Any advice for a soon to be full-time trader?

[Real Money]

I'm pretty sure quitting at least this job is the right move.

I'm sure that I should quit mine and just trade full-time as well. But, I keep finding myself just doing what is easy, and counting my funds in the meantime.

By year end I'm gonna have $125,000 just from working an saving. But, at the rate I'm accumulating it doesn't make sense to keep doing $50,000 a year work. It's too slow.

One problem I'm starting to have is that there really is no such thing as part time trading.
As soon as you decide to put capital at risk, then you should trade the best edge you have.

For me that means no time for a 40 hour work week.

You can trade for 1 hour a week and it can be more important than a full 40 hours of typical employment.

 

[WealthSignals]

Thanks for the suggestion. Currently, I'm limited to intraday trading, so it seems like I'm not eligible for your services.

Keep us bookmarked, we're working on adding intraday and auto-trade Also, it's not required to trade your strategy in order to have an EOD system WealthSignals. Just post your signals daily before the market opens, and we'll keep track of the hypothetical results - like paper trading.

 

[ElectricSavant]

Pardon the interupption...

WealthSignals,

This is confusing to me sorry....I do not even know my signals beforehand until the market reveals them. I trade Futures and am hoping you will add them also. What would really be a nice addition is some way to have a trade copier for TradingView or AMP.

Es

Keep us bookmarked, we're working on adding intraday and auto-trade Also, it's not required to trade your strategy in order to have an EOD system WealthSignals. Just post your signals daily before the market opens, and we'll keep track of the hypothetical results - like paper trading.

 

[Howard]

Hi, SteveM,

Appreciate your comment and opinion.

Not sure if anyone in this thread has said this, but if I were in your shoes I would be looking to trade stock options rather than index futures.

If you get emotional and make a bad decision in index futures - say doubling down on a losing trade and buying another 2 contracts, that poor decision will be enough to wipe out $10,000 of your trading capital before you know what hit you.

On the other hand, you can get involved with options trades where you will not lose more than $300, as long as you have a shred of discipline....unlike futures where 6 Emini points is worth $300 bucks, and 30 point moves occur at least once per month.

For me, I'm not worried about lapses of discipline any longer. I have rules for when to stop trading during the day, I never average down and I always use a hard stop.

But what you're saying is interesting still.

Can I take positions with options and trade directionally just like I would a futures contract? If there's a benefit to doing so for my current trading style - I'd certainly consider it.

Plus with options, underlying price isn't the only way to win - learning how to use time, price, current volatility and expected future volatility can all give you ways to structure profitable trades.

Obviously, you never want to be selling naked calls, puts, or straddles with a $15,000 account, just get long on positions with 1 or 2 options contracts max, and you should be okay.

I think you are far more likely to make money doing that then trying to trade futures outright.

This is one of the things I'm very eager to explore as I have more time on my hands.

Best regards.

 

[Howard]

I'm sure that I should quit mine and just trade full-time as well. But, I keep finding myself just doing what is easy, and counting my funds in the meantime.

By year end I'm gonna have $125,000 just from working an saving. But, at the rate I'm accumulating it doesn't make sense to keep doing $50,000 a year work. It's too slow.

Well, if you find yourself being able to save a good deal of money working, consider yourself privileged and maybe it's wise to keep the job for a while.

I'm on an extended leave period and am actually finding myself ridden with doubts since I KNOW I'm undercapitalized. On the other hand, I know it will take me a long, long time to actually save up any substantial amount of money with this job and I do feel fairly confident I can get a better paying job later on if I need to.

One problem I'm starting to have is that there really is no such thing as part time trading.
As soon as you decide to put capital at risk, then you should trade the best edge you have.

For me that means no time for a 40 hour work week.

You can trade for 1 hour a week and it can be more important than a full 40 hours of typical employment.

Well, yes. That's why I'm quitting.

Combining a 40 hour work week with trading may for some sound good on paper, but it's not really so in practice. At least not for me, although I thought so initially.

 

[Real Money]

Combining a 40 hour work week with trading may for some sound good on paper, but it's not really so in practice. At least not for me, although I thought so initially.

Yea. I really liked the idea of trading on Fridays only and then here and there in the mornings before work.

But, the reality is that it hits your quality of life hard.

You look at the market at the end of the week and realize you missed all the easy money because you were spending all your time earning wages.

What I've realized is that I will just have to work weekends if at all. Once you get really good at trading it makes everything else seem pointless.

 

[ElectricSavant]

I could keep myself busy trading full-time as I am constantly refining and looking for new edges. This is what I do. This is my life. For that reason I work my part time gig to give me perspective and keep me at a point where I can see clearly. It's easy to go into another world of "math, spreadsheets & charts only" to escape from life.

I recently have returned to trading live and loving it! But I keep working my part-time gig to keep sane.

ES

 

[Howard]

Assuming I'm profitable - I wonder if there are ways to scale my results/profits?

FundSeeder looks great, but they currently don't support my brokerage and will likely require a long-term track record before funding me. Also, there's probably the issue with regulations, etc.

Is there anyone at all who have any experience with companies such as TopTrader or Earn2Trade?

Should they be considered at all?

Thanks.

 

[Howard]

You look at the market at the end of the week and realize you missed all the easy money because you were spending all your time earning wages.

What I've realized is that I will just have to work weekends if at all. Once you get really good at trading it makes everything else seem pointless.

Well, if it's 'easy money' to you - you should try it then.

Are you trading at all now or just watching the markets while holding a full time job?

 

[Real Money]

I just check the market and my systems at the end of the day. I never planned to do anything except very short holding periods. Stuff like 30 seconds to 10 minutes. A swing trade for me and my system would be like 90 minutes.

I built a system that predicts the price action so that I can basically 'cheat' and see if the big money is selling the rally or whatever. But I can't do it on a mobil device or hours outside of RTH.

So, yea I'm just saving cash and making sure my system is still working at the end of each day.

Here's an example of it. It leads price most of the time.