What distinguishes a Professional from a Non-Professional (amateur) trader? - Licenses? - Time spent trading? - Trading the money of others? - Being employed or sponsored as a trader by an institution/hedge fund? - Employment status? - Profit or loss threshold? tyvm --Miklas
Miklas, in your order, Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No. IMO, a Professional Trader earns his primary income from trading. That can be his funds or the funds of others.
Thanks for the response, Robert. So, imagine a person is the [stereo]-typical "day trader." They roll out of bed and go straight to their terminal in their pajamas, trade all day, and make enough profit to maintain their capial and pay their bills.. are they considered a "Professional?" When I think of a Professional Trader, I think of someone on their second cup coffee by 6am, with at least one, if not several licenses. They can be found parked in front of Bloomberg Terminal in a corner office at J.P. Morgan in Manhattan, raking in profits with old money.
The other question you might want to ask is : What is the difference between Professional trader vs Professional trading coach / writer / speaker ?
A Professional of any type gets paid to do it or is self-employed and pays himself. I do not see this as any different. As with other businesses, there are different levels of scale.
Someone who is a professional in a field earns a living from that profession. To be a professional trader is no different.
A professional is someone who does it for money - in this case someone like a trader in a prop, on a trade desk, or someone working for an investment firm. The smell test is it is your job. An amateur is someone who does something for the love of it rather than for professional progress.