Trading at work...best way to not get noticed?

[Mr. Charts]

Hi all,

Trading while working in an Full time employment:

I wanted to discuss this briefly, in the forex market things can get really exciting and in return your emotions can be very high .You have to understand the difference between a part-time and a full time job. The Full time job is one that puts the food on the table whereas your part-time job is the one which pays for your extra expenses. YOU MUST REMEMBER TO NEVER MIX THE 2.

I have heard many horror stories of demotions & disciplinary of people that have been in very good jobs. The regions of £40000-£70000 and how there whole life has gone down hill due to trading.

If trading takes over your life you have failed at the very instance. YOU HAVE TO CONTROL TRADING NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND
If you want to become a serious trader there is nothing to stop you but you should be able to use time management Principles and this will only come with a plan...

What is a plan? Over 50% Traders fail because they jump into this market without a plan and understanding of how this market works. Just because you get your first 15 trades right does not make you a trader. Now when you are in full time employment and trying to trade you are basically doing something wrong. hence the reason for minimizing the screens,Alt tab's sneaking out to speak to your broker to close the deal...I could name 100's of scenarios All of these have a negative impact and in the process you could loose the respect of fellow managers, colleagues etc

Also by law they could fire you because this is breach of contract an misuse of the internet policy at work..
ARE YOU REALLY WILLING TO RISK THIS...THINK TWICE..

So now you will say that you have shown us the situation but what is the solution:

1. Planning your trading week on a Saturday

2. As a part time trader you should keep your trading between the hours of 5:00p.m and 2:00 a.m
Now you will say rav are you crazy....nope I am not. For Newbie’s in the market this is these are
The times when the market is less volatile and I call this technique night time trading. Can you be
Successful. Yes you can I have achieved quite good results trading only one pair between those
Times and that is the USD\JPY Pair.. There are certain strats that I will mention some time next
Week but it can be done.

3. Your objective needs to be decided in the plans...I will personalize some plans for you upon request but please don't expect them to be done straight away..

4. Realize the importance of your Full time job and remember that trading takes at least 2-3 years of hard work so till then you need your full time job to put food on the table.

The more you get involved in trading the more far away it will take you from your normal life so learn to tame you trading from the very beginning

I hope this little snippet was useful to all the new Forex traders out there.

Happy Trading
Rav

Excellent post

 

[elitejets]

I get up at 1:30AM to trade London and then do my other job in the North American day time (and Im the boss!!).
It sucks but should be worth it in the end. New favourite hobby is sleeping.

 

[glyder]

interesting thread, I'm surprised the issue hasn't come up before.

personally I think the key is to find a trading method that works outside of work hours, irrespective of how much time you may be able to apply to trading in working hours. You cannot have your mind in two places at once. Trading requires concentration. Taking short term trades when your mind/body may have to be elsewhere at short notice is a recipe for disaster. It can only increase your stress and wear down your confidence.
Solution: - Use daily bars, set stops, use good risk management. know the downside when you open the trade. Accept it. Try demoing this until it works. Personally I think forex is best for this, 24 hour markets allow entries at realtime market prices, most currency pairs quiten down after 9.30pm (UK) so take that time or later as an approximation of closing price.. WIth stocks/indices there can be massive overnight gaps which ruin your set entry and the trade.
I'd say the only reasonto look at a trade intra day, is to move a stop. And even thats open to question.
This is what I think and try to achieve, but I'm still in the business of making a success of it yet, so maybe I'm right maybe I'm wrong..but going by other's experience it can be done.

 

[robster970]

WIth stocks/indices there can be massive overnight gaps which ruin your set entry and the trade.

I've found placing trades of FTSE stocks between 3.45pm and 4.15pm (i.e. whilst the day traders are dumping their stock and before the last 15 mins of madness) the best way to avoid this problem. It's not guaranteed but I often see retracements about this time which supports the entry. If there isn't a retracement going on, I tend to leave it until I see the next one. There's always another opportunity I've found and just because you've missed this boat, it doesn't mean another one isn't going to come along.

 

[francisfinley]

i work in IT and trade from work and it is incredibly difficult.

dont attempt it in any form.

remember it is work. people dont actually like one another. dont give anyone an excuse to get you fired in this climate.

if you can get up as early as possible, do your homework and plan your trade(s) for the day.

you will learn if you get your analysis right you dont actually need to be in front of the screen 16 hours a day. just pick 1 or 2 trade orders from your analysis each morning.

 

[HW07]

Hi there,

Good topic.

I am working full time and trading too.

Went through all the horrors mentioned before. I am in IT too visiting clients most days.
Trading from anything less than 4H charts is really suicidal...

I actually found that using EOD and 4H i can take out the stress having to manage trades while at work. Helps a lot to be more relaxed. Also it saves me from taking B cat setups most of the time. True, i am missing out on some, but when you trade from EOD, the big moves will be there for you Just have to learn patience. Not an easy one...

 

[new_trader]

I agree, thought this site was for Traders to help Traders, not constant snipes & digs

Traders to help traders???...What a laugh! More like a site where starry-eyed wannabe's come looking for a shortcut to millions.

Traders to help traders...wake-up...please!

 

[Rossini]

Traders to help traders???...What a laugh! More like a site where starry-eyed wannabe's come looking for a shortcut to millions.

Traders to help traders...wake-up...please!

I have been given a lot of help from the site.

 

[ffsear]

You must work in the Public Sector then ......

or are you a full time trader ?


Paul

Nope, work as an Insurance claims broker.

I am able to trade at work beacuse I'm smart enough to realise that as long as I do my job, and do it well, I can bend the rules. I get on well with my boss and he knows I have my charts open all day long.

As long as I do my job well, then i'll always have this perk. Like my boss get his long lunches paid for by expenses, I get my charts.

For me its an incentive to do my job better.

Saying that, the way I trade only requires about 30-45 mins in the morning to scan through all the forex pairs and see which ones are likely to give me entries. Then all im doing is checking the charts once an hour to check for entry signals. I can't say it really affects my working day.

I only make about 15-20 trades a month. If i was sclaping the market, it would be impossible to do at work!

 

[rgsharp]

Traders to help traders???...What a laugh! More like a site where starry-eyed wannabe's come looking for a shortcut to millions.

Traders to help traders...wake-up...please!

Quote:
Trade2Win (T2W) prides itself on being the leading community web site for active traders. Our aim is simple, we want to unite and support active traders across the globe. To this end we provide a range of facilities to enable our members to communicate with one another, share their knowledge and express their views. Furthermore we seek to provide educational and thought provoking content to help better educate our members in their trading lives.

I don't need to wake up, but you clearly don't understand why you are using this forum.

 

[Rossini]

Carnt rep you, but great post GJ. Im sure there are many like me who do appreciate your (and others) help!