There are plenty of people on here that make their sole living off day trading. I'm betting you've done exactly what you said in your post and lost loads of money etc and you're bitter about it.
I'm 36 and well established. Is switch to trading career realistic?
- Thread starter AlwaysANoob
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Two things...
No, I don't day trade... and never have in the past; have never lost any large sum of money in any trading activity.
"Just because you can't do it... doesn't mean other people shouldn't give it a try."
Go for it. Ruin is your eventual destiny.
There is a big difference between trading for monthly income... and trading, like playing a game, to beat the S&P every year, as a hobby. I do the later.
Run the numbers on what it would take to do this for income. How much capital would you need to put at risk? Look how much you are going to pay in commissions and taxes in a year... You'll be generating an income alright - for your broker and uncle sam. Do a google search for 'day trading' ... read the articles.
You guys really need to read "A Random Walk Down Wall St." First published in 1973; and true to this very day. Stock picking won't do it, over the long term. So you are going to have to look at other games... like options, futures, etc...
No, I don't day trade... and never have in the past; have never lost any large sum of money in any trading activity.
"Just because you can't do it... doesn't mean other people shouldn't give it a try."
Go for it. Ruin is your eventual destiny.
There is a big difference between trading for monthly income... and trading, like playing a game, to beat the S&P every year, as a hobby. I do the later.
Run the numbers on what it would take to do this for income. How much capital would you need to put at risk? Look how much you are going to pay in commissions and taxes in a year... You'll be generating an income alright - for your broker and uncle sam. Do a google search for 'day trading' ... read the articles.
You guys really need to read "A Random Walk Down Wall St." First published in 1973; and true to this very day. Stock picking won't do it, over the long term. So you are going to have to look at other games... like options, futures, etc...
donaldduke
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I have been a full time day trader for over four years now.
I quit the IT rat race at the end of 2006.
And i got a wife+kids+mortgage+cars to support too.
It is very very difficult to make a living at trading, but not impossible.
If i can do it, then im sure other IT folks can do it.
Infact, according to Van Tharp, the INTJ personality type, which is what many IT people are, is also the ideal personality type for trading.
Last edited:
spreader_legger
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I'd rather pass a kidney stone than work in IT
To the OP:
I am older than you, and I will tell you that no firm (worth working for) will hire a novice trader aged 36. Mid thirties plus is when successful traders are thinking of moving out, not in. So maybe next life for that option.
That leaves you with trading for yourself.
By all means have a go at it, as some say - treat it as a hobby; but work out how much money you can afford to lose, & stick to your maximum! Put as much of your *spare* time into it as you+ your wife & family can stand, and then review what's happened after about two years. Rinse and repeat for at least two years & decide if you can up your game.
But never forget: A steady well paid job like you already have, is something that many can only dream of in this economy.
I am older than you, and I will tell you that no firm (worth working for) will hire a novice trader aged 36. Mid thirties plus is when successful traders are thinking of moving out, not in. So maybe next life for that option.
That leaves you with trading for yourself.
By all means have a go at it, as some say - treat it as a hobby; but work out how much money you can afford to lose, & stick to your maximum! Put as much of your *spare* time into it as you+ your wife & family can stand, and then review what's happened after about two years. Rinse and repeat for at least two years & decide if you can up your game.
But never forget: A steady well paid job like you already have, is something that many can only dream of in this economy.
BlackBison
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Agreed this is probably the ideal personality type for steady and consistent, but somewhat mediocre returns, but certainly not for exceptional profits. Obviously some want the former and others are willing to shoot for the latter.
To the OP- I have a maths degree from a good uni, but I do not think overly rigid thinkers make good traders. You have to be adaptable and able to constantly make mistakes and not let it get you down.
If I am honest with you- I don't know you at all but you sound too confident in the tone of your post. When I came to trading I was very successful in my previous field, which was in fact highly correlated to trading in terms of skillsets and was an almost perfect preparation.
Despite this, I was a losing trader for 2 years before I started to turn the corner. You remind me alot of myself back then- the right intentions but perhaps a little too arrogant. My losses were very controlled however, because I was very well practiced at taking losers and bouncing back from my previous work. You may not be as good at this.
Be very careful, especially if you have a family. You said you only work part time, so why not just cut your hours down to say 10 hours per week so you can at least make a steady $50k per year. Then trade on the side. You might do much better with the pressure off..
