Are you a successful at home day trader with no other source of income who began with modest means?

steoli said:
Sorry for being sceptical...

Care to share your trading history? You can import via profit.ly.

Here are my verified trades http://profit.ly/user/Steoli/chart
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I understand that you are sceptical. I never post trades because it brings no profit to me, only risk. All that people know can be used against you. I had bad experiences in past.
Maybe I will post something to show how long I stay in a trade and how much of a move I take. I trade ES. In the actual market a few hundred dollars per contract per trade profit. Profit depends also from type of market.
 
MrN said:
I agree with most of what you say but, not completely on this. The key though is the premise that "trading for a living with no other source of income" is somehow a worthwhile or noble goal, when in fact it suggests (and no offense to those who are doing this is intended) a stunning lack of business sense or even common sense.

Jim Simmons, founder of perhaps the best hedge fund of all time, an undisputed genius, ran customer money for most of his career, and indeed the business he owns still does in some of the strategies. The big dogs with billions mostly keep the customer funds, they don't want to "trade for a living" on their own dime - even with their billions!

I know a few very successful traders who started small, before they were rich, and then moved forward from that position to become wealthy through trading. here are three stories:

-A guy who was great at SAT tests and built a small business tutoring Brats on the SAT exam. He could tutor the kids outside of market hours, make a good $$ per hour rate, and this supported him while he figured the trading game out. Now he is running a small but successful CTA with low overhead and 50M with 2 20 fees in other words a great living with potential for a home run.

-One guy born to a well off family - literally chilled with his small trust fund for 10 years, figuring out trading, started a few firms that failed, took a corporate job for a time, then after finally "figuring the game out" built a team, and now is one of the names people are familiar with running one of the larger CTA firms.

-A guy who made a few million in the late 90's then failed when vol fell, went into a steep depression as his mom died, all went black. Had to take a shit job for a few years, trading on the side. Kept researching strategies, trading small, completed the CFA program. Made a killing in 2008 trading part time while employed. Married a govt employee - taking the pressure off. AFTER networking started a firm, so instantly has a pool of very wealthy people invested and interested in investing more - already rich by middle class standards, but going for a home run now.

Conclusion is, people who want to be pros need to get over the notion that trading for a living, on your own dime is a noble goal. When I see some dork ask, "why run a service if you are so good" I laugh. That is the viewpoint of an idiot chasing his pipe dreams.

If you want to do this full time, have some business sense. Get some operating leverage with a heavily marketed newsletter/trading call service, or manage other peoples money. If you are extremely intelligent with a technical degree you can try doing prop trading at one of the good firms - though I have seen allot of those guys churn in and out too.

You want to be free rolling enjoying the fight and wealth, not struggling like an average stiff in a cube. Id advise anyone to move towards what works and to stop thinking that there is something noble about "trading as a sole income". Even if you are good you can get hit with a health problem, spouse dies, kid dies, depression, etc, making it a disaster. Use it as a vehicle to get rich, or just do it as a hobby, which there is no shame in at all.
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Absolutely ridiculous
 
Buy1Sell2 said:
FALSE
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Trying to trade if you don't know what you are doing can be extremely hard, when you know what you are doing it can be challenging , like an elite sportsman/woman you must constantly strive to stay at your peak. On another note, my sister describes my trading for a living as "living by my wits", nothing to brag about here, although interestingly she is a high level manager and I certainly make a hell of a lot more than her.lol
Cheers John
 
Johno1 said:
Trying to trade if you don't know what you are doing can be extremely hard, when you know what you are doing it can be challenging , like an elite sportsman/woman you must constantly strive to stay at your peak. On another note, my sister describes my trading for a living as "living by my wits", nothing to brag about here, although interestingly she is a high level manager and I certainly make a hell of a lot more than her.lol
Cheers John
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Trading can be hard, trading can be easy. That is different for every person. But this is true for everything you do. Sing, swim, play tennis, drink a lot of beer….
It all depends of many different factors: intelligence, thinking out of the box, motivation,personality, emotions……. but it can even be time bound.
Did it never happen to you that you did not understand something for a long time, and after a long time studying you finally understood it? In hindsight you awee wondering then: why did i not understand this from start, it was so obvious? So it was difficult and now it is easy. So difficult or easy can be time bound.
Each person judges from his own point of view, and they all are right. For some it is easy, for others it is difficult.
For me it was a very long time difficult, but now it is easy. Don't understand anymore why people struggle so hard to survive trading.
 
Johno1 said:
when you know what you are doing it can be challenging , like an elite sportsman/woman you must constantly strive to stay at your peak.
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Again here's the thing though: you don't need to be an elite trader (rimshot) in order to make a living at it, you just need to be better than a large enough portion of the clueless/emotional ones to take some of their money. One increment above mediocre, as dull as that may sound.

I agree that the homework never ends though, regardless of level, but it doesn't have to be a 60 hour/week forever situation.
 
VPhantom said:
Again here's the thing though: you don't need to be an elite trader (rimshot) in order to make a living at it, you just need to be better than a large enough portion of the clueless/emotional ones to take some of their money. One increment above mediocre, as dull as that may sound.
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This reminds me of a story: 2 men were walking in the forrest when a big bear appeared and came running to them. The 2 men tried to run away from the bear. While trying to escape, one ask to the other: how quickly can a bear run? The second man answered: I don't know, but all I have to do is run faster than you.
 
VPhantom said:
Again here's the thing though: you don't need to be an elite trader (rimshot) in order to make a living at it, you just need to be better than a large enough portion of the clueless/emotional ones to take some of their money. One increment above mediocre, as dull as that may sound.

I agree that the homework never ends though, regardless of level, but it doesn't have to be a 60 hour/week forever situation.
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I would equate trading as similar to a mother bringing a new born home. The vast majority of the time it is doing it's own thing but you must be there all the time in order to attend to it's needs when they arise. Every trade is potentially a new lesson. As for learning from books ect, pretty much a waste of time once you understand the basics, there is no substitute to learning from the real thing. Lay your money down and roll the dice, I guarantee that you will pay attention.
Cheers John
 
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