Can I continue trading for living?

[gymratnyc]

From your current situation, you stated yourself that you were an emotional wreck and that trading has caused a lot of stress. Why is there stress? I guess, because you are relying on trading money to live and can't take losses. When these losses happen, I guess you are thinking how am I going to live (buy food and pay the rent) or pay back my loan. I don't think anyone who trades for a living should be stressed out. When losses happen you shouldn't feel a thing or take it in a good light and ignore it and evaluate yourself in how you came about losing the trade in the first place.

According to your own words, "I've been suffered major anxiety depression these two months. I have all the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. I can't even manage my daily life well" You can't possibly trade when you have depression. Depression causes a lot of symptoms, eating + sleeping problems, negativity, and a tendency not to think straight and focus properly. I would stop trading right away and focus on finding another job. If you still want to pursue trading, I would read up on more books and focus on developing a trading methodology, money management system, and a psychological plan to deal with trading for living. I would also suggest that you go on a vacation to relieve some of your depression and take a break from everything.

Also, you are trading on an IRA account. You can't take that money out until your 59.5 or live on it without paying tax penalties. An IRA should be used as a nest egg (backup plan) and not as a trading (speculative) account. I would suggest you go long some stocks that have been underperforming and put it in your longterm IRA account, i.e. GE.

 

[bstay]

Almost everyone comes into trading with the determination to "make it", some willing to spend on education and other resources to learn a second career.

If I cannot discourage you from trading, and jobs are not forthcoming, then taking out $30K to $50K to restart a new account using a professional trading platform/broker and be prepared to lose this money. The rest of your money should not be risked in active trading, as the learning process may take anything from 6 mths to 2yrs.

It is not about the size of your account to make big money. Even if you have $1million in total assets .... you still won't be able to trade for a living. Without an edge, you will simply lose the money longterm no matter how much you have.

With the $30K to $50K, you should find a trading platform/broker that is easier to trade than IRA. Trade small (very hard to do when u need to make big money quick), search out education, and most importantly find an edge. Losing is part of the game but you must lose small. Proper money management, but without an edge, will only keep you trading for a longer period, eventually blowing out the account.

When you can consistently make money with the $50K account, and you know your methods are sound and profitable, only then u increase your trading size for a higher return. The rush to trade huge size and then lose huge sums will kick you out of the game faster.

About the anxiety/depression, it happens to people i know and they overcome by realizing that they still have family/friends/savings to continue living, and not "hopeless" as the mind suggested. You have to be prepared to lose the $50K over the next year or two, and then re-evaluate what you want to do at that later period. In other words, likely no income for next two years.

Regards,

 

[nkhoi]

Quote from IT-EarlyRetired:

US and global market is going recession

invest 1K of your IRA into Rydex inverse fund

... Now I can only pray that I won't have physical problems coming soon.
...but I need to make living.

get a job.

I got laid off from a giant telecom R&D

network sector is growing, you can search a school online job posting.

about my cash and my IRA account.

keep them liquid. http://bankrate.com/brm/rate/deposits_home.asp

I have a child going to college this fall.

tell her it's never too early to start looking for a loan.

Can I continue full-time trading at home for living?

yes, after you have done all the above.

 

[MandelbrotSet]

Quote from BSAM:

(Actually, the minds and skills of others has practically nothing to do with whether one wins or loses.)

This is one of the best quotes of the week and deserves to be repeated over and over again until at least it makes an impression.

I can't speaking for any other situation in life, but your enegy in the markets is the guy staring you in the mirror (belive it or not).

The OP must:

1. Get rid of all the other bullshit that keeps him from focusing on the markets ... the markets don't care about your story, period.

2. Get your technique down to the point where you understand it, know that it works, makes sense, and is sustainable over the long-haul.

3. Begin the real work of trading ... disciplining your mind. That's the real reason why most traders fail (assuming that they make it through the first two traps that I mentioned), no mental discipline.

 

[MandelbrotSet]

Quote from nkhoi:

invest 1K of your IRA into Rydex inverse fund

get a job.

network sector is growing, you can search a school online job posting.

keep them liquid. http://bankrate.com/brm/rate/deposits_home.asp

tell her it's never too early to start looking for a loan.

yes, after you have done all the above.

Great advice, especially about:

a) getting a job, and
b) telling your kid it's time to start being responsible for herself

Or you can keep going down the road that you've choosen ... just remember, it's a choice.

 

[Wallace]

hi IT-EarlyRetired, believe you are female, single parent ? and judging by the vocabulary and
spelling in your post, is English a second language for you ?

