Scientist turning Trader yeah I'd like to be a Millionaire....someday

D

decker103

OK, I want to be a millionaire soon, but I am going to be realistic. I have been paper trading and have a small trading account with a somewhat obsolete broker (many times my orders do not get filled, and this is not only during high volume times). Anyhow, I have some actual money that I would like to proliferate into a million over the next two or three years. I think that is a realistic goal starting with 300k.

I have been paper trading on and off for the last five years, started off keeping track of it all in an excel file, then I discovered the TOS paper option.

What is wrong with science, Dr, you say? Well it is unbelievably slow for my taste and I have been labeled a rogue by multiple bosses, accused of thinking outside of the box too much. I caused them to second guess their own hypothesis :eek: That and the events of the last few months have caused me to question my life, it's been um....Virginia Woolf like; here I come Dr. Phil! I know the grass is always greener, but I will give it the old college try before I quit my day job.

I wanted to write a journal to help me keep track of what I am doing and most importantly get some feedback on my methods. Right now I am waiting for the arrival of my cash into my new IB account. I decided to go with this brokerage mainly because it appeared to be the most widely used broker among us non professionals trying to erg out a living.

Over the next few days I am going to be contemplating my entry strategy for this pile. I have to admit my last actual pile did not do so well, the bulls, the bears and the scammers all had a bite, now it's tied up in small caps that are not moving anywhere at all. I guess it can just keep on sitting there for now.

The biggest lesson learned with this small account -> Set rules and FOLLOW them rather than giving into those seagull noises in the back of my head "mine" "mine" "mine" (yes, I have a son). I have managed to get a handle on that and now I am kinda stuck in some loooooong term positions. I can certainly deal with the loss of 1k better than 100k, just have to keep rule in mind.

That aside, I do not think it a good idea to start off shorting, although I do find negative trends easier too predict for one reason or another. What are people into for midcap industries? I don't want to get my fingers in too many pies to start off, would it be advisable to start off with indices and big high volume guys like AAPL?

Also, I currently have a higher end run of the mill laptop, is it advisable to go over the top and spend 5k on one, some alienware? Or what the heck, I could buy another house and fill it with servers?!? No really though, have people found processor speed to make much of a difference when you are relying on the speed of your wireless router and cable connection then the broker and so on? Can I watch TV while I trade(just kidding, I think)?

One last note, if anyone is curious about clinical trials I don't mind helping to analyze the science behind the product being tested, in trade for good advice; obviously :D

Thanks for taking a look! Will update very soon, look forward to your advice, comments and defaming, enjoy the night :cool:
 
Trade what you know Doc! If you know clinical trials, then there are lots of small biotechs and start-ups to invest in. I was looking at GALE and RXII, but still have not pulled the trigger. Both seem like big gambles, but RXII seem like a total gamble with lack of funding. Although, need big balls to trade.

I'm currently investing in 1 vaccine company (to remain unnamed) for the long term as well. It may be sitting there like a rock, but 1 day, it will move like a rocket (I like to think of a space rocket instead of falling space junk, ha).

So why the sudden change? Docs make real good money, and you already have the skills and education for it. Why throw that all away to stare at a screen all day.
 
Dr Niederhoffer succeeded out of academics. They call him a scholar among traders and a trader among scholars. No reason you can't make it. Good luck!
 
Thanks! Neiderhoffer, I like that name, maybe I should come up with one of those. The change, well there are many reasons, but most of all I am just not happy poking at mice (don't pelt me with eggs please) and trying to fit my data to my bosses liking. That and I would like to eventually be more in control of my work hours, I will be able to go to all family sporting events if I plan correctly and take off in the middle of the day to catch some surf during hurricane season. Oh and while I am at it, I would much rather BS with people while volunteering or have time to socialize, rather than being stuck in the lab 24/7 with anxious, tight bummed nerds, heatedly exaggerating the effects of the refrigerator running at a half degree above 4 C on the contents inside, then watching them slowly unravel, pulling their hair out on the phone all day squawking about malfunctioning equipment. I simply open the fridge, turn the thermostat down a tad and voila, everything is OK, then they take credit for the adjustment when the boss comes around, arg. I will tell you these people make me want to work construction, that way, I think, people would laugh at my jokes and maybe even get them!