Ive tried and tested this tool post reading the post. Its really a nice one. I liked the keyword winner!:whistling
Re: I'm 36 and well established. Is a switch to a trading career realistic?
AlwaysANoob,
I read your original post a few days ago while browsing through the forums. Your enthusiasm is admirable however, the more of it I read, the more the alarm bells started to go off. I should tell you that I am not a huge fan of forums and I rarely post. You gave out an extraordinary amount of information about yourself while seeking advice from people that you do not know, be careful. There are some knowledgeable folks on this site that are gracious enough to share small amounts of useful information. The others peddle pure trash and I sincerely doubt that they have more than a handful of live trades under their belt. I normally refrain from giving advice but your post struck me and you seem to know just enough to make you dangerous. If this saves you, your family, or anyone else, some potential grief, then I can say that I have given something back. Here is my advice to you…………
1. Slowdown and evaluate your current situation. I don’t know you but you appear to be all over the place in your thinking. You stated that you have never traded “for real” before but, you are already thinking about huge bonuses and an ownership stake in a company. Relax, take a step back, and gain your composure. Goals are great, they give you purpose and direction but, if you set them too high, they can also distract you from the perils that lie underfoot. The market is as cold, ruthless, and unforgiving an environment that I have ever had the pleasure of operating in. It doesn’t care if your kids don’t eat. It doesn’t care if you lose your house. It doesn’t care if your wife leaves you because you lost your last dime. It just flat out doesn’t care about anything. To survive and prosper here you have to be focused and decisive. You need to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Then you have to do it again and again and again. This brings me to my second point…….
2. Your self evaluation paints a very flattering picture. However, reading between the lines, I sense indecision and a lack of self confidence. I spent the majority of my professional career working in special units. Occasionally we had a vacancy to fill and the “wannabe's” would line up. It didn’t take long for the posturing, bragging, and trash talking to start. The fact is that most of those loud mouths were the first to wash out of a program. A man’s actions and character are what define him. We weren’t looking for superstars and although they were considered, an individual’s skills really didn’t matter that much. The testing process was designed to be impassable. What we were looking for was an individual who, in the face of certain failure, simply refused to quit. My point is this; skills can be taught and anyone can learn the fundamentals of trading. Supply/Demand, analysis techniques, strategies, risk management, they are all teachable and learnable. What can’t be taught is mindset and mental toughness. You either have it or you don’t. How will you perform under stress? I can tell you this, when things go bad, they can go bad in a hurry. There may not be time to “phone a friend” for advice. You and only you will be responsible for your success or failure. Take a good, objective look at yourself and forget about the fluff. Do you have the intestinal fortitude to make a split second decision and live with the consequences? Until you can answer that, forget about massive profit, bonuses, and a stake in the company. Your first step is to prove you can survive.
3. Now is the time to capitalize on your strengths and use them to shore up your weaknesses. You have a good paying job that would allow you ample time to test your grit in the trading arena. Keep the job. There are very few overnight success stories in this business. Twenty hours a week to work on strategy development while earning an income is huge. You would be a fool to give up an advantage like that. You also have your background and experience in IT to draw on. I don’t know what your job entailed but if it had anything to do with programming, big plus, use it. Do you see where I’m going with this? At this point, trading is your weakness. It’s a question mark, an unknown. Use your strengths while you work on your weakness. Do your homework, formulate a strategy, and incorporate that into a plan. Cover every possible contingency that you can think of and start small. In a year you will be answering most of your own questions.
4. As far as resources and actions go, once again, be careful. No offense to the good folks here at T2W but there is a lot of garbage that gets posted on these sites. Until you can differentiate the traders from the “wannabe’s” I would be very cautious when using forums as a source of information. If you know successful traders, then by all means pick their brains. My suggestion to you would be to pick an instrument that you might be interested in trading and learn everything you can about that particular market. Watch how the market functions, learn who the players are, so on and so forth. Make no mistake; you will be a little fish in a sea of sharks. Accept that, embrace it, and find a way to use it to your advantage. Break away from conventional wisdom and use unconventional tactics. Books and manuals are fine for basic principles and maybe some ideas to get you started but, I doubt you will ever find one titled “The Ultimate Trading Strategy for AlwaysANoob.” In the mean time, heed the following words of wisdom, they have served me well.
