How much profit makes daytrading worth it (as your only job)?

Quote from baggerlord:

I have a degree and got offered a job at 40k right out of college. I turned it down to work for $8 an hour and try and make it as a trader while I pursue my ski bum career. Opportunity cost, baby.
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good luck..... u are just getting started and 40k is hardly a lost opportunity....I hope u make 10 fold...peace
 
Quote from Dustin:



Trading is only stressful if you aren't making enough $, if you trade other peoples money, or when mistakes/outages cost you money.
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so if you trade your own money its not stressful?
 
Quote from blackguard:



right! so isn't there stress not to create bs for yourself? couldn't you self-destruct?
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after 10 yrs of trading i have learnt to manage the stress levels i create. just like any job there are good days and bad days and if the day really sucks and i feel like crap(mentally) then i'll quit for the day and go work out. i amde a list of pro's and con's of trading vs reg job and the only pro for the reg job is more money.and this yr i don't think that will be an issue either.
 
Quote from goldenarm:



If trading is NOT stressful, then you're probably trading in 100 share lots and losing $10 when you're wrong. When you start taking on serious positions or trade OPM (other people's money) then you'll learn what stress is. Or maybe you just have so much money that you don't give a shit and you're just trading for the entertainment value.

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Goldenarm, I stick by the statement. It's not stressful when I am doing it right. Don't know about OPM, you may be right about that.

Trading WAS stressful for me in the past. Trading is no longer stressful for me. Maybe because I trade interest rates with slower movements and I stick to my rules which makes it hard to have catastrophic days. If I'm stressed I will not be in a position.
 
But to answer the original Q, I would like to have at least 100k in my account before I considered full time, and would need to make at least 3k a month. Wouldn't do it unless I had a few months worth of expenses in a savings account as well.
 
Quote from blackguard:



I know some guys working at Mickey D's on the overnite shift, and they daytrade during the day. Works out good for them because they have a steady income and they can still daytrde all day. For them its not the money but the freedom. :-/
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LOL. I would love a job at those guy's Mc'd. Working at Mc'd and having >25K to daytrade with, must be nice.
 
Quote from blackguard:



so you're saying the only thing that matters is money? couldn't there be someone who gives up a 6 figure 'job' in exchange for trading at home with the freedom that provides even if it means earning less money? I know many many people who would kill for that.

also, education has nothing to do with making money. Are Gates or Dell 'highly educated'?
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I just gave up my 100k job (and a fiancee, and an expensive uptown apt, and the rest of my bourgeious yuppie lifestyle (selling the bimmer after I get back from snowboarding in Chile).

I'm going back to school (was offered a research assistanceship in the finance dept of a small university in Alabama).

The rent on my new place is $300/mo. All of my other expenses will decrease in about the same proportion.

I'm happier than I've ever been, even though my trading is mediocre at best (for now)

So, no, its not just about the money. It's a matter of having the nuts to do what you want to do. If I can make a subsistence living (without burning through my savings getting to that point) I will be very very satisfied.

--laz
 
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