How long has everyone been trading?

Quote from Arthur Deco:

Ten years ago. With 5K USD. Replenished it a time or two. Hope to have it at yearend. In ten years? They may need that 5K to bury me.
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Thats great! :p
 
Quote from miatamatt:

Just wondering. When did you all start and with how much? Where are you today and where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
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18 years in July. Started with $60k. Ten years from now? Who knows?
 
Got into the market a little over two years ago. Swing trading part time while working a full time job. Started with 18k,lost about 9k the first year. I didn't even know what a bear market was much less that I was in the middle of one! Have built my account back to about 28k,mostly just trade intraday now,just too hard to predict any further out.Never papertraded,probably should have.
 
My first trade was in 1971 with LUMs with a $4700 account. I was teaching math and computer programs on a HP3000. I wrote a trading program in BASIC that used price in data statements from the news paper. I was constantly feeding paper tapes into the HP, adding new data and then re punching the program. The clumsy program worked one day and told me to buy at a major pullback of LUMs. I was lucky it made money. From then on I was hooked. I have used every size and shape of computer since then to improve on that clumsy start. I’m retired and trade full time, except the summers. When my wife retires in 3 years I will hang it up for a while and travel. But I will come back. I always do. Its in my blood.
 
Living hand to mouth for the last 20 years from trading and still counting. Hope to be around to celebrate the Silver anniversary. I did once blow up spectacularly but clawed myself out of the miserable hole only to get jeered by my newbie brethren here at ET.
 
Started 21 years ago in 1988.

Timeline
---------------
1988-1999
Took life savings and put in 3 mutual funds. +578% return. Easiest trade of my life.

Mid 1999-Mid 2002
Did not trade.

Mid 2002 - today
Took 40% of capital and put back into mutual funds. +112% return since.
Took 30% of capital and have traded futures and stocks. Up +285% return since.

Worse drawdown -28%
Best drawup +1487%
Overall return +1156%

Best trade: YHOO $2.40 to $45 (+1775%)
Worst trade: RMBS $82 to $58 (-29%)

Ten Lessons
-----------
1) Daytrading is for dummies
2) Holding is the game
3) No such thing as investing (since 1999)
4) Dividends can make you shitloads of money without having to work.
5) Short term capital gain taxes kill
6) Have a business plan. Follow rules.
7) Know fundamentals and technicals
8) Dont put too much faith in technical indicators. They are for idiots. Watch price. Thats all that matters.
9) Feel happy? Sell. See others unhappy? Buy.
10) Risk is reward in disguise.
 
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