If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. - Sun Tzu
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. - Sun Tzu
Good luck to you in your endeavor and take care of that wife and kid!
wolftac
[EDIT: Please note - all dollar values mentioned in this original post are *U.S.* dollar values, not U.K.]
Hi! This is my first post at Trade2Win. I apologize for the length, but I am in need of a lot of advice - and feel that some background is needed on who I am and what drives me.
I'm 35 years old. I'm very hungry to learn and achieve. Anything and everything trading-related and finance-related excites me, but I have never traded "for real" before. I *have* worked in the trading industry as a (successful) I.T. (Information Technology) professional for several trading firms in the Chicago area. I also play an on-line game called 'Eve' which has complex, extensive player-driven markets with tens of thousands of items that get bought and sold in volume every day. (The game comes with extensive market history and analysis tools.) Every time I have entered the markets in this game, I have A) been passionate about it - loved it - couldn't get enough, and B) Done extremely well.
I love math and I *drool* for probability. I excel at it, and can crunch numbers in my head like no-one's business. I love the notion of being a market-maker - having the best bid and ask on an item and pocketing the difference. And I can explain to my 63-year-old mother-in-law with a passion in my eyes exactly what a market maker is and how they make (and lose) money. I can stare at charts all day if I think there's money to be made. I can talk trading 24/7 if I had the right folks around me. (I may not know all the jargon, but I get a lot of the concepts.)
Anecdote -
When I was in high-school, I turned $5.00 into over $20,000.00 by selling gum and candy to my classmates. I'd buy wholesale - sell retail. Markup was anywhere from 7% to 5,000% depending on item and time of year. One day someone tried to become my competition - he started undercutting my prices and offering buy-2-get-1-free deals. I baited him into a bidding war, constantly lowering our sale prices, until he got caught by his ego. He so desperately wanted to beat me that he ended up offering all his candy for very close to my cost in the main hall of the school. I paid a friend $2.00 to walk over with a fifty I handed him and buy out all of his merchandise. Poof - competitor has no inventory, makes no money (he sold at a loss), and my competition is gone. I immediately then jacked up my sale prices to their original mark. One day my dad went to open the fridge to get a beer. 20+ bags of candy and gum fell onto him. As he came into my bedroom to ask me about it, he saw me (his 14-year-old son) counting a stack of $10's and $20's thicker than the geometry book next to them. He immediately started charging me rent for fridge space.I learned, first-hand (in a high-school sort of way), about supply and demand, overhead, money management, competition, buy-outs, and the dangers of eating (literally!) into one's own profits. I also always wondered to myself - "If I bought this candy bar for $0.17, and could have sold it for $0.50, but ate it instead, am I losing $0.17, $0.33, or $0.50?". Later on in life I learned it's "a real loss vs. an opportunity loss."
In all, I am willing to work - to bust my hump. I am eager to learn. I absorb like a sponge. I will grind it out in the beginning if I have to. I can have the patience. I took an Intro to Options class that was required for all employees at one trading company I worked for - I loved it! I loved the material and did quite well with it.
Here's the catch that I need help with.
Right now, I currently earn $100k per year doing I.T. consulting at 20 hours a week. At any point, I could immediately increase my (pre-tax) income to $200k/year by taking on 40 hours total of work per week - the business is there if I want it.
However, I am taking time off to re-examine myself and determine my purpose / mission on this planet, and the direction I want my life to go in. I am wondering if it is trading.
I really enjoy the I.T. work. I'm very good at it. But I'm not *passionate* about it. It's on an 8 out of 10 scale for enjoyment. If I *had* to do it the rest of my life, I would not be that upset. I can reliably find work, and I can dictate my own time off. With effort, I could probably increase my earning power to $250k / year in I.T. But that would be the max for quite awhile.
My wife earns roughly $110k per year, but is disenchanted with her work. Our mortgage + daycare alone is $4,600 per month. While she won't be quitting soon, she's not thrilled about the prospect of having to work for another 5-10 years.
My wife has always pointed out that I have a passion for the markets and thinks I have what it takes ability-wise and fortitude-wise to be a successful trader.
I understand trading's not a get-rich-quick path. I know there's a lot of learning and loads of hard work, and even then results are not guaranteed. I know there's the proverbial 90% failure club.
