Pros and Cons - The Daytrader's Life

[jonbig04 10]

I agree for the most part. My point was just that the obstacles trading presents are simply different than that of other endeavors-which can make them difficult to anticipate if you aren't prepared for them. Example below.

 

I would also take it a step beyond saying people "don't like" to lose money or be wrong. IMO they have been programmed to stay away from anything that will put them in a position to experience either because in almost all other areas of life it is a sign that something is going terribly wrong. Whereas in trading, its natural.

[AWOL 10]

Loneliness is the worst of it, working all day on your own, your girlfriend comes in from her job and she does not want to talk about a retractment on cable, she says "how was your day" you say "yeah great i made 50 pips " she then proceeds to tell you about her day at work and the stories about her colleagues but you know better than to bore her with details about your day at work ,even though she wants to hear it she has no clue whatsoever about what you are talking about so you don't.

 

You then have a bad week trading and you start to doubt yourself and your methods , you start to wonder why you decided to get into this in the first place.....you realise that your girlfriend has more faith in your abilities than you do yourself.

 

There are huge downsides to trading at home....i have came so far and do not want to quit because i am not a quitter but sometimes i think that if i could turn back the clock then i would not have got into this business.

 

Yes you can make a living but it is very hard and it takes a lot of self discipline which to me is the hardest part.

 

I once made the same money that i make now and it was a lot easier than trading but one day i decided that i would fulfill my dream of being what i had always wanted to be..... a trader....but the grass is not always greener on the other side.

 

I have spent one year of my life (about 10hrs a day every day for the last 300 odd days) sitting at home learning to trade and trading with the the belief that if i put my mind to it i will be successful, i have still not managed to buy that indoor swimming pool or yacht in Monte Carlo.

 

When i was 15 years old i would buy the financial times and watch CNBC, papertraded and studied the laws of probability and everybody that knew me thought i was destined for great things....well guess what i am 32 years old and i have not achieved much..ok so i never traded or looked at the markets from when i was 16- 30 but being a trader was always in me and when i hit 31 i took the plunge......well guess what ? it is not all it is cracked up to be.

 

You know better than to discuss what you do with anyone unless you happen to want to get into a conversation about this person that they know who plays poker in their spare time, if you tell people you trade the markets they think you are nothing but a gambler and sometimes i wonder if they are right.

 

Hard work, no laughs at work unless it is on a forum or some silly youtube video, no work colleagues to go for a pint after work, sitting on your own like a hermit 9-5 every day....it sucks.

 

Studying this theory that theory..backtest ...backtest, price action,patterns, indicators,variable net change, dow theory, Wyckoff, VSA

 

If i can give any advice to anyone starting in this business it would be this......

 

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a ******* big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of ******* fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the **** you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing ******* junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got trading?

Edited September 7, 2009 by AWOL

[forrestang 10]

Damn Awol..... that was depressing

 

Somebody cue the music, hot girls and fast cars that ALL traders deal with on an intraday basis!

[AWOL 10]

Damn Awol..... that was depressing

 

Somebody cue the music, hot girls and fast cars that ALL traders deal with on an intraday basis!

 

It is not as depressing as it may sound i was just being realistic, every morning when i start the UK trading session i will be sat at my charts and just as the session starts i will hit "play" on my ipod and through my Bowers & Wilkins speakers........ [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rqZ5SisGsc]this soundtrack will erupt[/ame], if trading was bad the day before then my day will start [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhlPAj38rHc]with this[/ame]....working from home aint all that bad really

Edited September 7, 2009 by AWOL

[jonbig04 10]

Damn, that WAS depressing lol. Frankly I'm not in trading to make 'average' money. I'm not in it to wax poetic about the complexities of the market. I'm not even in it for a long term career. I'm in it for as much money as possible, as fast as possible. Period. But we all have our reasons and goals. We all have different personalities.

[ckait 10]

Imorgan are you still monitering your thread? I think you havent posted since the initial one . Are you rich yet ? just kidding. Most people go through a predictable path to trading enlightenment. Doesnt matter what you trade the path is important.What stage in the progression you are in should concern you the most. Every single trader I personaly know who makes a decent living (as a trader) has gon through at least a 5 year learning curve. The one common denomenator between the really good ones is to scrap the indicators. If your still relying on that kind of stuff dont quit your day job i hear thery are hard to find.

The market place is a very dynamic place. It eats guys who do well in the stock market who want to quit their day day job for breakfast (usually before 9:55 est) every day.

Any way I guess my point is dont jump in before you know exactly what your in for and it takes a few years to get the grips on what is really going on.

[AWOL 10]

It ain't that bad really.......

[ckait 10]

I"ve seen it worse. Guess it depends what you trade and you're pain tolerance.

