I consider myself adequately capitalised for part-time futures day trading but not well capitalised for full-time trading. I have tested my trading on a sim with good results. I trade the last hour of regular trading hours in ES (15.00-16.00 ET). It is a time of day that offers great opportunities with recurring setups which I can now quite easily recognise. I believe that part-time trading gives me an edge over full-time stressed day trader of not being pressured to make enough money every day to pay bills and other day-to-day expenses. Could you share your own, or perhaps someone's you know, experiences with trading part-time rather than going full time? With a hindsight, which approach would you recommend and why?
Why would you trade full time if all your profits come from one hour? I would keep the full time job and continue what you are doing. One more item, SIM trading is not the same as real. No fear and greed.
This is a folly many inexperienced traders have. Just because you find your money in the near EOD RTH session, and so you consider that one hour to be part-time trading, doesn't mean that if you find great opportunities in the one hour after RTH open that you HAVE to be full-time. Just trade the great opportunities that present themselves from say 09:30 to 10:30 ET, or 10:00 to 11:00 ET. If you have just as much success there as you do during the 15:00 to 16:00 block, then you are still "part-time" trading. No need to continue past that one hour block. Why feel compelled to trade more than one hour during market open? Just because the market is still open for that day? Look at it that way. As far as being adequately capitalized for part-time rather than full, well, that makes no sense at all. Think of full-time trading as a whole bunch of part-time one hour blocks of trading. There's really no line to draw here. Mostly it is your peak drawdown and risk exposure that determine your capitalization needs.
It didn't to me, either. I was very puzzled indeed ... ... until I re-read the OP a few times, and suddenly appreciated that the meaning intended to be conveyed, there, was that of "... and not having a regular, secure income to live on while doing so, having given up work to do it". In other words, the OP isn't suggesting that from the perspective of the trading itself, one would necessarily need more capital to do much more of it (though arguably one could, perhaps with slow-moving trades??), but from the perspective of needing to earn a living. And then it made complete sense: one would certainly need rather more capital for that? That's another matter altogether (and one about which you may be quite right, of course.) And that's another, other matter again, of course: apparently you don't yet actually know whether "it works" in a live trading account. It might. It might not. Simulated trading is like that.
Yes, in that context, it does make for a sensible discussion. I did not infer that he/she might be doing this as supplemental income as opposed to going all-in on the income front. You get a cookie. Soft-baked Pepperidge Farm.
Before automating it all, I traded everyday and needed an alarm clock to notify me when 5 minutes left each day, when you do this all the time and you are concentrating to the max, you work up to getting use the stresses like any other job. I was never pressured to make rent, I would think in terms of percentages as less stress than thinking of money. You edge has to come from your trading plan and you but not so much on other traders and or computers as they do more volume than retail and even more during first and last hour of trading. Most start out part time due to lack of time but mainly cause lack of knowledge. If you method works best last hour, never quit your job till you making yearly earnings are made in a week and have comfy cushion in bank.
@Handle123 After you have automated your trading, did you go back to your previous job? Do you find this set up better than being a full-time trader with no other income source? An alternative I consider is to work Sundays and Mondays only, as this should just about cover my monthly expenses. That would leave me 4 days a week to trade and Saturday to have a rest. I must say, this vision to me a bit more although it is more risky in terms of not being able to get back to my previous full-time position in case trading this way does not work out. Tough choice...
In 2003 I left a full time IT job to trade full time. After about 6 months of burning through money for living expenses, I got a part time job where I worked after the market closed. After 18 months I found another IT job as trading full time and expecting to support myself was not working out. On the upside, I gained valuable technical skills during that 18 months that helped me land my next job. While I do not regret my decision to forgo substantial income during that 18 months, the main lesson learned was to be sure to have an adequate business plan before giving up steady income. All that said, I am in a similar position now that I was in 2003, ready to make a move. I think I am a little bit wiser now though. fan27