But I am wondering, given my traits, abilities, passion, and *hunger to be excellent at it*, if I stand a chance of being very successful within a few years. I have read that it's a bad idea to focus on the money, especially on a quick time frame; instead, one should focus on becoming as good of a trader as they can be. I am indeed willing to focus 110% on developing my skills. I can live/breathe/sleep it - no sweat.
However, I'm not 20. I'm not even 30. I'm about to turn 36 with a growing family. Even if my wife quit, I could, at the snap of a finger, bring our total household income to $200k/year pre-tax, from I.T. work.
I am going to be brutally honest with myself here. If I were to get into trading such that it consumed all of my professional work hours, and some of my personal time (learning and discussing it), I would be extremely disappointed if I worked and learned my tail off, and in 3-5 years, wasn't above the $200-$250k / year mark. So given all of this, I think I have my list of questions ready:
- If I decide my heart's in trading, should I seek employment with a previous trading company that's familiar with me, knows I'm very bright and motivated, and is also willing to offer lots of training? I just don't think I'd be comfortable (or safe), as new as I am, trading from home to start.
- Let's assume I have the necessary talent, instincts, drive, and discipline. Is $200k (or significantly more) per year *reasonably likely* in three to five years? (Let's assume we're talking trading as an employee of a private trading firm with a good amount of capital.)
- Do the rewards for trading on a private company's capital usually scale with performance? IE, do rock star results get rock star compensation? In a theoretical scenario, if I'm out-performing 4 guys sitting next to me by 40%, I would expect to be compensated 40% higher than they. (The reverse is true - if I underperform, I expect to be compensated less.)
- If a new trader does very, very well for a company - generally how long does it take for the stigma of being "new" to wear off in terms of compensation and bonuses?
- If I find a good firm and love the work, and do very well at it, is it reasonable to make one of my personal goals: "Perform well enough to be granted an ownership stake in the company." ?
- Besides diving into this forum, what are some good action items to determine if trading is the direction my life should take? I'm thinking about finding some old acquaintances who are traders and taking them out to dinner to pick their brains.
Any and all advice is much appreciated. The more details you can offer, the better. If five years is too much of a hurry no matter my willingness to learn and work, please be honest about it. Like I said, I'll try hard to focus on being a good trader and not on the money, but I already make a good chunk of money. I'll be giving up a lot in terms of annual income to make the switch, and if I'm successful, I know it won't be overnight.
Thanks, and feel free to flame me if you think I need it!!!
AlwaysANoob,
I read your original post a few days ago while browsing through the forums. Your enthusiasm is admirable however, the more of it I read, the more the alarm bells started to go off. I should tell you that I am not a huge fan of forums and I rarely post. You gave out an extraordinary amount of information about yourself while seeking advice from people that you do not know, be careful. There are some knowledgeable folks on this site that are gracious enough to share small amounts of useful information. The others peddle pure trash and I sincerely doubt that they have more than a handful of live trades under their belt. I normally refrain from giving advice but your post struck me and you seem to know just enough to make you dangerous. If this saves you, your family, or anyone else, some potential grief, then I can say that I have given something back. Here is my advice to you…………
1. Slowdown and evaluate your current situation. I don’t know you but you appear to be all over the place in your thinking. You stated that you have never traded “for real” before but, you are already thinking about huge bonuses and an ownership stake in a company. Relax, take a step back, and gain your composure. Goals are great, they give you purpose and direction but, if you set them too high, they can also distract you from the perils that lie underfoot. The market is as cold, ruthless, and unforgiving an environment that I have ever had the pleasure of operating in. It doesn’t care if your kids don’t eat. It doesn’t care if you lose your house. It doesn’t care if your wife leaves you because you lost your last dime. It just flat out doesn’t care about anything. To survive and prosper here you have to be focused and decisive. You need to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Then you have to do it again and again and again. This brings me to my second point…….