[ckait 10]

Whatever,if traders only wanted to make money they would have one working thing they did,load up and be done for the week in one trade . But most people who get roped into doing this have Ego and being right issues that dont get realized before they go broke.

[ckait 10]

Whatever,if traders only wanted to make money they would have one working thing they did,load up and be done for the week in one trade . But most people who get roped into doing this have Ego and being right issues that dont get realized before they go broke.

[ekshay 10]

Just wanted to mention that the example of a lawyer getting a degree doesn't apply as a comparison.

Every year, 100s of people get some degree or the other. That doesn't mean they are now a financial success. They haven't proven their skill in the real world yet.

 

Being a retail trader, can best be compared with being Self-Employed in ANY field. If a lawyer chooses to go for self-employment, her/his education has just begun. From marketing, negotiating, & networking, to managing finances, paperwork & later on even employees, is not something s/he got trained in college.

 

In my experience, a teaching in Risk, Humility, Uncertainty, etc. is a part of almost every Self-Employed Professional, EVEN if they were employed with a company for a few years for the same technical function.

 

The only significant difference that I can see, is that:

If you setup any other business, the most important skills to learn would be Marketing & Resource Systemisation/Management (People, Money, etc.)

If you get into Trading, the most important skills to learn would be Thinking-In-Probabilities & Risk Management.

 

Trading systems are easy to design. Traders fail, UNTIL they don't "get" the above 2.

[Dinerotrader 10]

Wow, this thread picked up lately but of course they usually pick up when someone throws the old “95% of people fail at this” statistic. We should seriously make a section of the forum just for discussing that idea since it crops up so much and derails the thread.

 

ckait: I do still monitor this thread and all threads I have been involved in. Not rich yet but I am enjoying the journey so I am content thus far. I keep many irons in the fire as far as business ventures so I haven't had as much time lately as I have wanted to post and day trade.

 

jobig04: I like your point about “being wrong and losing money” as big obstacles to the average person.

 

Thank you all for your posts thus far in adding to the idea of pros and cons of the trading life. I know that becoming a profitable daytrader without having the desired lifestyle would prove to be a failed venture.

 

Every time I read my original list that I started this thread with I am motivated to put more time into building my trading skills. I evaluate business opportunities quite often and the daytrading business really has a great list of pros compared to many other investment opportunities.

 

It is always helpful to hear from the experienced profitable traders about their view of pros and cons.

Cheers.

[AWOL 10]

If i can give any advice on trading it would be this, the market is a game rather than a set of rules and once you can see this only then will you succeed without fear, you all have a god given gift that will allow to you achieve this but unfortunately this gift is never spoken about because you are not meant to know even though you already do know but you have no idea how to apply it to the markets.

 

One day someone will come along and show other people how you can really achieve success in the financial markets, until then the 5% of you who achieve success in these markets will find out eventually through determination and the refusal to fail, everbody has the abilities but cannot see the woods for the trees.

 

Do not listen to anyone except yourself, if you see a guru and he is a so called expert and is also involved in selling a service or an ebook then realise that they are not successful hence why they are trying to sell you something, ignore this advice at your own peril.

 

Take one stock, one currency, one indice and watch it everyday until you know it better than you know yourself, feel its rhythm and then dance with it.

 

Can you not see how you fail ? can you not see how every trade goes against you, ask yourself ....why can this be ? what does the market know that i don't know.......the answer is this.....the market knows you and everyone else and that is why it goes against you.

 

Everyone talks about it being a zero sum game blah blah blah.........the truth is this.....the markets are man-made and because of this man can manipulate them as he wills and he does....now understand this......nobody on this forum can manipulate the markets but it does not mean that nobody on this earth cannot manipulate them, man cannot manipulate the wind but he can manipulate the markets because he made them.

 

Take only what you need from what i have said...........

 

[ame=

]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb1jBn0uEOc[/ame] Edited September 24, 2009 by AWOL

[zdo 20]

 

Can you not see how you fail ? can you not see how every trade goes against you, ask yourself ....why can this be ? what does the market know that i don't know.......the answer is this.....the market knows you and everyone else and that is why it goes against you.

 

Everyone talks about it being a zero sum game blah blah blah.........the truth is this.....the markets are man-made and because of this man can manipulate them as he wills and he does....now understand this......nobody on this forum can manipulate the markets but it does not mean that nobody on this earth cannot manipulate them, man cannot manipulate the wind but he can manipulate the markets because he made them.

 

 

Fun post... do you mean like

Yes the market violates our expectations – but, c’mon, in a pleasing way?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzOQLDwUAC8&feature=channel]YouTube - Al Seckel: Your brain is badly wired ? enjoy it![/ame]

 

And this is what the illuminati are doing to you?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GigYWy2UmOY]YouTube - Keith Barry: Brain magic[/ame]

[thalestrader 14]

...the market knows you and everyone else and that is why it goes against you.

 

Well said.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales