Working 60 hours a week or working 2 hours a day?

My two cents: Day trading will be useless in your situation. You have to determine if you want to achieve something real with reasonable probability, or satisfy an ego need to "feel like a trader" and "be in on the action".

I will tell you quite frankly that the "trader" treadmill sucks - and I am saying it sucks IF you are one of the few that creates moderate success. Don't try to make a living from trading. Get rich from trading. Getting rich from trading is actually easier than trying to pull a regular wage from the market.

What will work and what can work with a much higher probability of success is swing trading. You can manage mostly on the close and open, just placing orders one or two times a day. You will make money and get rich by aggressively compounding gains over a period of years. When you are confident and have built up a substantial account, create a customer business. This type of plan is much more likely to work.
 
Quote from actionzip54:

You think steve jobs was worried about what people thought of him when he started building computers in his parents garage? Doubt it. Take a shot. Most success stories contain some kid of failure. If you fail learn from your mistakes ,whatever they maybe, but don't let that keep you from taking a shot at it.
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I dont know what some of you are doing trading if you're so worried about what people think of you. Do yourself a favor and quit trading and dont ever try and start a restaurant or any other business either.

Because even if you do become successful you'll be worrying the whole time what you'll do if it stops doing well for you, and what people will think of you if that happens.
 
Quote from Ol' Yella:

I dont know what some of you are doing trading if you're so worried about what people think of you. Do yourself a favor and quit trading and dont ever try and start a restaurant or any other business either.

Because even if you do become successful you'll be worrying the whole time what you'll do if it stops doing well for you, and what people will think of you if that happens.
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You're missing the point. Trading is very hard. If this kid blows out after a couple of years, he's got a big hole on his resume. Jobs started an actual company. That's a little different type of experience from sitting around all day waiting for the red line to cross the blue line.
 
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

You're missing the point. Trading is very hard. If this kid blows out after a couple of years, he's got a big hole on his resume. Jobs started an actual company. That's a little different type of experience from sitting around all day waiting for the red line to cross the blue line.
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Thats not a little different. Thats as different as day and night!

To OP:
AAAintheBeltway is a successful trader. I have also become consistently profitable oflate. So, both of us are saying this based on experience of hard-knocks.

Whereas others telling you to go for it are wannabes with stars in their eyes. Having no idea of how hard this profession is.

I went to best business school in the country and still find it hard to explain to people what i do for a living. And it is going to be like that till i have a proper fund management business or i start making >200k or so a year.

And anyone telling you not to care about what people will think or say is correct if you turn out to be successful. However, if you turn out in the 95% camp, you will have to go find a job and then will be forced to explain to the real-world what you were doing for all these years.
 
Yeah, I'm aware of that. My plan is to eventually go back to school and find an alternative career that doesn't interfere with trading. But I haven't figure out what that would be yet.

My system does allow swing trading. But the reason why I don't use it is psychological. I know swing trading is where the huge money can be made. But I can't deal with the uncertainty and the patience. I've had some trades that would've been huge winners but I couldn't deal with the stress from constantly worrying if it either gonna work or end up failing. And then there's the feeling of hope that a failing swing trade may end up working but doesn't that caused me my biggest losers. So I end up either getting out either too early or too late.

That's why I prefer short term trading. Less stress. No worries when you're done. Better sleep.
 
Just for the heck of it, what is the difference between.....

1.) trying to start a fund / money management business and failing

and

2.) trying to start a sandwich shop and failing


But yes I agree-- it is a huge risk to leave a good job in this economy to try and start any business or self-employed venture

and IMO no one should consider trading for a living unless very well capitalized or with other source(s) of income coming in.
 
Every great trader that I have known who has done it on their own had an extensive period where they built significant amount of trading-related intellectual capital. I'm talking 5, 10 years of serious study, practice, etc, skill building, programming, school of hard knocks, etc, intense focus on learning and improvement, etc.

The real world is very unforgiving. The market does not care if you have anxiety problems about holding trades. That is something you will have to deal with. The world will not bend to your weaknesses.

How is your trading going? Are you making lots of money? If so, just keep doing what you are doing. If not, don't think the stress of going on your own will somehow help you to succeed. Like I said, getting rich trading is easier than "making a living" trading. Think about it.
 
Quote from jinxu:

Yeah, I'm aware of that. My plan is to eventually go back to school and find an alternative career that doesn't interfere with trading. But I haven't figure out what that would be yet.

My system does allow swing trading. But the reason why I don't use it is psychological. I know swing trading is where the huge money can be made. But I can't deal with the uncertainty and the patience. I've had some trades that would've been huge winners but I couldn't deal with the stress from constantly worrying if it either gonna work or end up failing. And then there's the feeling of hope that a failing swing trade may end up working but doesn't that caused me my biggest losers. So I end up either getting out either too early or too late.

That's why I prefer short term trading. Less stress. No worries when you're done. Better sleep.
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As the years, decades went by, I learned what many of the older advisers told me to do long ago finally, trade less and put on a ton more. If you enjoy your job, in your part time trading, add contracts/shares. Have a life outside of trading. It could be your outside job balances your trading life.
 
Quote from jinxu:

Yeah, I'm aware of that. My plan is to eventually go back to school and find an alternative career that doesn't interfere with trading. But I haven't figure out what that would be yet.

My system does allow swing trading. But the reason why I don't use it is psychological. I know swing trading is where the huge money can be made. But I can't deal with the uncertainty and the patience. I've had some trades that would've been huge winners but I couldn't deal with the stress from constantly worrying if it either gonna work or end up failing. And then there's the feeling of hope that a failing swing trade may end up working but doesn't that caused me my biggest losers. So I end up either getting out either too early or too late.

That's why I prefer short term trading. Less stress. No worries when you're done. Better sleep.
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are you serious. swing trading is incredibly BORING. its waiting until the close then spend 10 min, then wait till open then spend 5 min. rinse repeat. you do nothing rest of the time except read marketwatch or ET for giggles if you dont have job.

daytrading is where the blood pressure's at.
you are probably overleveraged.
 
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