2. Your self evaluation paints a very flattering picture. However, reading between the lines, I sense indecision and a lack of self confidence. I spent the majority of my professional career working in special units. Occasionally we had a vacancy to fill and the “wannabe's” would line up. It didn’t take long for the posturing, bragging, and trash talking to start. The fact is that most of those loud mouths were the first to wash out of a program. A man’s actions and character are what define him. We weren’t looking for superstars and although they were considered, an individual’s skills really didn’t matter that much. The testing process was designed to be impassable. What we were looking for was an individual who, in the face of certain failure, simply refused to quit. My point is this; skills can be taught and anyone can learn the fundamentals of trading. Supply/Demand, analysis techniques, strategies, risk management, they are all teachable and learnable. What can’t be taught is mindset and mental toughness. You either have it or you don’t. How will you perform under stress? I can tell you this, when things go bad, they can go bad in a hurry. There may not be time to “phone a friend” for advice. You and only you will be responsible for your success or failure. Take a good, objective look at yourself and forget about the fluff. Do you have the intestinal fortitude to make a split second decision and live with the consequences? Until you can answer that, forget about massive profit, bonuses, and a stake in the company. Your first step is to prove you can survive.
3. Now is the time to capitalize on your strengths and use them to shore up your weaknesses. You have a good paying job that would allow you ample time to test your grit in the trading arena. Keep the job. There are very few overnight success stories in this business. Twenty hours a week to work on strategy development while earning an income is huge. You would be a fool to give up an advantage like that. You also have your background and experience in IT to draw on. I don’t know what your job entailed but if it had anything to do with programming, big plus, use it. Do you see where I’m going with this? At this point, trading is your weakness. It’s a question mark, an unknown. Use your strengths while you work on your weakness. Do your homework, formulate a strategy, and incorporate that into a plan. Cover every possible contingency that you can think of and start small. In a year you will be answering most of your own questions.
4. As far as resources and actions go, once again, be careful. No offense to the good folks here at T2W but there is a lot of garbage that gets posted on these sites. Until you can differentiate the traders from the “wannabe’s” I would be very cautious when using forums as a source of information. If you know successful traders, then by all means pick their brains. My suggestion to you would be to pick an instrument that you might be interested in trading and learn everything you can about that particular market. Watch how the market functions, learn who the players are, so on and so forth. Make no mistake; you will be a little fish in a sea of sharks. Accept that, embrace it, and find a way to use it to your advantage. Break away from conventional wisdom and use unconventional tactics. Books and manuals are fine for basic principles and maybe some ideas to get you started but, I doubt you will ever find one titled “The Ultimate Trading Strategy for AlwaysANoob.” In the mean time, heed the following words of wisdom, they have served me well.
If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. - Sun Tzu
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. - Sun Tzu
Good luck to you in your endeavor and take care of that wife and kid!
wolftac
AlwaysANoob,
I am in a similar situation (age - kids etc.)... In my case the opportunity cost numbers are much higher. But I also find the path to that opportunity cost very unrewarding (travel - 70 hr weeks, etc. etc.) and I started researching "trading" many months ago. I have found through lots of pain and suffering that I do have a passion for it but am very far from profitable. But life is too short to hate what you do. Here is my list of advice:
1. Begin saving and cutting down living expenses as though you were "living" on much less income.
2. Begin working more and saving more.
3. Begin the endless research on Swing Trading (look at Stock Fetcher dot Com - not affiliated for good ideas on swing trading methods. PM me and i will share my scans and save you lots of time in those forums).
4. Look at simple swing type strategies on stocks and try them out with small position sizes in your 401k or IRA (talking about 100 share sizes here..peanuts). For example, I write covered calls and that is a "relatively" simple strategy. The successes are rewarding and the failures are good experience.
5. Begin researching Day Trading next and paper trading in tradestation (free for six months right now).
6. If after six months and some real losses you are still passionate about it then rinse and repeat steps 1-5. If not, you have learned a ton, saved money and lowered your expenses. All excellent byproducts of hard work IMHO.
7. Dont quit your job until your consistently making enough real money equal to double current income over a six month period OR you make enough money trading to pay off your mtg and cars (and any other debt etc.).
Since we are on a similar "path" feel free to email me at duncan hoo at gmail dot com and i can share all i have learned and save you some time in the forums.
I am in a similar situation (age - kids etc.)... In my case the opportunity cost numbers are much higher. But I also find the path to that opportunity cost very unrewarding (travel - 70 hr weeks, etc. etc.) and I started researching "trading" many months ago. I have found through lots of pain and suffering that I do have a passion for it but am very far from profitable. But life is too short to hate what you do. Here is my list of advice:
1. Begin saving and cutting down living expenses as though you were "living" on much less income.
2. Begin working more and saving more.
3. Begin the endless research on Swing Trading (look at Stock Fetcher dot Com - not affiliated for good ideas on swing trading methods. PM me and i will share my scans and save you lots of time in those forums).
