Who at ET trades for a living?

I was trading for a living until December.

When I began trading full-time 2 years ago, I gave myself 2 full year to match or exceed the income I used to get from my full-time job - which is roughly $90k a year plus free health, dental insurance, etc.

Well, as of the start of November, the total income I made from those 2 years was roughly $80k - about $40k a year net (I started with roughly 18k).

Needless to say, I did not hit my target (far from it) so I decided to hang it up and trade part time again and get a job instead.

I gave myself 2 years just because I think that's about the amount of time I can be without a "real" job before my skills become oboslete.

It had been a fun 2 years in terms of trading just because it gave me the opportunity to travel, and the flexibility to do things I haven't done since I started working.

I really admire those that have traded full time all these years and continue to do so. I envy you.

cheers :)
 
Could do if I wish too, this year my account grew with $130,000 to $320,000. But I like to keep my day job as an IT Sys Eng. that gives me an extra $65,000 income annually. Maybe one day in the future then I reach the golden 1 million goal. :)
 
As of now I trade for myself. It is my primary source of income/paying the bills, $2k account. Stressful at times, especially with the last month or two, just because the market hasn't really moved and the stuff in congress just ends up screwing things up.

But hey, it's '09 and a different grind. Going to see if I can do this options trading exclusively. :)
 
Quote from codetroll:

"As of now I trade for myself. It is my primary source of income/paying the bills, $2k account. "

It is easy sometimes to tell the papertraders from the traders. Primary source of income from a $2K account?
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Don't really know if I qualify as im only 18 but have been trading and making money since August 06......obviosly still living with my parents I don't have many expenses but when I do i am completely self sufficient.
 
I'll take your clients if you don't want them

There is a limit on how many clients you can have as a non-professional trader either as power of attorney or the client just gives you the password and keys to their account.

managing other peoples money and helping otehr people make money shows that you are a professional



Quote from gaj:

9+ years fulltime equities.

do *not* take on clients, though i've been asked a fair number of times by family, friends, people i run into, etc. well, first, i'm not trading big enough that having clients is worth it. but other reasons why i don't:

-> don't want added mental pressure. if i lose, i lose *my* money.
-> i prefer to keep all my gains.
-> i'm a daytrader. size becomes harder to deal with a larger cash base.

i understand the other side - you have some kind of guaranteed funds, longer term trades can result in huge profits, larger cash base...but it's just not for me.
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Quote from tigerwu:


Coincidentally, good traders make lousy spouses as well. My wife still gets very angry that I change my mind 50 times a day. And we still own no assets (house, expensive car, any membership over 1y), nothing that can not be liquidated in 10min....
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What does your therapist say about that?
 
Quote from Red_Ink_inc:

Do you trade for a living?

The criteria is:

Do you actually trade for 3+ hours a day. Or derive the majority of your income (meaning you're profitable) from the markets (investments).


If you're a beginner or simply have a passing interest in the economy or the markets or have a regular day job, select 'no'.
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I do trade more than 3 hours a day, but do not derive the majority of my income from it. It's a time consuming process and I can't devote more than I already do.

But would like to someday.
 
Quote from tigerwu:

Coincidentally, good traders make lousy spouses as well. My wife still gets very angry that I change my mind 50 times a day. And we still own no assets (house, expensive car, any membership over 1y), nothing that can not be liquidated in 10min....
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And she's still with you?!
 
I trade on the regular basis each trading day since 8:30-9:30AM EST till 4:15PM EST.

It includes the periods (95% of the time!) when I just wait for the proper setup to appear on my screens and don't execute any transcation(s).

The bottomline could be around 250-300 transactions per day, or 2-4 per week -- it depends on Mr. Market behavior and my humble interpretation of what I see on the screens, and sometimes I'm wrong.

The day when I have a lot of transactions usually means that I quit immediately when I was not right and/or was trading microtrends, or within the rare periods when volatility was pretty low (in the past :)) .
 
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