Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster here, nice to meet y'all!
Just a bit about myself - I graduated from NYU last May with a major in finance, and am strongly interested in trading. I'm currently working at a fund of hedge funds doing macro research and industry research.
I've been interested in trading for a while, and in fact, have been advising my dad, who is totally financially illiterate, on his portfolio. We've made some good money on some good calls back in Oct/Nov 2011 by putting on large positions in high yield fixed income in Chinese Real Estate names (were trading at 60-ish last year, now trading at 80+). As much fun as I am having doing advisory work, however, I would really like to start trading my own book. I have about USD 10k in savings, and have a questions for all you veterans out there for a little noob like me who has no idea where to start. Please help!
Just a bit about myself - I graduated from NYU last May with a major in finance, and am strongly interested in trading. I'm currently working at a fund of hedge funds doing macro research and industry research.
I've been interested in trading for a while, and in fact, have been advising my dad, who is totally financially illiterate, on his portfolio. We've made some good money on some good calls back in Oct/Nov 2011 by putting on large positions in high yield fixed income in Chinese Real Estate names (were trading at 60-ish last year, now trading at 80+). As much fun as I am having doing advisory work, however, I would really like to start trading my own book. I have about USD 10k in savings, and have a questions for all you veterans out there for a little noob like me who has no idea where to start. Please help!
- Which broker should I use? I've been looking at either interactive brokers or etrade, definitely not doing it through a bank as they charge through the nose. Also, assuming I do get a broker, which free charting software out there do you recommend?
- What instrument should I trade, and what contracts on which exchanges? I'm thinking trade idea generation will come from fundamentals, while entry/exit points will be determined largely through technicals (support/resistance and MAs and such). A couple of trades I've paper traded this year were long brent/short WTI (been looking at that since Dec last year), and also short JPY/USD since the BoJ QE announcement. Which contracts can I comfortably trade with a 10k bankroll? I looked at some emini contracts for FX and commodities and I can't even trade those and sleep comfortably at night since I'll be leveraged 2000+% risking a huge portion of my capital. Any advice here?
- So far I've read the technical analysis book by Murphy, both Market Wizards, and some books about the turtle traders, and have been looking at charts on Bloomberg at work in my spare time at work. What else do you guys recommend for me to learn more about how the markets move and such, in terms of books and things I should be doing on a daily basis?
- Since I'm in HK, its kinda hard for me to keep an eye on my trades over in London/US. Would you recommend putting on a trade with somewhat wide stops and looking at it in the morning? Or is this a no-no? I could just stay up all night, but that would be quite detrimental to my trading
- What do you guys think of ETFs? ETFs seem like a good way for someone with a small bankroll like me to get started while not risking too much (i.e. I can comfortably trade futures without taking on insane leverage). Is it possible to use margin financing to lever up on my ETF trades (taking it up to 2-5x etc)?
