NickTW

Phoenix, Fair questions. Let me elaborate a little on my situation. 1) I don't currently trade anything. Recent college grad, discovered a passion for finance soon after graduating college (management degree) and switched into that career path. Took a job as: 2) A trading liaison/salesman on a small bond trading desk. I help the trader with a lot of the mundane details, but have no say, input, or insight into the positions the trader takes. I've only been in the business about 6 months now - long enough to get my Series 7/63 and step more into a salesman role. Still young (24), and still trying to learn everything I can, and the equities market is something that really appeals to me for whatever reason. Trading seems to be a natural progression into learning more about how markets act - and as a result help me in my current job (the bond market and equity market appear to behave very similarly in most situations) and also allow me pursue a growing interest. Hope that clarifies things a little...

Thanks for the post smw - seems like a really valid point. I noticed in the link you gave that Bonnie mentions that ensign allows you to replay trading days. Maybe that'd allow a bit of a hybrid approach for my current situation - swing trading with real money to work on money management/psychological aspects, and replay parts of a random trading day to get the repetition and practice in the evenings. I'm assuming the strategies used by day traders are similar to swing-trading, just on a different time frame - can anyone confirm/deny that assumption?

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I've got to be honest - like the idea of testing the waters in swing/position trading more than waking up at ~3am every morning. Did a little research on Bulkowski - quite a few books by this guy, any you recommend to start with? Also a few more questions: 1) What kind of starting capital would you recommend for this kind of trading? Fewer trades per week would seem to lessen the pain from commissions, but I assume you're going to have to trade larger positions with less leverage. 2) Any recommended reading specifically on this style of trading? 3) Until I jump in and do this with real money, any platforms you recommend for paper trading realistically? 4) I have an account with optionsXpress right now, and because I'm an employee of a FINRA member firm, I can't get real time quotes (15 minute delay). Will this be the case everywhere? Seems kind of silly. Thanks in advance for any responses, sorry for all the questions!

Hello! First of all, love the site. Seems like an incredible source of information and insight. I'm looking to start trading, but hope to glean some insight and advice before I jump in head first. The reading has already begun - Trading in the Zone, Mind over Markets, Candlestick charting, etc. My biggest dilemma right now is the following: 1) I work full time on a taxable bond trading desk, ~50 hours a week, usually 6:30 AM - 4:30 pm M-F. I do not want my interest in trading to impact my productivity at work, but I do think the access to a bloomberg terminal will be beneficial. Is there a beginner-friendly market that I can trade before or after work hours without handicapping myself? If so, where's the best place to practice paper-trading this market, and what reading material would you suggest? Thank you in advance for any responses, and thanks to Soultrader for creating such a great resource for aspiring traders!