Any traders/investors trade the stock market full time?

[CATAPILLAR]

Just wondering how many ASF members would be full time traders and not have to get up and "go to work" and made enough money a year, to live off and traded as a business.
Regards CATAPILLAR

 

[MS+Tradesim]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

Well, I'll bite....I do.

 

[zengin]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

how long have you been trading MS+ Tradesim
When I grow up I want to be like you
PS what do you mostly trade etc cfd,index

 

[ithatheekret]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

Just wondering how many ASF members would be full time traders and not have to get up and "go to work" and made enough money a year, to live off and traded as a business.
Regards CATAPILLAR

I only work on a consultancy basis , the rest of the time , I trade my butt off and do quite nicely . We bought outright ( 2nd hse) and I get to see the younger ones grow up now , I was never home for my eldest two and when I was , it was only for a couple of days if that .

I don't really trade our stocks , but they do get shuffled and reallocated from time to time . I am very active in forex though , the liquidity and movement being the attraction .

 

[adobee]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

I dont but would love too.. I dont yet have the capital and also decided that success in the last two years is not reflective of the 'real market' and that I can expect to be as lucky in the future.. Unfortunately I have a job - my own business but dont get any work done cause I spend all day looking at the computer screen and asx I think it is an obsession ...!

 

[MS+Tradesim]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

how long have you been trading MS+ Tradesim
When I grow up I want to be like you
PS what do you mostly trade etc cfd,index

I trade ASX equities only. I would like to learn more about forex though. I've dabbled in FX in the past but had no idea what I was doing and lost my account! Have read some books but really need to take the plunge and get some relevant software for it.

 

[Sean K]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

Yep. Have been full time for 3 years, investing seriously for 12.

International hedge funds (super)
Residential property (sold out for now, waiting for the crash to get back in)
Junior resource companies (main game at the moment)
Day trading (hopeless)

If you like sitting in front of a computer for hours with minimal personal contact then go for it. ASF has been my saviour.

Can be pretty stressful if you can't leave emotion behind.

 

[doctorj]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

Kennas, without wanting to drag this thread (too far) off topic - how has the volatility/drawdown been in your superfund with your hedge fund exposure?

I've read a lot of commentry lately about the sub-prime impact on hedge funds, but I'm interested in your real world experience...

My concern with hedge fund's exposure to sub prime debt is that there basically isn't a market for the debt right now - who know how they're striking unit prices at the moment??? Mark-to-imaginary???

 

[Trembling Hand]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

Just wondering how many ASF members would be full time traders and not have to get up and "go to work" and made enough money a year, to live off and traded as a business.
Regards CATAPILLAR

Yep I'm full time. Futures index scalper. (some long term stuff, SMSF as well as longer term ASX stuff)

A more interesting question would be how many full timers made their initial capital that enabled them to become full time through part-time trading rather than property or business?

 

[ithatheekret]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

I dont but would love too.. I dont yet have the capital and also decided that success in the last two years is not reflective of the 'real market' and that I can expect to be as lucky in the future.. Unfortunately I have a job - my own business but dont get any work done cause I spend all day looking at the computer screen and asx I think it is an obsession ...!

making money is an obsession .......... period


you just have to be prepared to take losses at times.

 

[yonnie]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

full-time trader since September last year in ASX stocks.

have been at it for 9 years and through revisiting
profitable trades in the past I am where I am now.
must be a slow learner.

you wont find my strategy in any book or forum so trading experience can be a road to success.

now to make 10 grand a week consistently.............

 

[roland]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

I still go to work, but make more from trading, which I do while I'm working, when business is slow my trading fills in

 

[Julia]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

No one has mentioned the basic importance of one's capital base.
If there's enough there, simply sitting on good blue chip stocks which provide steady growth and pay good dividends with 100% franking provides a good living minus all the stress and time spent clinging to a computer.

 

[Trembling Hand]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

No one has mentioned the basic importance of one's capital base.
If there's enough there, simply sitting on good blue chip stocks which provide steady growth and pay good dividends with 100% franking provides a good living minus all the stress and time spent clinging to a computer.

