Another one hangs it up

good post.

Quote from Broken dreams:

Hey Dollar Hegemony,

You seem to have a strong opinion on corporate life and how it works, and what you feel is understandable. Escaping corporate life is usually one of the reasons why most people enter trading. They have visions of creating their own path.

Sure, there are many levels of negatives from a corporate career, but unfortunatey, there are also many negatives in trading as well, and those negatives in trading could possibly dwarf any kind of corporate worries that you ever had.

In a corporate atmosphere, you may have the worse kind of relationship with your superiors; you may not interact well at all with your peers; you may just be bored to death. Heck, you probably just hate your job with an intense passion, and that obviously sucks, but guess what? At the end of Friday or every two weeks, you're still getting paid. And even if you get laid off, you should still be somewhat marketable in the same field because you held a real job and you have relevant skills. And usually, if you have put enough work in your field, you should at least still have a reasonable path to advance. And even if you never reach your highest goals, you should still eventually find a somewhat stable point, which is something not really offered in trading.

In trading, it's a different animal because there are no guaranteed paths of progression. Every day is a new day. Every month is a new month. And every year is a new year. Think you found some cool money-making strategies and figured the market out? Ha, that's always an amusing moment until the market sneaks up on ya and humbles your senses. In trading, you might get a paycheck this month, but there's no guarantee you'll get one next month. It doesn't matter how many hours you put in.

Most people get caught up with an idea that trading will give them happiness that's not present in their current corporate job. The advantages of trading are obvious: one gets to be one's own boss, there's no upper management to deal with, many personal freedoms exist, and that's lovely. There's also a chance to make a lot of money. It's an ideal life that seems like a vacation from the corporate lifestyle. They also seem to sell this dream to every working man in prop shops, seminars, or trading commercials.

But I can tell you that for most people who do it full-time for a living, trading is far from a vacation. Sometimes, it even feels like slavery, sorta like how you might feel in your corporate job, except you're still getting a stable income at the end of the week.

Sure, trading is fun when you're making money. But what if you're breaking even for months, or worse, experiencing drawdowns and bleeding down? It's probably not going to be so fun anymore, right. And the pressure is nothing like just not getting along with your boss. Those problems should actually seem quite insignificant to you when you're dealing with bigger headaches like trying to figure out how to live without cashflow. The grass is always greener on the other side, but is it?

Of course, when we all enter this field, we don't really think about the possible negatives so much because we tend to be filled with a world of optimism and believe in our abilities. That's certainly the correct and positive attitude to pursure any endeavor, but having confidence should not mean we should overlook the possible inherent risks. I guess if you really want to be a trader, you should not only evaluate the risk and reward of the single trades you're making now, but perhaps focus on something even bigger, which is the risk and reward of a trading career itself.
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Quote from dandxg:
Agreed, I used to, used to that is, make 6 figures in outside sales at a large corp. telecom company. The last year I was just burned out and barely made 60k. I just couldn't kiss anymore corp ass. The worthless sales meetings and BS. This last year in trading I made nothing, yeah that's right nothing, but IMO most importantly I didn't blow up my day trading account.

Point being, I look forward to everyday at the screen, I know the money with come, I just need to keep paying my dues and put in my screen time. I actually regret holidays sometimes as it means I can't trade. Even bad days when I lose some money I am still motivated to get up the next morning and log in and punch in trades.

I have logged thousands of hours reading posts on ET and learned many good things. Focus on perfect execution and the money will come ( I have a good plan and set ups ).

Good trading to all.

Dan
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Well hell something good ought to come out of straight talk as in your post.

I have to make one comment though. You shouldn't be trading and making loss days. Whenever I read about losses and drawdowns, most times, I just pass on by. Its part of ET culture and belief.

But what if one said 'Look forget trading .. as you know it. Go to a bank where you can open an account and where you can just keep on building capital. Its called Capital Builder Account. The good thing is once you put in an initial amount you don't put in any more but your account goes on growing and multiplying. There are never any reductions. But you gotta work on this account and only you decide how just how much it multiplies. Interested?'

Get my drift?
:)
 
Quote from ang_99:

Dude, dont sweat it too much.. Having a degree is huge.

Get in with a decent firm somewhere , work really hard, network, and you will catch up to your buddies in no time.
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Great advice. You've also gained a lot of valuable experience that cannot be put down on a resume or "pedigree." That will serve you well, no matter what you do, and an employer will also benefit big time. Why? Because you've demonstrated that you can work and produce independently, you do not need someone to tell you what to do all the time, that you are a creative thinker, and by your statement here, that you are honest and not full of yourself.

