Trading for a living... A day in the life

I'm a real estate agent and a real estate broker working on the foreign markets. I'm doing a lot of phone calls, writing e-mails and reading the recent news about the markets all day long. If I'm lucky, sometimes I go to biztrips in Europe or attend real estate expos. I can say that seeing other countries is the only fun part of the business. And if I can sell, it’s a good day. So, if you are looking for a house for sale in Montenegro or in some other location, I’m your man.

 

Hey Noah
I know I don't actually trade for a living, but have been trading as a hobby for the past 6 years. I still felt like it would be worth it to add my two cents to this conversation.

So my day starts at 4 am. Get up, fix coffee, let dogs out, go take a shower to wake up, get ready for work. Drink coffee on my way to the office, sit down at my desk and pull up my tos charts. That is where it all starts. For about 10 minutes I read the charts, set alerts, and write down my expectation of the market. Predicting certain price points that I feel will come into play for that day and the rest of the week. Once thats done I write out a trading plan for the day. Then its time for breakfast and drawing up pipe (I am a draftsmen). I spend the next few hours doing my actual job. I have an alarm on my phone that goes off 5 min before the opening bell so I can check on share price moment from the pre-market. Then I work the reat of the day with an eye on the market. If the share price triggers my alerts I pretty much know to begin buying up my position. Then I just trade let the alerts trigger and check the charts when they do. By the end of the day I go home and prepare to do it all over again the next day.

 

The first thing to note is yes, making a living on day trading is a perfectly viable career, but it's not necessarily easier or less work than a regular daytime job. The benefits are rather that you are your own boss, and can plan your work hours any way you want.

 

The first thing to note is yes, making a living on day trading is a perfectly viable career, but it's not necessarily easier or less work than a regular daytime job. The benefits are rather that you are your own boss, and can plan your work hours any way you want. forpc.onl jiofi.local.html

 

Conjugal twins? With 7 month variations?

 

I don't trade at all, and could not make a living from it.

Investing has been my primary income, for some time. At this point, I have made more from investing than all other endeavours for some years.

I'm looking to wind down everything else I do over the next few years, based on my advancing age.

I've never known someone who could support themselves, long term, trading stocks. Working in the finance industry, I met legions of traders. I met lots of day traders, also.

The day traders I know used to say they made $4000 per day. For some reason, that was always the cited average gain. None of them did it for more than 18 months, with most getting out well before that. They all ended up back in an employed situation. To the last one, they said it was hard work and they got bored but they all maintained the gains were real.

That's tough for me to comprehend, because I would blow a goat for $4000 per day. I believe the far more plausible root cause of them getting out of trading is they had their ass handed to them.

 

In order to day trade for a living, not only do you have to be able to make enough money to live on (most years) but your nest egg must be large enough to survive living expense withdrawals in a year where you make nothing or you lose money. You had better be sure that you can survive before attempting something that the vast majority of people lose money at.

The crash of '87 was a real learning lesson about the importance of risk management. By 2000 I had learned that lesson well enough not to be hurt by the Internet Bubble (markets down 50%). By 2008 I had learned how to win during a 50% market drop.

I retired young. I invested well for 20 years or so and maybe I did an infrequent day trade but that was incidental. During that investment period, I learned as much as I could about the financial markets and 20 years ago I decided to add trading to the mix.

My trading goal was twofold. First, not to lose a chunk of my nest egg and second, to make enough money not to spend down my nest egg (be worth at least $1 more every Dec 31st than the previous Dec 31st. IOW, trade not to lose and be happy with whatever the wins are.

Most years I earn that supplemental amount. In 2008 and again in 2009 I earned more than most people earn from a day job. Truth be told, I could not have supported myself purely from day trading. Fortunately, I have another source of income that pays the lion's share of my living expenses until the day I die. But that's a different story.

I've had a number of reincarnations. I was an IPO whore during the internet craze. After that, for a good number of years I traded earnings announcements and daily news.

In recent years I've settled into longer term hedged option positions (3-5 months) that provide the possibility of 25-30% annualized return and often, zero loss for say the first 17-25% of share price drop. With the longer time frame, that means that I don't always have to be at the computer all day unless the market is rocking or I want to be. When the market fell 35% last March, I lost maybe 7% which was easily recoverable from.
I enjoy the challenge and it beats the 9-5 grind.

 

I definitely agree with you, it is not easy

 

Years ago an old guy advised me on buying coins. "Early on learn a lot and spend a little." If you don't learn then someone will talk you into something and somebody else will talk you out of it. Yogi Berra would ask you. If you have 5 nickels in one pocket and a quarter in the other would that mean you have more coins in the pocket with 5 coins, because 5 is more than 1. I suggest a book by Gail Marks Jarviscalled saving for retirement. Try Amazon to buy.

 

Being in a position where you don't have to trade everyday takes the stress out of it. Choppy waters like today is a breeze. On the flat/sideways days its a little more difficult. Some get greedy and lose focus. Nickels make dollars. The guy out there shooting for the moon usually runs out of ammo.

 

I love the idea of a 20, 30 minute span of study once a week, set up limit buys/sells, and going about your day. A watched pot, and all that....

A terrific trader told me he aimed for 10%. " Add up a dozen 10% moves, and there's a great week or month! Aiming for the once-in-a-lifetime superkills is going to most likely burn you and bankrupt you."

 

Exactly. The big winners are few and far between.
I'm happy with 5%, 10 is better.

I have 2 rules I never break.

I never short a stock "with shares"
I never use margin.

 

Well I went on the Al Gore internet and researched day trader success rate. How do you find out how the successful ones became successful?

 

Another good rule to follow is: Never let a winning trade turn into a loss.

 

Best advice I have heard today. Heard it first about 20 years ago. I have a couple Titantics on the bottom.

 

I learned that rule when I took the Lehman Brothers course: Sub Prime Trading.