Is Day Trading Possible with a full time job. ?

Quote from bellman:

Work the nightshift, man. That's the only way to DAYtrade and work full time.
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NOT POSSIBLE! And wouldn't want to! I'm a white collar professional dude.

Anyhow, I was thinking of trading futures or fx at night. But need to find a liquid and deep markets with decent moves and vol. Know any?
 
Quote from trader99:

And the funny thing is that I see some really good setups nowadays but I can't execute them because I'm at work,etc.

...How do people get around this? I love my job. I like its security.
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have you researched/looked into getting a sleek wireless handheld product for work? (Palm/Research in Motion/PocketPC devices, internet enabled cellphones, etc.)

IB accounts can be used with such handheld devices, but I have no idea if you would get acceptable execution speeds suitable for your type of setups, with these tech-gadgets:
http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/software/introMt.php?ib_entity=ca

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref...h-alias=electronics-aps&keywords=internet pda
 
I trade from the UK and usually get back from work at 6:30pm (1:30pm US) - so I can catch the the afternoon session.

I caught the ER2 slide yesterday sweetly. However, a lot of my main signals trigger at the open so there is a price to pay (at the moment).

My view is that there are plenty of opportunities for 'half' day trading alongside work. Clearly not my end-game plan but it gives me time to get use to trading real size alongside keeping Mrs Jessop and her credit card happy.

Cheers
 
Quote from thn5625:

I have been trading for a year now and I hear of some people working while trading. It may work for them b/c:

- The system and their trading style allows for one to three trades a day. Any more may take too much time from work.
-Working may force you to be a better trader b/c it forces you to walk away from a trade and just let it ride out.
-Some traders I know look at the charts and info early in the morning and open a position with predetermined stops and targets and then go to work and check on it again in the afternoon just to see how its doing.

I would say learn your craft and then see if it fits your style.

It may help develop your discipline. Trading with a fulltime job may force you to take less trades than they would otherwise, and since it isnt your main source of income you may be more clear minded when taking a position.

But the prerequisite of this is that you were already a knowledgeable and consistently profitable trader in the first place.
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Hi thn5625,
Since you started an year ago, may I ask about your experiences. What's you trading style. Do you use technical analysis to make decisions?

Also, thanks for mentioning the experiences of others ppl, who are also on full time jobs and are managing to execute a fewtrades. I also felt like experimenting with a similar approach, but only after having a good grasp on major aspects of trading.

I am a true believer of 'knowing what you do' i.e knowing inside and out. I am spending more time to learn more about trading by using a simulator.
 
Trading requires attention and the job is going to be the biggest distraction and it will only get worse if the bosses do not like what you are doing, and they will not.
 
Quote from Pashaz:

Hi Guys,
This is my first post in this forum. I have always been interested in day trading to make some money (I do not believe in getting rich overnight), but I do need some more cash to make the both ends meet.
My questions to the experienced Day Traders out there is, Is Day Trading your full time job?. If no, then, is it possible to Day Trade while you work in the office(any one with the same experience). If yes then, what is the best way to do it(any experiences or TIPS)
I am educated with a commerce degree and I do have knowledge about the stocks, bonds etc,some aspects of technical analysis, the benefits and risks involved in Day Trading etc. But I havent actually traded practically or applied the knowledge.
If I day trade, I can only do it in my office (where I am really busy).

Do the 'Limit' buy or sell tools can help a person to Day Trade, without constantly monitoring the market(which is nearly imposible for me)?

So before starting to look at it, please advise me about your valuable opinions.

Thanks in advance
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Working full time and making money is an easy task.

Then, when your commissions approximate your weekly salary it is time to quit your job and trade and do other things for the rest of your life.

Since I did this long ago before any modern conveniences, my comments below are modified to make use of what is now available.



After work hours do the following.

Every three or four days sort stocks to obtain a universe of 130 to 150 stocks.

In the evening, separate these stocks by parts of the trading cycle into several groups:

Group 1. Those about to break out up

Group 2. Those running just behind group 1.

Group 3. Those who have just broken out.

Put the three groups into portfolios that can be reviewed by their charts and indicators.

Make a similar portfolio of what you own.

Make a list of the 10 best stocks for entering.

Review all portfolios each evening.

During work hours:

Place buy orders for the best one at about 11:00 NYSE time.

Sell the peaking stocks at about 9:45 NYSE time.

some details:

Sort with stocktables.com Its almost free.

Review with clearstation.com Its free. Change the defaults of the indicators to the proper modern values.

Trade by telephone with a full service broker.

with the above you can expect to double your moneyevery 45 days (half a quarter).

the sorting takes 5 seconds. the printing takes a minute or so. getting the three groups will take you 15 minutes.

Up dating every three or four days is faster since it is an "add delete" thing.

The review will take you 30 minutes at first then more time later because you will be sensitive to what to look for and do.

The phone calls will take you a minute or two a piece and always trade at market.

You do not need to review your account since you will be putting back into the market what you just took out.

Do not take any money out of the market until you have doubled your money. Then take half out only once. Keep all remaining money in the market from that point on until you quit your job.

when you quit your job, you can then take out as much as you desire at any time you desire. By then you will have learned how very expensive it is to take money out of the market.

A friend that I traded for (he was busy working) once took profits from one of my trades for him. A trade is entering a stock and leaving a stock. He used 25% of the net profits to buy for cash a 600K home for somewhat less than the 600K.

At this point you can tell yourself that you know little about making money trading.

The reason I asked you to sort the stocks in three groups is to have you get aquainted with three questions:

Where is the stock in the cycle now?

What is next in the cycle?

And how fast is the cycle changing?.

Inetesting questions. Knowing these answers for a stock is very helpful.
 
I immediatly opened up a practice account and just place a few trades. Then I started out learning about the ins and outs of the markets. From what goes on when you place an order to how it gets filled. Also, try reading about how institutional players trade. Read about brokers working on the floor.

I quickly I opened up a trading account with real money I knew I could lose but at the same time hoping to make a killing immediately - beginner's dream. Started out with moving averages then added MACD, slow stochastics to my arsenal. I took note of the economic, business, polictical fundamentals to help me understand certain major moves.

Theres really alot to learn and Im sure there are many different methods as there are people.

I read somewhere it is not a kick butt trading strategy but disciplined risk money management that is the closest thing to the holy grail. So I try to isolate each trading strategy to a subaccount and to set trailing stop losses, ect.. (see money mgmt posts)

I wouldnt expect you to learn this overnight. Discipline is highly important in success and I can guide you to a study I read that reinforced it in my mind. If you want then open a practice account. Try to be consistently profitable in it. Then when you are profitable you can finally start learning by opening a real account. Now things get interesting. You start to hesitate on a trade, pull the trigger too early, let losers ride, ectt...

Thats just some of my experiences. Thank goodness Im still here trading, still a student just like you. If you need anything dont hesitate to ask me.

Look up some of the posts of consistent traders such as Acrary, Don Bright. Make up your own mind on what they say but remember some of it wont sink in until have more experience trading with the various popular technical and fundamental indicators and money management techniques.
 
I use a fully automated system, that I programmed myself in TradeStation. Every weekend I do some scans and come up with a list of about 10 stocks that I trade all week long. The system will buy/short upon breaking the morning range, and will close all positions at the end of the day. I use my full daytrading buying power divided equally between all the stocks in the portfolio. I have stop losses in place based on the average range of the previous 5 days, but no profit taking, just close all positions that have not stopped out at 15:50. I only monitor it from work, by remotely connecting to my home computer. I had a good run from September, but a terrible December. Will see how it goes.
 
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