Transition to full time trader quitting school and work

[apo99]

Anyways, the money is in. And as expected i am already facing issues with liquidity, i think this system will cap out with an account size of 750k. I just dont want to invest all this time into one system/strategy for it to lose its effectiveness in 5-6 years time. Ive began working on a secondary momentum strategy on small to mid cap stocks. My only regret was not perusing a math or programming degree instead of finance since it would be useful now.

Since my account size almost doubled I also have double the work now. Keeping track of 20-30 positions, my end of day accounting PnL/ screening new stocks, and putting 3-4 hrs a day into the new strategy and research/ reading.

 

[algofy]

Interesting, a loan introduces a new element.

 

[Gotcha]

I just dont want to invest all this time into one system/strategy for it to lose its effectiveness in 5-6 years time.

You're kidding.. right? You expect that whatever you design will work 10 years plus? I think if you found a strategy that you could milk for even 2 years you would be golden.

 

[algofy]

You're kidding.. right? You expect that whatever you design will work 10 years plus? I think if you found a strategy that you could milk for even 2 years you would be golden.

I disagree with this.

 

[apo99]

Interesting, a loan introduces a new element.

yes it does

You're kidding.. right? You expect that whatever you design will work 10 years plus? I think if you found a strategy that you could milk for even 2 years you would be golden.

Ive been using this strategy for 5 years and it would have worked in the last 20 years. Its more of a method than a strategy

 

[Gotcha]

I beg to disagree with you there. Traders are , from what I have observed, people who shared their knowledge the most. The only problem, is most of those who ask, do not take into account the advice they are given. Just one example, some advice given by SOME traders, could be to clock in at least 10,000 hrs of screen time. Most aspiring traders would dismiss this advice. Some others would advise to take care of the "psychology", most aspiring traders would neglect such information ( I count myself as one at the start).
The problem is not that knowledge is not shared, it is that aspiring traders have a fixed idea of what "knowledge" they need to succeed in trading, and most are not ready to listen to advice given.

I actually tend to agree with qxr1101. When it comes to trading, there is hardly any specific information out there. Compare this to any other discipline. In medicine, surgeons don't go around keeping key aspects of open heart surgery secret. Engineers don't hide their careful calculations of loads and all this stuff when designing bridges. But when it comes you trading, you can barely get a person to prove they are profitable or show a trade log. Trading relies of a huge group of people making the same mistakes over and over again.

There is no shared universal quest to improve trading like there might be for medicine, to improve everyone's health, or structural engineering, where it is in everyone's best interests that buildings don't fall down. If there was a common goal to make every trader profitable, well, clearly this could never be possible.

 

[Gotcha]

Ive been using this strategy for 5 years and it would have worked in the last 20 years. Its more of a method than a strategy

Well then, this a whole different thing entirely. Buying low and selling high will more than likely always work. And cutting losers quickly and letting profits run will probably be a money management strategy that will also stand the test of time.

 

[Zzzz1]

I would change majors if I was you and if I was truly concerned about not being employable in 5-10 years. If you keep on being consistently profitable then you will not find a problem getting a trading seat at a hedge fund at some point. Your finance degree is/will be worthless either way. If you really want to be hedged then switch to CIS, medicine, engineering, architecture, or learn a handcraft. Those are all jobs with a future. Finance as major means nothing and is just a paper diploma. Unless of course you do a MS in Financial engineering with heavy emphasis on AI.

Hey guys

First post, so here goes!

I just want to introduce myself to everyone beforehand. I am a 25 year old finance student


For the last 5 years I have been consistently trading small cap stocks between (0.25-3$) I have had only 3 losing months out of the past 60 months and average around 42-57% a year. My system also allowed me to trade while in class and at work and also allowed me to monitor my positions from my cell phone and PC at work I only work about 20-25hrs a week part time and I am allowed to trade at work.

I started trading with about 7-8k in 2011 and now I’m at 200k with some money I added as well. I am able to net close to 100k a year trading and another 25-30k working part time.

My biggest fear is that one day the market or the way these small cap stocks are priced will dramatically change and I won’t be able trade the way I do and will never be able to stay consistently profitable. I have recently stopped going to school and have switched to working only part time so I can focus on trading. How have you guys gotten over the fear of losing your edge or not being able to trade profitably. I don’t want to be a 35yrld trader who loses his edge or blows out and then becomes unemployable or has no other skills.

I also don’t use a technical system, just price action and volume and reading the bid/ask. I feel like my small cap system is more of an art form than anything else. If you approach trading with a purely mechanical system I think you will get cut down after some time. My dream is to become a full time trader in the next 3-4 years and would greatly appreciate if you guys can tell me how you transitioned into full time traders and what were some of the challenges you guys faced?

Cheers

 

[apo99]

I would change majors if I was you and if I was truly concerned about not being employable in 5-10 years. If you keep on being consistently profitable then you will not find a problem getting a trading seat at a hedge fund at some point. Your finance degree is/will be worthless either way. If you really want to be hedged then switch to CIS, medicine, engineering, architecture, or learn a handcraft. Those are all jobs with a future. Finance as major means nothing and is just a paper diploma. Unless of course you do a MS in Financial engineering with heavy emphasis on AI.

I already know what I want to do and that is to trade, for my self. After i graduate in May i will not be going back to school. Its already hard enough to try and balance my small part time job with trading, it will be impossible to do a graduate degree and trade full time especially the way I trade.

I truly believe that trading requires 100% of someones attention in order to succeed. There is no being on the fence about it.

 

[frooze]

Now I get the whole gist, but was the interest rate a reasonable one?