A Career Transition into Trading

ramora said:
Hi niteflite,

About 4 years ago I decided to transition to trading. I knew my dayjob was going to end and I had plenty of time to prepare.

As a programmer I developed my own charting software that works with InteractiveBrokers. Probably better to use off the shelf product, but I like my software and how it is integrated charts and order entry. This also forced me to look into the mechanics of order entry and markets more than most people. Good.

I live in California and would trade ES from market open to 8:30 and go to the office. In the evenings I would trade K200 which is the South Korean Stock Market Index. It trades a lot like ES.

I also opened an Oanda account which allows me to experiement with FX. However, I have had no success with FX at all. In spite of a lot of hours trying.

Before leaving the dayjob I had at least 4 years part time trading experience. I did not consider myself a rookie but not a pro.

In the last 3 months I have been trading full time ES and K200. It is very difficult to trade every day and focus without making mistakes. I am making money week over week but way under what I expected. I am being very careful not to make a 'end of game' mistake that would set me back week or months. I am trying to not put stress on myself which could 'play out' when trading.

My suggestion: Keep the day job, find something you can trade around your schedule. With IB you can always find something to trade. Get evidence you know what you are doing by keeping records. Review each video on BigMikeTrading site and YouTube. Study/prepare and it will still not be enough in the beginning. Paper trading means nothing. When you are ready, simply make the change to full time. Treat trading like a business - business plan - trading plan, put your thoughts down on paper to review later when things do not go as you expect.

Good luck,

Good luck
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Thanks for this reply. This is quite helpful.. i didn't think about trading stuff after my day job is over..thought i was restricted to the u.s. equities market. i will look into ES and self learning through all the available resources.
 
niteflite said:
Thanks for this reply. This is quite helpful.. i didn't think about trading stuff after my day job is over..thought i was restricted to the u.s. equities market. i will look into ES and self learning through all the available resources.
More...

There is a vendor nightscalper.com that has a room open all night to trade ES on Globex.

There is plenty of ES volume even overnight and you can learn a lot from that room day after day. I think most of the members in the room are just learning so you would probably be comfortable there. I think most, if not all, of the members in the room have day jobs and are just looking to pick up a few hundred dollars a month and learn ES.

"Hold on to what you got; till you get what you want!"

Good luck
 
niteflite said:
Thanks for this reply. This is quite helpful.. i didn't think about trading stuff after my day job is over..thought i was restricted to the u.s. equities market. i will look into ES and self learning through all the available resources.
More...

Self Learn???

Have you thought of:
1. Taking a course in Stocks
2. Move on to options
3. Then other markets such as FX, Commodities.....etc..

Then you would know what you like to trade. I don't want to discourage you, but this can take years.

I started trading without a mentor December 2nd, 2008 (FX). 2013 was my first profitable year. If you get the right guidiance you can probably do this well within 18 months with absolute dedication.
 
You don't have to only day trade in order to make money in the market. Explore all investment vehicles out there. Day trading is being thrown in with the sharks because the Algos are excellent at whipping the small hand out of there position intra day. You have to know why you enter a position and when to sell it. Establish rules to your trading and follow them regardless.

The trick at making it as not only a day trader but as a trader period is surviving the learning curve. The curve is short for some and longer for others. Capital Preservation during this time is priority. You might have the potential to be the best trader in the world but if you don't preserve your capital through out the learning curve you'll never be around to trade another day to get to that point.
 
Ghost_of_Blotto said:
Not unrealistic in this industry. In fact, quite pedestrian. Of course, not everyone can do it.

[...]

Sadly, as common on ET, there are quite a few people giving advice and presenting analogies without much of a clue as to what they are talking about. One exception is the gentleman who posted an academic paper on post #2 of this thread.

I am an independent trader and semi-recluse, and for better or worse ET forms part of my social life.
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To anyone with half a brain, you're a completely clueless piker trading a $20k account who is mistaking gambling for trading.
 
niteflite said:
you put up only your deposit but it's as if you've put up 200k, or if you supply your own buying power, you're temporarily risking up to 200k but you can take your losses or your gains if you want
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You're mistaking the higher liquidity in financial markets (vs. a brick and mortar business) for safety. With that type of thinking you're destined to learn very painful and expensive lessons.

In three years, come back to this thread and let us know what you learned.
 
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