A Daytraders Fate

Quote from flipflopper:

In August I started trading again. I took some money that I had saved up apart from my investments and 401K (12 Grand) and turned it to 25 by February by swing trading stocks. I then got my day trading power and two weeks ago hit 37. I am back down to 31 but I feel like I am losing my touch since at one point I couldn't lose.
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Do you think you were aided by the bull-run we saw from August to February?

Now that the volatility is back, do you think your trading system can survive in such market? How about in a bear market?

Do you think you have the right type of personality to be a full-time trader? So you lost 6k after a decent run. Are you doubting yourself now? How would you feel when you lose more than 6k?
 
Quote from poohbear:

Isn't it true if you classify yourself as a 'trader' you only need to pay capital gain tax on your day trading income even if you are trading stocks?
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I am aware of trader status but not its specifics...

maybe someone else could comment on the tax treatment of futures vs stocks with a status of trader...

also...
Huge Huge players trade the SPY... sometimes i see a BID of 356,000 to an ASK of 450,000...

just a wee bit of shares there...

cj...
 
Quote from sunggong:

Do you think you were aided by the bull-run we saw from August to February?

Now that the volatility is back, do you think your trading system can survive in such market? How about in a bear market?

Do you think you have the right type of personality to be a full-time trader? So you lost 6k after a decent run. Are you doubting yourself now? How would you feel when you lose more than 6k?
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Believe it or not I made most of my money short and have always had a short bias although I always like to go with the flow long or short.

Yes, I am doubting myself a bit now. But I still stick to my gut and pull the trigger with my stops and targets in place.
 
Quote from sunggong:

Do you think you were aided by the bull-run we saw from August to February?

Now that the volatility is back, do you think your trading system can survive in such market? How about in a bear market?

Do you think you have the right type of personality to be a full-time trader? So you lost 6k after a decent run. Are you doubting yourself now? How would you feel when you lose more than 6k?
More...

Believe it or not I made most of my money short and have always had a short bias although I always like to go with the flow long or short.

Yes, I am doubting myself a bit now. But I still stick to my gut and pull the trigger with my stops and targets in place.
 
In this particular market climate I would suggest you simply obtain another job, perhaps part time, to give yourself a safety net financially and psychology . Meanwhile commit a small portion of your stake for small position or swing trades while you study the futures markets.

I personally believe that in a short while alot of traders/investors will become confused as the markets behaviours become more erratic. Alot of patterns and moves will fail. Charts,pivot points, s/r won't mean much at that time.

Domestic stress levels are already rising do to financial concerns and will most certainly continue on this vector.

Point is you need a good anchor and safety net while you are learning and this may not be the best time imo.

After a few years things will begin to smooth out. It will be as spring and you'll be one of the gladiators. The markets have their seasons and we are now in the fall.

Don't be in a hurry.

again:

Don't be in a hurry.

I too am honing my skills and once again redefining myself as the markets change yet again only to repeat what they've always done in the past.

Same game-- different time, different players.
 
Quote from poohbear:

Ensign is the most cost effective charting software if you use IB. You can also practice in a simulation mode using their playback function.

Since you only have 31K, I suggest you deposit only 10K initially, since you are more likely to be losing in the beginning. And only when you lose you will really learn sth.

Try to trade only one contract in the beginning, and only trade once or twice each day. When you can double your money then double your lot size.

Education / degree really doesn't matter in trading. Market doesn't care about these things. Psychology is everything.
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Hey. I got Ensign and IB up and running. What a nice combo!! First day trading futures and love it. WTF was I wasting time in stocks for?? Thanks for the heads up on Ensign, I am very impressed.
 
Quote from bestfriend:

Did you get laid off because, at least in part, you were trading from the office on co time?
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Yeah, I'm sure it didn't help!! I became more and more blatant about it the more money I was making. I said that I only traded during my lunch hour since I'm on PST but I'm sure when people walked by and saw 4 realtime charts up at 10:30am PST they knew I was pretty much doing my own thing until at least after 1:00.

I kinda fell into Network Engineering which came quite easy. I always got tons of work done but worked odd hours and played by own rules. Got in the office at around 10:00 left at around 7:00.

Today is my first day trading full time. Made $1525 trading 85 YM contracts. Probably some beginners luck (I was banking on a choppy market and got it). 6 winners 2 losers. If I can stay consistent getting laid off will be the best thing to happen. Either way I got a paid vacation till August. But if the markets twist me up then it would be back to the office for me!!
 
Ehh I dunno, sounds like your life is pretty peachy at the moment

Almost 6 figs liquid net, a $125k package, and you just made 1.5k your first day daytrading YM. You're doing better than 99% of daytraders.

Rock & Roll!
 
Quote from flipflopper:

Yeah, I'm sure it didn't help!! I became more and more blatant about it the more money I was making. I said that I only traded during my lunch hour since I'm on PST but I'm sure when people walked by and saw 4 realtime charts up at 10:30am PST they knew I was pretty much doing my own thing until at least after 1:00.

I kinda fell into Network Engineering which came quite easy. I always got tons of work done but worked odd hours and played by own rules. Got in the office at around 10:00 left at around 7:00.

Today is my first day trading full time. Made $1525 trading 85 YM contracts. Probably some beginners luck (I was banking on a choppy market and got it). 6 winners 2 losers. If I can stay consistent getting laid off will be the best thing to happen. Either way I got a paid vacation till August. But if the markets twist me up then it would be back to the office for me!!
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85 contracts gave you $1,525
that was done in 8 round turns
the average return is $2.25 per contract?
 
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