YoungTrader you already made more money in two years then the 5th largest bank in America did so why would you want to change your style of trading? Not to mention you are still in HIGH SCHOOL, so being around other traders might just mess up your trading style. Look back at all your trades and find out were your success came from and just keep doing more of the same. Patience and Emotional discipline are the keys to winning in the markets and it appears at the ripe old age of 17(I think) you are far ahead of most traders so don't go messing up a good thing. Your farm back ground and hard work might have something to do with it but who knows. I would recommend you get the best education that you can afford because you might need something to fall back on some day. If you can turn $10,000 into $58,000 in two years you don't need other firms money. I guess maybe you did this since August but you have been trading about two years. Just continue to grow your account, have patience(You will get more of this the older you get)and Emotional discipline and you should be able to get your account to a level where you don't need any other money. GOOD LUCK with your future! Victor Sperandeo - Famously known as Wall Street's "Trader Vic" The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading.
dafeeder Thanks for the compliments and I will take them into consideration. I started this journal last July. So actually I turned that 10k into 48k in 8 months (not bragging). I will have been trading futures for 2 years come this August. I actually started trading commodities with a 3k account in August 2006 (it seems like its been a lot longer than that though lol). I remember my first commodity trade.....it was a long sep kc wheat trade. I remember getting stopped out for $500 (a lot to a 16 year old kid). If I recall right that was the absolute bottom of the BIG wheat rally that would come later. I should of limited out my account on long wheat positions lol! Its hard to explain and I know it might sound crazy but its not all about the money (for me anyway). I mean I don't know of anybody else who cares more about money than me but I do this job because I truely enjoy doing it. This is all just a big game imo. Its just like basketball, baseball and football except they keep score with points and we keep score with dollars. The money is just a way to keep score, it really doesn't mean that much when you think about it. Like right now as I sit here typing I can't wait for the markets to open Sunday night. I live for trading! I just want to play the game! As far as going prop. In my opinion it is my best bet at being able to trade a huge amount of money and in return make a huge amount of money. My grades in school are not good enough to get into an ivy league school and major in some sort of quantitative math degree or something confusing like that. So without that degree I have virtually no chance of trading institutional/hedge fund money and i'm not sure I would even if I could. There is something to be said about being your own boss and living by your own rules. Trading prop gives me the opportunity to make as much money as I want to, set my own hours, trade around successful traders (if its a good prop firm), pay dirt cheap commisions, etc. It imo seems like the best way to go. Stevie Cohen started as a prop trader, Paul Rotter started as a prop trader so it must not be a bad place to start. Another reason is I get complacent easy......I know, I know thats not the best way to be in this biz but its the truth. I always have to be looking for the bigger better deal! I always have to be searching for the next big money maker. I have shown to myself and you readers that I can make money on a position trade basis but what about intra day? Right now I can grind out a few hundred bucks a day trading schatz on 5-10 lots at a time but thats not good enough. I want to be the guy who trades 1k lots at a time. I want to be the guy who makes a few hundred k a day. I want to be the guy who every local knows and tries to key on. I want to be the "top dog". Those are just my feelings guys and by no means are they the right way to go about things but its what I think will make me the best. Good Trading Guys
how did you open a futures account to trade on your own at age 16?...as for the 1k lots at a time, why not do it on your own trading the ES?...great trading to you!!!...great stuff!
My dad actually traded commodities since the 80s so I just placed trades through his account (still do). As for trading 1k lots at a time right now? Are you crazy lol? Good trading to you
you know if you run the old man's tractor too hard for only an hour,you'll be out in the barn fixin it all night,you can be the next buffet if you want but you'll need to take careful smart steps and you'll need an education,what u have aint broke so don't start fixin it,how many of your classmates are makin $6k a month
YT It's been a pleasure reading your journal and I wish you only the best for the future. Someday you will be a top dog, no doubt. As far as prop firms go, in my opinion, they are good for equities guys. Us futures traders already get a lot of leverage and as far as commissions they are all about the same unless you lease/buy a seat. Consider just building up your own account using your proven strategies and than if you really want to go big manage OPM someday. Regards, YoungOne
...no, no, no...I meant, in the future you could build up to 1,000 lots on the ES...really one of only a few contracts that could handle that type of volume per trade etc.
Young Thanks man! I wish you continued success also in everything you do! The prop firms I am talking about are the ones that let you trade their money, give you at least a 50% cut of whatever you make, base salary, and exchange commisions. Those are the firms I would only consider working for. Managing OPM would be pretty cool but i'm so far from that kind of thing its not even funny lol! Anyway good trading to you!
You seem like a pretty smart kid, and at your age your way ahead of the game. Have you ever considered trading for private equity? It's funny because my dream to is to be a 1k lot scalper in the ES, averaging a couple hundred thousand a day, makin 30-50 million a year. Top of the food chain, and if you start at your age, anything is possible. Did you ever clerk, or work at the CME or any of the exchanges in Chicago? I'm sure there are plenty of traders over there that would love to back a trader like you.