Traders trade fulltime not just because they need the money but because there is a market to trade. You may be able to make easier money riding a bull market or collecting Divs but some choose to be traders and have no interested in a good living minus all the stress

 

[stevo]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

Traders trade fulltime not just because they need the money but because there is a market to trade. You may be able to make easier money riding a bull market or collecting Divs but some choose to be traders and have no interested in a good living minus all the stress

I think that Julia was highlighting the importance of the capital base. It is easier to be a "part-time" trader the more capital the trader has. 20% of $5 million is more than enough to live on, but 20% of $100,000 doesn't work!

There is a grey area between trader and investor. I have trades that have been running for over a year, but I follow very strict trading rules that tell me when to get in/out and how much to buy.

I would suggest that many full time traders should have the ambition to be a part time trader - then they can also have a life outside of trading We shouldn't trade just because there is a market, we should trade because we know we can make money in the market.

stevo (somewhere in Marrakesh - riyad-al-moussika)

 

[Julia]

Thanks, Stevo, for explaining to Trembling Hand what I was saying.

 

[Trembling Hand]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

I would suggest that many full time traders should have the ambition to be a part time trader - then they can also have a life outside of trading We shouldn't trade just because there is a market, we should trade because we know we can make money in the market.

For some (many?) full timers the market isn't simply a means to an end. I can make enough to live on in a much shorter period of time than I ultimately spend trading because I enjoy the challenges of trading.

Though I will freely admit that the market provides a great life to many on a part time basis and many many more hope it will some day.

 

[yonnie]

Julia/Steveo,

not everybody has a lazy $5 million laying around to invest in blue chips.

the rest of us will have to make their capital work hard to make a good living.

being a full-time trader doesn`t mean I have to "cling" to the computer all day; just a look once every 20 minutes is good enough for me.

waiting too for reliable mobile broadband and I`m down the road with my broker beeping me whenever I have a trade........

heeeeeeeeehhaaaaaaaaaaaaah

 

[nizar]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

I think that Julia was highlighting the importance of the capital base. It is easier to be a "part-time" trader the more capital the trader has. 20% of $5 million is more than enough to live on, but 20% of $100,000 doesn't work!

There is a grey area between trader and investor. I have trades that have been running for over a year, but I follow very strict trading rules that tell me when to get in/out and how much to buy.

I would suggest that many full time traders should have the ambition to be a part time trader - then they can also have a life outside of trading We shouldn't trade just because there is a market, we should trade because we know we can make money in the market.

stevo (somewhere in Marrakesh - riyad-al-moussika)

Wow, Morrocco, nice.
Iv always wanted to go there.

Its important to make a distinction about what trading fulltime actually means?

To me being in front of the PC 6 hours a day is not an ideal way of trading, and is not my goal. Mind you if I could make $10k a week then I would do it. Everybody has their price.

But the most beautiful type of trading is like Stevo's where you can still spend time on your other businesses and you actually only spend 1-2hours a week on your trading.

An even better type of trading is what I call the ultimate -- trading a fully mechanical forex system where your buy/sell signals and money management are all directly linked to your broker, so you don't have to do anything at all.
You would sleep better knowing you're gonna wake up paid!

 

[Trembling Hand]

Re: Any traders/investors trade the stock full time

To me being in front of the PC 6 hours a day is not an ideal way of trading, and is not my goal. Mind you if I could make $10k a week then I would do it. Everybody has their price.

But the most beautiful type of trading is like Stevo's where you can still spend time on your other businesses and you actually only spend 1-2hours a week on your trading.

The perception that a businesses is easier money and easier work is wrong.
If you get trading right nothing else will provide you with the freedom. Not your own business not by a long shot. I have done both successful and not so successful but trading done full time and done right IMHO wins hands down. And you don't need a spare 5 mil laying around (although it would help)


Nizar $10k a week your setting your sights to low.