Step into any industry that interest you, and you will surely catch up fast. No worries.
 
Man this is entertaining. I dont think it really matters what you do jus whether you find it works for you. If I didnt have to look for a job why would I bother, but Im better off leveraging my investments with steady income. I mean I was never all that hyper active with trading stocks anyways, moreso with forex, but I can swing trade any markets and at the end of the day not be all that disatisfied with life. The world isn't what it onmce was, but its always changing, and I think thats a good thing. No company owes me a living a career or anything else, I've always known that and I accept it. The additude that you take to whatever job you have has more to do with perspective rather than having life conform to the way you believe things should be.
 
Quote from mrbrint:

Man this is entertaining. I dont think it really matters what you do jus whether you find it works for you. If I didnt have to look for a job why would I bother, but Im better off leveraging my investments with steady income. I mean I was never all that hyper active with trading stocks anyways, moreso with forex, but I can swing trade any markets and at the end of the day not be all that disatisfied with life. The world isn't what it onmce was, but its always changing, and I think thats a good thing. No company owes me a living a career or anything else, I've always known that and I accept it. The additude that you take to whatever job you have has more to do with perspective rather than having life conform to the way you believe things should be.
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Thank you!! The above is a great deal of what I tried to get across as well. Alas, some among us decided I was worshiping at the corporate alter (Not). To echo your post, Yes it is about steady income, attitude toward the job & life. I have the money to trade, save, pay bills & so forth. All the while, staying true to myself. Prevents my getting bitter, or being lost in the corporate fray. As I said, stay true to yourself.
 
Broken Dreams -

Been there, done that. My situation is almost exactly the same as yours so I figured I'd chime in.

I did the same thing, went thru the same despair, etc. I loved trading more than anything I've ever done, but flat out couldn't survive anymore on what I was making.

A couple of positives:

1. If you get a job related to the industry, most people will be impressed that you lasted 5 years on your own - everyone I've talked to/interviewed with knew how few people make it, and everyone knew it was tough to survive. I talked to a VP at Cantor who told me "The good news is that you've already done the toughest thing you'll ever do in your life."

2. If you get a job outside the industry, people will be impressed because you had the balls to be a trader. It's just like saying you were a copier salesman or made your living cold-calling.

3. While a 9-5 is not anywhere near as compelling as trading, it is incredlibly easy compared to trading. I'm not saying I want life to be easy, but after struggling for a few years just to survive, it is a huge load off my shoulders to show up to work and get a paycheck I can live on every two weeks.

Good luck to you.
 
Quote from Broken dreams:

I'm sure 95% of you don't want to read this post because you're all still chasing your dreams and don't want to be reminded on how tough of a game trading is, but this is my reality.

I've been trading since 2001, and I feel like I've been living in a bubble world all throughout this time. Like everyone, I had big dreams in the beginning, and I thought trading was the avenue to help me get there. But eventually, my big dreams transformed into merely just fantasies of decent living. When even those delusions didn't materialize, my aim was just going for basic survival.

I've been living off reserves for awhile, but they're running out, and it's just time to move on. So my decision to hang it up was not an overnight decision. I did try and give in my effort, but it just wasn't working out. If I don't quit now but continue to achieve the same unproductive results, then I'm just continuing the denial.

I'll be 30 soon, and I feel I've aged so much in these last five years. And what's really sad is that I have grinded it out but have really nothing to show for it. Right now, I don't really know what to do or how to even get a job. I have a econ degree, but I haven't had a real job in five years, and I don't even know how to put that down. While most of my friends are already at or near the manegerial stages, I'm about to write resumes to compete for jobs against recent college graduates. It's going to be an extremely humbling experience, but I don't really know what to do.
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Believe it or not. You are very very young. 30 years old is very young. You have plenty of time to catch up.
 
u guys got it all wrong the money is in day trading futures if u r a profitable equity trader u will make a killing in trading futures
i was maKING 1000 A MONTH WITH STOCKS NOW DOING THE SAME SHIT MAKING 500 A DAY IN MY SECOND MONTH ITS 1999 TYPE OF MONEY WITH OUT THE SPECIALISTS AND BULLSHIT DOWN TICKS PARADISE COMPARED TO STOCKS
 
alex,

Futures are the worst place for newbies and you know it. its over leveraged and most starting out will get killed!!

yeah for the experienced trader who knows how things work may fair okay but not someone new.


they are better off trading one lots of SPY and DIA.. not really a living but a safer learning experience.
 
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