Taking the Plunge

[The Barrel]

Hi all,
I'm interested in hearing comments from members on how they made the transition from trading part time to packing in the 9-5 and becoming full time traders, alternatively I'm also interested to hear the experiances of members who juggle trading with full time jobs
your comments will be gladly appreciated
cheers
The Barrel

 

[TWI]

I was made redundant from 2 trading jobs within 1 year. Enron cos they screwed everybody and then the next place because after Enron all the US companies closed their EU operations.
Just took descision to go it alone after that as did not want stress of similar thing happening to me ever again. Was a good choice but took quite a few months to get the hang of it and be confident of earning a living.
Incidentally the jobs were never 9-5 more like 6:30-7. At least now it is only 6.30-6.

 

[rossored]

Good question.

Seven years ago I was selling sports cars for a living. Got fed up with it, ended up getting into software sales at what was the start of the decline...

...needless to say, my sales record during the first year was p*** poor and I, along with others, got the chop at the end of the year. Then I worked for a dotcom in 'ammersmiff ... and got made redundant when they went bust too.

Fed up with things, (I'd been chucked not long after being made redundant, too!!) I went on holiday with a mate, found out he was SB'ing and got into that when I got back, as I had nothing else to do anyway.

So, to cut an even longer story slightly shorter.... I spent a year or so living at home, earning slightly less than nothing and throwing money at the markets, learning the hard way. Eventually started seeing some returns, and because I didnt have a job anyway, just stuck with it. Kept borrowing money to live off, doing some crappy little jobs to pay for the trading, and now after about 2 years I make profits.

Thats my story anyway.

 

[BBB]

Similar to RR.

I was in software sales after Uni, then got a job on LIFFE. After a while I became a local - i.e. self employed. When the floor closed I went back to software. Did very well, but hated the 'corporate life' after the floor. I was still keeping an interest 'part-time' in the markets. Then the IT market collapsed so I went back to trading - this time US stocks. From there, usual storey, lost a lot, then took a step back, gave it some proper thought drawing on Liffe and haven't looked back!

If I have any advise from this, it is this: When you take the plunge, it's a whole different game. I've gone from salary to self employed twice. When it's for real, you have no choice but to buck your play up. The two just are not the same.

Id find it interesting to see what others have to say about this - especially those who have made a transition between trading OPM then their own bunce.

 

[Trader333]

OPM ?

 

[fowkesp]

My guess - Other People's Money. Could be wrong.

Paul

 

[eminem]

Thought it was slang for Opium

Ya right fowkesp it is Others dosh.

 

[BBB]

Sorry - yes, you're right

 

[demag]

Just to expand on this a bit.

I see a lot of members were already involved in trading and became self employed via the redundancy route. Rossored came from "outside" I think, and he makes a living. Is there anyone else living of the fat of the market from outside of the industry?

demag.

 

[bbmac]

I had always wanted tio be self employed since leaving school after A levels and quickly rejecting 'other peoples' career choice for me of a commision in the raf, (family thing,) I drifted intio working in Asset Finance and Leasing, but always treated every proper job as a necessary step to get into self employment. Eventually got into Direct Selling Business to Business and Home improvement, and eventually started a horse racing syndicate. After the Foot & Mouth crisis and continual wet winters that effectively robbed us of 3-4mths income very year, I drifted more into spread betting that I ad been doing as well and have spent every day since early 2001 trading full time. Started in indices, looked at Us stocks and settled on forex.

(very condensed version.)

 

[nobrainer]

Yes, demag.........I've been trading for 5years.Had no experience in financial markets whatsoever. I was previously involved in properties and running restaurants in Germany.Came back to London cos of kids schooling in 1998 with no idea what I was going to do.I knew that cos of doing well in Germany, I could sit at home for 3 years and look slowly for a new business.
Got introduced to shares by a friend.We used to sit at home watching teletext and then phoned brokers, in my case , Charles Stanley to do T10 trades on uk stocks.The teletext prices used to change every 15mins!! We'd have cnbc and bloomberg on at the same time.Other research material was reading newspapers. I never knew what a mouse was let alone a computer!!
Anyhow, subsequently, went onto make a reasonable return thru the tech boom which I lost thereafter and a lot more.Unlike, many friends who gave up and went back to work , I perservered, borrowed money from my brother and continued to trade.The advent of CFD's and order book trading changed my fortunes and for the past 3 years I've done exceptionallly well in both bear and bull markets.
You certainly don't need financial experience before becoming a trader.It's all about finding your 'trading niche'', money management and playing on other's greed and fear.I won't go on cos I'll be here all day!!
I'm a daytrader btw and its far less stressful than running your own business.No staff, no overheads to speak of and you live and die from your own decisions.You can't get better than that surely!!

 

[Dow Dog]

I worked as a Finance professional in the Middle East for many years before returning to the UK last summer with my family.

Since then I have been learning how to trade for myself and have had no job, just living off savings.

I thought trading would be easier than what it is and all I can say is that I have had to work bl**dy hard for the past 10 months to learn this business. I am just about at the stage where I can reasonably expect to make consistent daily profits but I take nothing for granted.

I put a lot of hours in - more than when I worked for somebody - in order to achieve the dream of trading success and eventual riches. When I look back I sometimes think that I must have been crazy to choose this way to make a living.

It must be one of the most difficult and riskiest ways to make a living. Nothing is for certain - you have to focus fully every day and be very detailed - otherwise you are on a hiding to nothing.

I am gonna get there, make no mistake but it is a bl**dy long and hard road and you need guts, determination and some dosh behind you to do this thing full time.

 

[donaldduke]

I have a full time job and trade full time too (US markets).

I work for a .co.uk and so having IE up, even with a trading
screen never looks out of place.

Having a full time job is good in that trading can be a really lonely
existence. And knowing you have another income helps during
those cold periods.

The only problem is that a meeting is scheduled for during
the trading day i might miss an entry or a good profitable
exit. Being a software developer means afternoon
meetings are rare. IGs mobile dealing has also helped, and my
trusty P900 phone is always on hand when away from my desk.

There is one other hazard when working full time which i mentioned
the other day in the chat room. We tend to go to the pub at
lunch time and I sometimes get tempted by a few pints, needless
to say this doesnt help when the market opens an hour later..