saxon, Yeah that's what I'm wondering about It probably is good to take a breather here and there -Taric
ptunic, if you're trading is entirely mechanical and you do not day trade...why can't you just take your laptop with you on vacation? That's what I do. Then you can just download your data after market closes and then run your systems.
Taric, I have a family member who trades a mechanical system. He has his wife place the trades when he's not home, and she's actually done a bit better than him because she never second-guesses the system. Of course this approach won't work too well on your honeymoon! You don't have any investors to answer to right now, so take the time off and enjoy yourselves. I'm in the same position of aspiring to run a (small) fund in the future, and I'd like to be able to hire a trading assistant by that time; as it is I get nervous just taking a bathroom break during the trading day, even though my system is fully automated. There's always something that can go wrong.
I don't know if you can ever take time off when you're running other people's money, unless you've got someone else working with/for you. Maybe not even then. Two books you should read if you haven't already: Pit Bill by Marty Schwartz: the chapters about his investors pulling their money out of the fund while he was lying in the hospital critically ill. Also the brief chapter "Sorry Dad, You're Fired" which discussed vacations specifically. Confessions of a Street Addict by Jim Cramer. I lost track of how many family vacations he ruined because of a crisis at the fund, and the marital tension it caused even though his wife was a trader and knew what the pressure was like, and even though he had a very competent partner and staff. Monroe Trout also said that he felt he could rarely take time off. Of course none of these guys were trading a fully mechanical system (even Trout), so they really did need to be at the helm at all times, or had reason to feel they did. You and I just might be able to take some time off provided we've made arrangements for the trading to continue in our absence.
Yeah, I agree if you were doing stuff like fundamental trading + news trading that is really tough. Or any sort of day trading. For mechanical stuff that doesn't trade too often, it is easier I must admit.. Yeah I am actually weighing various pros and cons right now in my system. The core of the system is developed but I have a few choices, some of them make vacations easier to do logistically but come with a slight cost in other areas. There are so many tradeoffs to decide, but that is part of the fun of it. -Taric
There is no such thing as a vacation without trading!! Who in their right mind would want to miss even one day of access to the market....simply monitor the market each morning...from whatever beach you're on.... Don
why not just extend your vacation? instead of taking a 2 week vacation and leaving trading at home, take a 2 MONTH vacation and trade at your hotel room or whatever....that's what i intend to do....probably even on my honeymoon you have freedom from a work location, so USE it!!! take long vacations!! enjoy the world
A true addict! I'm the same way, a laptop is more important than a 4 monitor setup! Not to say that I don't get burnt and need to get away....usually a full day or to does the trick.....living in a resort area helps to....Fla, HI, Vegas, CA, etc...... Besides...how the hell do you plan a vacation when you never really know when the market will heat up?!?!?!
Cash out so you can enjoy your vacation and so your wife will enjoy her vacation. In the future, try to schedule your vacations during times when trading slows down (like the last week of August and Christmas time).