Am I mad?

[the hare]

unless you're a motorbike courier

Well that vendor fella wot woz on the telly, u no the 1, wotz iz name, he's going to take a trade in space, whilst driving a spaceship !

A motorbike should be a problem surely ?

 

[VielGeld]

[...] but it is the living costs in London (I'm not from that area) that concern me with no income for potentially how long?

Years to forever. It all depends on how long it takes you to find an edge in the market, the development of which you may or may not be capable of doing.

 

[Sir Pond Life Dreg]

I'm not going to say 'don't do it', because it's exactly what I did.

In fact, I was earning a lot more than you (this was back in 2007) and I got fed up with the industry I was in. I had wanted to be a trader for a long time and had the very misguided opinion 'it can't be that difficult'... so at 27 years old, I chucked the job in. I didn't really have a plan, just a LOT of savings behind me which I thought would see me through.

To cut a long story short, I ended up going back to my old job, minus thousands in savings. I didn't
actually burn through that much in trading losses, but more living costs, mortgage ..If I consider lost opportunity, the whole experience cost me an eye-watering amount.

All has worked out well for me though and I learnt a hell of a lot from the experience. But please, think very carefully before throwing away a 40k+ job.

You can learn to trade in your free time. Why not do that and see how you go?

Just my 2p...

An incredibly honest post and an experience shared by many.

 

[Mr. Charts]

I do think you are setting too much store on "learning" at a prop shop. Many go down that route and fail, just as many would be traders fail. That's why you should not give up a day job till you are consistently successful over a long period of time; a period including all types of market, trending up and down,grinding up and down, or ranging. Only then will your experience be statistically significant. And you would have learned a great deal about the markets and yourself.... the latter and how you control yourself being more vital than you expect.
But be positive not negative and cautiously optimistic but realistic. The right frame of mind and self discipline are pre-requisites to success.
I gave up my own profession to trade many years ago so I know success is possible, but I made sure I was consistently profitable first !

 

[rawrschach]

The places I have been looking into have offered 4-8 weeks training to begin with.

Yea they *say* that.

Your 'training' will consist of being told to memorise who ECB/BoE/FOMC members are, their histories of hawkish/dovish behaviour, the meanings behind ZEW/Philly Fed etc.

Then you'll be told to watch the ladder for patterns (no help will be given in identifying these patterns - remember your trainer is probably a failed trader) and to sit around waiting for numbers and trying to trade the reaction.

Watch the free video on no bs. It took me over a year to see some of those patterns on my own and he's got them up there laid out for you. Disclaimer - my trading has evolved into somthing quite different but I still use the same ideas to manage my daytrades.

It sounds like you have enough money to fund yourself if you make it on demo so forget the prop shop or go there after you know how to trade so you can swing a bit more size.

 

[tar]

But do prop shops not have an advantage over independent traders with regards to news delivery etc.?

Well maybe but check how these prop traders did , most of them lost money :

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/first-steps/166016-95-lose-6.html#post2068914


You should become profitable in a demo or a small account for a long time before you even think of quitting 40K job .

 

[rawrschach]

Additionally, you don't have to be a daytrader. I traded only off daily OHLC info for the last two years and only came back to daytrading to give me something to do in the mornings.

 

[Steakeater]

Additionally, you don't have to be a daytrader. I traded only off daily OHLC info for the last two years and only came back to daytrading to give me something to do in the mornings.

Daytrading is a very hard profession no question about it. Do you think the majority of people are more succesful with position trading than anything else?

 

[BeginnerJoe]

Daytrading is a very hard profession no question about it. Do you think the majority of people are more succesful with position trading than anything else?

Majority of the people would do better playing red or black where the winning chance is 49%. In the markets, their chance range from 0.5% to 10%.

 

[the hare]

Majority of the people would do better playing red or black where the winning chance is 49%. In the markets, their chance range from 0.5% to 10%.

As always, a meaningless and irrelevant comparison.

The chance of winning a single game based on a single spin is 49%, the chance of being profitable after 100 spins won't be 49%

The chance of winning a single trade, even based on tossing a coin can be engineered to be far higher (or lower) than 49%, you don't generally get to change the odds of the underlying game at a casino

I would say that developing an edge for roulette is probably easier than developing a trading edge, but then again, the casino won't allow you to utilize that edge, at least not for long, so swings and roundabouts really

 

[jungles]

give up your job if you like, a trading income can be achieved

however, do not expect it to be all sorted in 12mths, it could very well take up to a decade of hard labour

follow the link at my signature

I am currently in employment with a 40k+ a year annual salary. I am considering giving this up to get a job in prop trading, however, as you all know it will mean no money for probably at least a year. This is assumming that I can actually cover desk fees etc. anyway. Am I crazy for considering this?

Also, what would be the best prop firms to go for?

 

[bbmac]

Think of your dilemma as a trade: What is the risk versus the reward - is it worth the risk therefore ? Also think of your chance of success given the high attrition rate in the industry....make a decision based on intelligent logic a and probability not emotion.

(By the way just to contradict the above - in writing it I realise that if this was all decisions were ever made of - nothing would ever get done !)

G/L

 

[15 min tlb]

Why doesn't the trainer/mentor give it up and go trading and turn the market into an ATM ?

altruism .

 

[DionysusToast]

I guess it depends on how old you are and how easy it would be to get back on track with your career after some time off.

If you are young and single, I'd go for it. just remember, you do have to get accepted first.

Do not join any firm that asks you for any money at all. These are not real prop shops. You should receive a stipend from them during the training period (which there will be despite comments above) and they should fund you 100%.

If they don't pay you during the training period or they ask you for money, then walk away. You will just end up parting with all your savings.

 

[Steakeater]

Thank you for the replies so far guys, some food for thought.

 

[rawrschach]

Why doesn't the trainer/mentor give it up and go trading and turn the market into an ATM ?

Because trading is a hell of a lot more risky than teaching.

I'd say that having the aptitude for teaching and not doing it makes you a worse trader than the usual BS argument that someone can't be a successful trader because they teach.

Leaving sure money on the table makes you a **** trader.

 

[Steakeater]

Ok, so here is my situation now, I am on the verge of handing in my notice to my job to give full time trading a go. The only thing I am unsure about is to whether I should I should do it from home with my own account or join a prop firm? :?:

 

[rawrschach]

sigh

 

[Steakeater]

Additionally, you don't have to be a daytrader. I traded only off daily OHLC info for the last two years and only came back to daytrading to give me something to do in the mornings.

In what way did you trade daily OHLC? Could you explain please?

 

[rawrschach]

In general my methodology is based on Livermore's Market Key and his concept of the pivotal point.

I also look at divergence on the MACD.

It took two years of stumbling around in the dark, albeit with a decent grasp of S/R, before I started breaking even. The market key was the turning point for me.