer on the west coast. I can baby sit from 6:30am PST to maybe 7:30, which seems to be where most of the volume is. I can't watch it during work hours though. I expect to research AH, but I can't trade while at work.

I don't think so, because I am reading the [excellent] threads here, but they all seems like they need babysitting. Like, is it better to trade butterflies, condors, or strangles for a period of 1-2 months? Do people even do that? Also, it's not so clear when to manage these things, esp. since the price can change drastically while I'm AFK.

 

I don't use those. Can't speak for others.

The two has nothing to do with each other, as far as i know.

 

We all have jobs. How else would be able to keep re-funding our accounts?

 

Any specific ones I should look at?

My rationalization for why I deserve money is I'm offering insurance. It's not an edge, but it is a service I can provide. I think longer dated options (or plays) level the playing field between big dogs and me, because less is known about the future.

 

If you had a trade and it had a sharp drawdown (pretend you had sold a strangle in GME yesterday), what could you do at work? Are you stuck with watching it lose money?

 

yikes. Roll up the put I guess recapture some and hope it pulls back. Either take the loss or roll the call at expiration and hope for sanity. Not wanting to quote Keynes and something about markets can remain irrational longer than one may remain solvent.

 

the question is: can he manage such a position at work or not?

 

For me any undefined risk trade I'm not doing with the day job. This hypothetical strangle is a good example of why not.

 

I should have been more clear, How long should I hold it before I tap out? How long before I consider it a win and exit? I don't have a playbook yet, so I don't know what are reasonable times for each of these kinds of events. Days to months is a high level answer, but I am looking for more of the nitty gritty.