I am also taking a bit of time off right now to help my Grandmother out, so I have some time to focus on seeing if this is something that will work for me. I need something to do while she works on crosswords.

Yeah, it's funny small biotech start ups are so iffy, even when they sometimes have good product they just seem to kind of fizzle out. I will look into those other ones and check for some new clinical trials, maybe I can post some and make that my thing.

Today I watched some webinars on Big Mikes TF. Put some paper orders in for ATNY, CSTR and DBD at their resistance levels, so I didn't actually pretend buy anything today. I think I have decided to stay away from most financials until after turkey day at least. Some progress......

Thanks again for the advice! :D
 
Thanks! Neiderhoffer, I like that name, maybe I should come up with one of those. The change, well there are many reasons, but most of all I am just not happy poking at mice (don't pelt me with eggs please) and trying to fit my data to my bosses liking. That and I would like to eventually be more in control of my work hours, I will be able to go to all family sporting events if I plan correctly and take off in the middle of the day to catch some surf during hurricane season. Oh and while I am at it, I would much rather BS with people while volunteering or have time to socialize, rather than being stuck in the lab 24/7 with anxious, tight bummed nerds, heatedly exaggerating the effects of the refrigerator running at a half degree above 4 C on the contents inside, then watching them slowly unravel, pulling their hair out on the phone all day squawking about malfunctioning equipment. I simply open the fridge, turn the thermostat down a tad and voila, everything is OK, then they take credit for the adjustment when the boss comes around, arg. I will tell you these people make me want to work construction, that way, I think, people would laugh at my jokes and maybe even get them!

I am also taking a bit of time off right now to help my Grandmother out, so I have some time to focus on seeing if this is something that will work for me. I need something to do while she works on crosswords.

Yeah, it's funny small biotech start ups are so iffy, even when they sometimes have good product they just seem to kind of fizzle out. I will look into those other ones and check for some new clinical trials, maybe I can post some and make that my thing.

Today I watched some webinars on Big Mikes TF. Put some paper orders in for ATNY, CSTR and DBD at their resistance levels, so I didn't actually pretend buy anything today. I think I have decided to stay away from most financials until after turkey day at least. Some progress......

Thanks again for the advice! :D
 
Quote from decker103:

OK, I want to be a millionaire soon
More...

Beat the dealer. The Market is like a casino, but you have the freedom to set up your own table, your own game, your own rules and bet limits.

The only catch - the deck is always changing

:eek:
 
"Thinking outside the box" will put you on other side of the 95% more likely, so being a rogue is the way to go. But don't discard shorting, signals generally are more true and faster, they trend much better because so few will short. I have had some years where all I would take was shorts, and market is starting to setting up that way for me again.

Good luck.
 
I would try to avoid technical wizardry. 95% fall into that trap of trying to figure out which indicator is the next holy grail. You will be searching until pigs can fly. There are edges out there, but a lot of it has to do with money management which puts slim odds in your favor. Learn price action at resistance and support areas. If you want to trade, you better learn how to short as well because markets move both ways. You would be killed as a long in a down market.

Shorting biotechs can be quite lucrative since most of them require dilution to survive. You just have to watch out for those with blockbuster clinical trial results. If you find questionable clinical data, shorting it can be profitable...just spread them out since the odds of most drugs being successful is low.

I would not buy the latest alienware gaming laptop. I would put the money into a few monitors and a video card that supports it. Most guys will trade on a desktop since you can get a video card that will support multiple monitors. I don't think a laptop will do it unless you are only trade 1 or 2 securities, and that's all you need to look at.

If you have never traded before, I would give you a word of caution. It looks easy. Hit a button and buy/sell. But once you are in it with your own money on the line...you will discover the power of human psychology...the fear and greed at play. It's not something you can prepare for. Go for the old college try, but don't quit your day job until you profitable.
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

Dr Niederhoffer succeeded out of academics. They call him a scholar among traders and a trader among scholars. No reason you can't make it. Good luck!
More...

you mean blow up twice and auction off your silverware
 
Quote from 2rosy:

you mean blow up twice and auction off your silverware
More...

He remains a centi-millionaire despite the blow ups. Not to mention the dozen or so hyper successful money managers from his training who are nearly household names in the biz.

surf
 
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