IF you would read through the thread you would see that the OP is no where near ready to "trade fulltime retail with $50k". He came on the site and asked for people's input. If he doesn't like it, or if it is not the answer that he wanted to hear, he should take his 24 year old life with all the experience that he has gained during it and form his own opinion. But if you're going to come on here, changeup your trading style, mention using a simple-minded 5 minute 20/30 ema crossover technique and think people are going to tell you that you are not ready to go solo, think again. But hey, if you think you're ready, forget about what they say and just do it. Whatever, bye.
Taken your advice and have been doing this since you recommended it. W/ $5000 positions and/or 100 share lots.
I think I've taken in everybody's advice quite well with an open mind and I appreciate everything that people have said to me. Some people, like yourself, it seems u skimmed through my post rather than reading and feel the nerve to jump to conclusions and comment. A 'simple-minded 5 minute chart huh ? I'm not using 20/30EMA corssover technique. I said I'm using the 10 / 20MA as an indicator. I dont give a flying fuck about crossovers. Unreliable. 10 and 20 ma does not provide me w/ entry, but can provide confirmation when price action gives me a signal. I never said I was ready to go solo. In my original post, I said i was hoping to go retail by the end of 2008. My recent post suggets I think I'm ready to go retial, but also suggested I tend to rush into things so I am going to wait. I guess my intial strategy came off as simple-minded.....in retrospect it was. Yet in the 2 months I traded it sizing down, it had done quite well. Not a large enough time scale to prove profitability, but so far so good. My only reason for trashing it was b/c I learned to read price action much better and that strategy felt restricting. Suggesting I'm going to blow out my account is not necessary. Do u all really think I'm just gonna jump blindly into this ? Maybe you do. There are plenty of idiots around. I myself, do not consider myself one of them. Suggesting my technique is 'simple-minded' is rude and uncalled for. Does a trading technique need to be very complicated in order to succeed ? Obviously i will be looking at volume, advancing/declining issues, indexes....etc. They can be classified as indicators in the minds of some. But I was mainly talking about indicators that can be graphed along w/ price. Many of you here have much experience and advice to provide. Its just your tone in your writing that sucks. Fortunately, I can sift through the pessimism and negativity and see what you're trying to tell me. Thats it for now. Goodnight
I began using a strategy 2 years ago with nearly the exact approach from your first post. I didn't read the rest of the thread so maybe it has matured. Anyway, keep at it. You have the right idea. Be willing to adjust the strategy according to what you see. Don't make strict rules. pm me if you have questions/thoughts.
well I agree that 99% of this board are nothing but idiots. The problem is that 50k would certainly be enough for a good experienced trader who lives the lifestyle of a miser in a city with cheap living. If you have traded less than 10 years your still a newb, i'm a newb as I assume most people on this board are. It could be enough to live in New York but your essentially going to need alot of luck. Having to make the % gains just to pay rent and eat is going to force you to be trading "on tilt" right from the get go. I don't think losing lots of money in the beginning is mandatory as much as it is a consequence that it takes countless hours of screen time before you have seen even half the markets cards. Just throwing causion to the wind is foolish and unintelligent. For myself I bought a piece of shit house last year in a cheap city, a piece of junk car and moved to second shift taking a pay cut and far more mindless job just to not have to trade "on tilt". This is life for the next 5 years or until my account blows past 500k. All my levels were blown out yesterday in the downtrend so I'm not even trading today and don't have to worry about it rent/house payment food wise. I imagine most traders fail because of 80% inexperience and 20% under capitalization. There is no reason to be a fool, if you have a decent day job at a bank, work it and trade nikkei 225 at night. If you needed to come here and get a pat on the head if your ready or not then your not. At 24 your probly just going to waste alot of time and money.
Weisman: You need to get some humility ... yes, a lot of negativity on this board, but you need to be objective is possible. Here's how I see it: you are in the process of attempting to find a system, but are almost entirely shooting blind in the dark [like most traders are]. I had a horrible 2007. I lost half of my savings (my entire trading accts) doing exactly that -- sure, I could even say some of it was gambling mentality trading. In fact, when I look back on it, deciding the fine line between gambling and 'risk controlled discretionary speculation' was difficult to do. And it was hell of a lot more than 50K. Now what did I learn? I did not have a strategy, or a plan. I was naive to think a few big kills could get me anywhere. I was changing strategies too often. I was breaking every old-school rule: adding to bad trades, adding to good trades [because I had no system, again], throwing money management out the window, etc. But most of this ridiculous behavior came from not having a strategy and not believing that I was going to be one of those idiots. Well, I did become that, if dictated by my trading account balances. Now I'm back to the drawing board working on designing some auto trading systems backtested 5 years at least, hopefully not vulnerable to over-formfitting and optimization pitfalls, not vulnerable to excessive commissions or slippage losses, and not correlated to eachother in market environments. And you know what I'm learning? I don't understand how anyone who isn't a market maker can actually make a living in these markets on short term trading (scalps, and very short term swings) without a system that takes the human component of execution out of it. It simply introduces too much potential for abberation. Furthermore, when you step back (like I'm forced to), you realize that most of these guys on this board are in the same shoes I was in a year ago - without a decent system (some call it an edge), and just great hopes from the reliance on their self belief and perception of self-capabilities. Maybe they are hopefully wise enough to step back before they lose it all. But without a system worked out, your profitability will be determined more by luck and market conditions than perhaps by any brilliance you possess. And I ask the better question: How can you be anchored to stay in these markets and be profitable if you never know for sure that your trading ideas are quantifiably good? [and I'm not telling you to quantify their validity based on other people's opinion] All it takes is one day of getting carried away doing countertrend buying or selling on a day that penetrates through multiple support levels, averaging in (not stopping out successive trades) ... just ONE day of divergence from your system that doesn't go your way, and you get behind the 8-ball. Etc etc.. very difficult stuff to reconcile, and I wish you luck. I'm still trying to find something better within myself.
scri, based on your statements/story, I would have to argue that you blew out your account because you did not have the right money management skills nor the correct position sizing. I would argue that I don't have an edge in most cases. Unless you think trading using S/R and candlestick reading is an edge which I don't think is. I do know my significant learning of money management and position sizing enabled me to have a great 2006 and so far, in 2007 (knock on wood). Maybe I'm one of the few people that think you can make a living in this industry as long as you have great risk control / money management, and implement correct position sizing basing it on volatility.
No, I wish to talk you into it.A starting total of $50/80 grand should be enough for you to lose some or most of it. Do that and then forget trading. Once thats over you can get back to who you have been and who you are.
Did he say he wanted to live on his trading profits?? I personally think you need 200-500k to live comfortably off trading income. So I say keep working at the bank, and with the $50k trade for capital growth. Reinvest everything, maybe even add to the initial capital on an annual basis. A long term trend following system for equities would do the trick. Try to design a system that runs off weekly timeframes, and requires very little screen time. Im 23 and Im trading a method as described above. So I can still work my 50 hours a week, and monitor/execute my weekly system which takes 1 hour a week. At 24 you have nothing but time. Use that to your advantage. You are in no hurry.