Day to Day life of a trader

[lususnaturae]

I've recently graduated and am considering a career in trading - but don't know much of the ups and downs of the job;

1) I understand that the job requires long working hours - roughly how many a day and how many days a week?

2) Obviously annual salary depends on achievement - but what is the average?

3) what are the general perks and hates of working as a trader?

Any thoughts or opinions are much appreciated.

 

[jasonnoguchi]

If you only want a salary and annual bonus, then you should go look somewhere else for another job. A trader needs to perform and make money from the money assigned to him and needs to think like a trader. A trader who can keep his job makes so much money that the firm will pay anything to keep him. A trader who only concentrates on making a salary (like yourself sadly) will only lose money and obviously would get sacked pretty quickly. So why don't you get yourself a job with a nice salary and no risk of getting sacked?

 

[lususnaturae]

hmmm. That's a big assumption to make. I want to find out how much the average trader can make, that doesn't mean I wouldn't work hard. Maybe it was the use of the word 'salary'?

 

[ammo]

the newest traders usually lose there startup money within the first year,95% of them,i think its going up so i buy ,down i sell,wrong ,lose .There are tons of free training sites explaining technical charts where you can become savvy at seeing how the market moves,where it stops and turns and where it continues its trend.Spend 6 months learning that before you start trading.Good luck.

 

[zagreb]

weird thing is fact that industry offers trading jobs to those youngsters who don't know how to trade profitably. It is skill that cannot be learned quickly nor easily. Moreover, when someone in the organization learns to trade properly they move him up on the ladder - new clueless youngster comes onto his place.

This is one of the main reasons why every sane person should learn to trade on his own to avoid being financially dependent on such funds and similar retirement earning schemes.

If I were responsible for recruitment of new traders my first question would be, how many percent did you earned by trading during last three years?

 

[jasonnoguchi]

I totally agree with zagreb.

 

[lususnaturae]

I appreciate all the advice given and am trying to teach myself as much as possible - but no one has actually answered any of the questions on my original post. I'd really like an honest account of what it's like working as a Trader so I can have a good understanding prior to applying for any of the trainee trader posts.

Zegreb - I agree that trading experience is always useful - however if you read the manual for the trainee trader scheme at Mako - they advise...

"Previous experience trading the markets is not necessarily a plus. 80% of our successful traders came to Mako with no professional trading experience at all. Our success rate amongst those who come in without pre-conceived notions is extremely high, with an almost 90% going on to become successful traders. Of the 20% that we hire from the trading community, many fail. They fail to adapt to new styles. They fail to adapt to what is frequently an environment of higher responsibility and pressure (our tie between performance and compensation is very rigid). Or they fail for other reasons. Only a small handful of our top traders have come from other trading firms, and they are by far the exception rather than the rule."

 

[MorganatDTI]

See typing below after each question you asked.

I've recently graduated and am considering a career in trading - but don't know much of the ups and downs of the job;

1) I understand that the job requires long working hours - roughly how many a day and how many days a week?

- As far as hours go, part of it depends on what you are trading. If you trade equity futures they are open pretty much 24 hours/day. I have a buddy that trades commodities so he trades from about 9-1 and then will trade some when they open at night. If you are planning on trading equities in my opinion most action takes place in the first 2 hrs for stocks. As far as days per week, you have to remember as a trader that you can make your own schedule but you also have to keep in mind that if you take a day off, your business is closed (which means you do not make any money). I know traders that trade for a few hours and those that spend all day in front of a screen so it is all across the board. Most that trade professionally devote several hours/day and treat it like a job.

2) Obviously annual salary depends on achievement - but what is the average?

- If you are going to work for a prop firm right off the bat they usually start you with a very small stipend as opposed to salary and then it is up to you to make money. Chances are you will keep about 50%-60% of what you make if you are trading someone else's money. If you are trading your own money this would be a variable of what kind of capital you trade, what products you trade as well as success (too many variables for a standard answer).

3) what are the general perks and hates of working as a trader?

- The big perk is that if you succeed it is something that you can do from pretty much anywhere and it is a skill that someone cannot take away from you. It is also a challenge and an ever changing environment to work with. Downside is that you basically live and die by the sword so make sure you have enough capital and money to live on as you learn so you aren't forced to try to put everything on the line in the first month and then if it does not work quit. I think many people come in thinking it is going to be an easy thing or that they will pick it up in a month and end up trading too aggressively at first before they ever know what they are doing.



Any thoughts or opinions are much appreciated.

I know the answers are pretty general but there are just a lot of variables... hope this helps in some way...