I'm with the others — 'get a job'

but first, you must make the decision to STOP TRADING

a lot of your stress and anxiety should evaporate once you've settled on that decision, to
stop trading, to forget about trading for the present

then, take a holiday for a couple of weeks, use some of your money to invest in yourself -
see if you can find a low cost cruise if that appeals

think about fulltime employment, what you'd like to do, companies where you'd like to be
employed. after you've returned from your holiday start your job search, remember that
finding employment is regarded as a fulltime job in itself so you have to put in your 8-10
hours a day, setup a regular schedule, visit your local library for lots of reference material
and don't be concerned about your age, many employers want mature employees
as long as you can pay your bills plus have some left over, you're ahead of the game and
being employed will provide you with a lot of psychological and emotional stability

try Suze Orman re finances, when you're feeling healthy and happy again - and dancing
PM me

 

[sg20]

You should be mostly on cash giving the market condition... For starter, I think you can trade stocks that don't need a lot of technical skills, stocks that are moving in channels, range bounds, or swings; they are very easy to find and easy to trade. What you need to do is look for stocks that just made a reversal after touching the trend line, if exitsted, or after EMA or MACD crossover... previous stock patterns will tell you if it's range bound or not, and always keep in mind to cut your loser fast and let the winners run. Stay diversified and trade more than 5 stock in many different sectors to minimize your risks.

There are more tips and tricks but I think you'll need to take it easy and do a lot research and absorb all you can before going fulltime.

Good luck,

sg20

 

[Rocko1]

Quote from IT-EarlyRetired:

I am about 50. I got laid off from a giant telecom R&D in NJ four year ago in a major corporate downsize. I took home equity loan, rented out my house and moved out of state. I started full-time trading in June last year with my 190K of IRA and 50K of my own saving. I trade individual stocks only. I made 15% total in the peak of last October. However, I made some big mistakes during market downturn in the past three months. I become 9% loss total so far. Above all, I emotionally made a mistake of selling my NJ home at a much below market price in January.--- contracted on last December and closed middle Jan. These two months major fed cuts made me realized that I should have hold it as a long term investment. I've been suffered major anxiety depression these two months. I have all the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. I can't even manage my daily life well. I've never had this horrible experiences ever. Now I can only pray that I won't have physical problems coming soon.

US and global market is going recession. Can I continue full-time trading at home for living? So far I have total only $210K assets (which include cash out from the sale of my NJ home) and $168K IRA. I have a child going to college this fall. I don't expect to become rich in stock trading, but I need to make living. I tend mentally disturbed and sell when the stock falls below technical stand point. IRA account is difficult to trade and perform in this market. I need to some serious advises how to do next about my cash and my IRA account.

Yes it is possible to trade profitably, but it sounds like time invested in some proper self-learning of how the markets work would benefit you the most at this time.

Technical analysis isn't the key to everything by the way. You could also look into arbitrage, and connections between stocks and derivatives and etc.

All the best.

 

[Pivotas]

Print this out and display prominently next to your monitor.

 

[TraderZones]

Quote from IT-EarlyRetired:

I am about 50. I got laid off from a giant telecom R&D in NJ four year ago in a major corporate downsize. I took home equity loan, rented out my house and moved out of state. I started full-time trading in June last year with my 190K of IRA and 50K of my own saving. I trade individual stocks only. I made 15% total in the peak of last October. However, I made some big mistakes during market downturn in the past three months. I become 9% loss total so far. Above all, I emotionally made a mistake of selling my NJ home at a much below market price in January.--- contracted on last December and closed middle Jan. These two months major fed cuts made me realized that I should have hold it as a long term investment. I've been suffered major anxiety depression these two months. I have all the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. I can't even manage my daily life well. I've never had this horrible experiences ever. Now I can only pray that I won't have physical problems coming soon.

US and global market is going recession. Can I continue full-time trading at home for living? So far I have total only $210K assets (which include cash out from the sale of my NJ home) and $168K IRA. I have a child going to college this fall. I don't expect to become rich in stock trading, but I need to make living. I tend mentally disturbed and sell when the stock falls below technical stand point. IRA account is difficult to trade and perform in this market. I need to some serious advises how to do next about my cash and my IRA account.

Odds say that you have a good chance of blowing most of that money. THis is based on what happens to most traders. Everyone thinks they are different, but they aren't

Some will tell you differently, but you look like a prime target to blow through $100K or more over the near term.