Is Trading a profession or a hobby?

[tommo]

Well OP it depends if you want to make money or not. Investing tiny amounts here and there i guess could be a hobby. But dont expect to make anything. Trading as a hobby expect to lose a lot of money.

It one of the most competitive professional environments you can enter. If you want to make money it has to be a profession. I started off doing it as a hobby in my late teens. Lost money all the time. Then eventually started working for professional trading firms. 12 years on it has been my full time career for 10 years. Don't believe the hype about people relaxing by the pool monitoring their positions. To make it you need to be dedicated 12+ hours a day studying, watching and learning.

 

[OddTrader]

In playing such an extremely competitive sport called financial trading, I myself would call it just a hobby when losing big, whereas call it seriously a profession when winning big.

 

[Turveyd]

The Term, Professional means you make a living from it, professional football player, professional singer.

So be definition, it's a Hobby until your able to make a living off it.

Part time or full time, if you can make living in 15mins once per month, then your a professional.

If you make approx 1/2 your living then Semi Professional maybe ?

And if you calling in Winning, then your just gambling, it's Profiting not Winning ( Tiger Blood )

 

[i am nobody]

It started as a hobby, that got "professionalized" over the years. It was necessary to professionalize it if I wanted to survive. Always losing money would not be a hobby for me. Making money was the only option.

 

[qxr1011]

What does it mean to you to be a trader? Are you a professional or an amateur? This is the foundation of your business or just a favorite thing? How such differences can affect the results?

i gave recently my definition of the tarder:

http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/are-we-elite-traders.298011/page-5#post-4249187

and the difference between professional and amateur is simple: professional knows while amateur thinks

 

[blackbrick]

Terms terms terms. If you only have retail access u are a hobbyist. An obsessed hobbyist is not a professional. Pros are paid to do a task. Money is a byproduct of obsessed hobbyist.

 

[K-Pia]

What does it mean to you to be a trader? Are you a professional or an amateur? This is the foundation of your business or just a favorite thing? How such differences can affect the results?

Trader is a profession.
Most of us are Speculators, Bettors or Gamblers.
But not trader. You can take gambling seriously,
Or just as a hobby, same for the last two.
I myself put my skin & soul in the game.
It's not a hobby. It's a priority.

 

[ETcallhome]

it's a lifestyle

maybe not so much a lifestyle, but a mindset. I just can't imagine life without trading. I suppose over the years that mindset has affected my lifestyle.

 

[OddTrader]

Trader is a profession.
Most of us are Speculators, Bettors or Gamblers.
But not trader. You can take gambling seriously,
Or just as a hobby, same for the last two.
I myself put my skin & soul in the game.
It's not a hobby. It's a priority.

And the priority is Lifestyle!

 

[Jamie J.]

It started as a hobby, that got "professionalized" over the years. It was necessary to professionalize it if I wanted to survive. Always losing money would not be a hobby for me. Making money was the only option.

Do you find the trading as an opportunity to develop or improve skills? In what way?