4. Look at simple swing type strategies on stocks and try them out with small position sizes in your 401k or IRA (talking about 100 share sizes here..peanuts). For example, I write covered calls and that is a "relatively" simple strategy. The successes are rewarding and the failures are good experience.
5. Begin researching Day Trading next and paper trading in tradestation (free for six months right now).
6. If after six months and some real losses you are still passionate about it then rinse and repeat steps 1-5. If not, you have learned a ton, saved money and lowered your expenses. All excellent byproducts of hard work IMHO.
7. Dont quit your job until your consistently making enough real money equal to double current income over a six month period OR you make enough money trading to pay off your mtg and cars (and any other debt etc.).
Since we are on a similar "path" feel free to email me at duncan hoo at gmail dot com and i can share all i have learned and save you some time in the forums.
more:
11. Set your goals modestly with whatever you are doing and build on successes. For example, dont have an initial goal of making $x/day....but perhaps 1 successful trade/day [ALL PAPER TRADING] or breakeven or something realistic. This will be good for your confidence
12. Find someone to team up with (in person would be perfect) and share ideas strategies, success, failures etc. Forums are OK for that but not as good as someone you can IM.
13. Remember - elite athletes, businessmen, actors, musicians, etc. invest THOUSANDS of hours (10,000 hours is the magic number i think) before excelling at their craft. This is going to take time and hard work to accomplish.
14. Start with US Stocks - IMHO much easier than ForEx and Futures.
15. A good strategy to start playing with is Richard's (Mr. Charts - thread in Stocks).
16. Your two most precious resources are your Capital and your TIME. Use them both as wisely as possible.
17. Remember the more capital (and lower your expenses), the less "successful" you need to be - cut personal expenses and save cash and payoff debts.
11. Set your goals modestly with whatever you are doing and build on successes. For example, dont have an initial goal of making $x/day....but perhaps 1 successful trade/day [ALL PAPER TRADING] or breakeven or something realistic. This will be good for your confidence
12. Find someone to team up with (in person would be perfect) and share ideas strategies, success, failures etc. Forums are OK for that but not as good as someone you can IM.
13. Remember - elite athletes, businessmen, actors, musicians, etc. invest THOUSANDS of hours (10,000 hours is the magic number i think) before excelling at their craft. This is going to take time and hard work to accomplish.
14. Start with US Stocks - IMHO much easier than ForEx and Futures.
15. A good strategy to start playing with is Richard's (Mr. Charts - thread in Stocks).
16. Your two most precious resources are your Capital and your TIME. Use them both as wisely as possible.
17. Remember the more capital (and lower your expenses), the less "successful" you need to be - cut personal expenses and save cash and payoff debts.
It is a miserable, miserable existence - trading for a "living."
It screws with your head, affects your life, negatively.
You honestly think you're going to be able to make love to your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend, like you've done before, after a huge draw down? What about your kids? Suddenly, their activities - you don't care anymore. What about the gym and exercise, eating right? Who cares. Not until you get "back to even" ... will things get back to "normal." A slow spiral downward.
and it goes on and on.
Never quit your day job. There is no future in day trading as a career (over 30 years). Not one documented case of someone who has done it, that long, and been successful. It is all an illusion.
It screws with your head, affects your life, negatively.
You honestly think you're going to be able to make love to your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend, like you've done before, after a huge draw down? What about your kids? Suddenly, their activities - you don't care anymore. What about the gym and exercise, eating right? Who cares. Not until you get "back to even" ... will things get back to "normal." A slow spiral downward.
and it goes on and on.
Never quit your day job. There is no future in day trading as a career (over 30 years). Not one documented case of someone who has done it, that long, and been successful. It is all an illusion.
18. If you are not waking up at 6 AM on a Saturday clamoring to get to your computer to evaluate your mistakes from Friday - then this might not be the right path.
19. Dont run out and buy a bunch of computers, monitors, screens, data backups etc. You dont need any of that to figure out if you can be successful at this [conserve capital].
19. Dont run out and buy a bunch of computers, monitors, screens, data backups etc. You dont need any of that to figure out if you can be successful at this [conserve capital].
