This thread is very intresting to a newbie like myself.
I'm very surprised at some of the comments but that just goes to show how ignorant I am about trading.
It sounds like a lot of you incline on going long and medium for most of your capital base. Doesn't sound like you guys go 'short' that much, otherwise you'd be busier during the day etc.
So who here actually trades for a living, as in sole income is from trading? Doesn't matter about definitions or meanings or if you want to or not, just who here does successfully(profitable more often than not), as in doesn't need to go back to their job next week. On whatever instrument(stocks, options, CFDs, futs).
Am interested to know how many, if any.
One here.
Others that I am aware of... MichaelD, SkyQ, WayneL(?), Pixel(?)
Propbably no more than 10.
So who here actually trades for a living, as in sole income is from trading? Doesn't matter about definitions or meanings or if you want to or not, just who here does successfully(profitable more often than not), as in doesn't need to go back to their job next week. On whatever instrument(stocks, options, CFDs, futs).
Am interested to know how many, if any.
Another one here.
System trading shares and CFD's for over 10 years.
Discretionary trading index futures (Kospi and Dax mostly) for around 3-4 years.
What's your opinion of it? If you don't mind me asking, are you guys doing alright from it? Or do you stress too much and think it's not worth it etc?
I started with systems trading once I'd developed a couple of systems I trusted. Once you know you have a positive expectancy then it's just a matter of turning up, placing your trades and let the numbers do the work.
Day trading index futures can be stressful but I know I've got 10+ years of successful systems trading to fall back on if it all turns to crap. Thankfully it hasn't. I got caught with cash tied up in a CFD account when MF Global went under and most of my systems were in drawdown but thankfully was diversified enough not to go under. That night when the news came through about MF Global was probably the most stressful time (didn't eat for a few days). I don't find day to day trading overly stressful.
I work from home and wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
Yeah my thoughts too, what is your main driver? Pairs trading?
I think SkyQ is prop? Wayne is options, not sure about MichaelD and pixel though, would be interesting to find out.
Thanks for replying
I got caught with cash tied up in a CFD account when MF Global went under and most of my systems were in drawdown but thankfully was diversified enough not to go under. That night when the news came through about MF Global was probably the most stressful time (didn't eat for a few days). I don't find day to day trading overly stressful.
I work from home and wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
I started with systems trading once I'd developed a couple of systems I trusted. Once you know you have a positive expectancy then it's just a matter of turning up, placing your trades and let the numbers do the work.
Day trading index futures can be stressful but I know I've got 10+ years of successful systems trading to fall back on if it all turns to crap. Thankfully it hasn't. I got caught with cash tied up in a CFD account when MF Global went under and most of my systems were in drawdown but thankfully was diversified enough not to go under. That night when the news came through about MF Global was probably the most stressful time (didn't eat for a few days). I don't find day to day trading overly stressful.
I work from home and wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
Yes but trying to diversify. My profits are 75% pairs and 25% directional stuff... mostly day trading.
SkyQ is prop and so am I but we are not in the same shop.
Same story here. MFG going under was by far the most stressful situation I've ever been involved. And it's counterparty risk rather than market risk.
The only other stressors would mainly come from drawdown periods. That's why you need an adequate buffer for meeting your expenses.
In terms of generating income, using leveraged instruments (like CFDs or futures) and doing day trading, the capital required can be quite small.
Bold part is the tricky bit I'm finding
Excellent to hear, well done and thanks for explaining! Must have been pretty hectic when the whole MF thing happened.
Also while you're here, what systems trading did you do? Stuff you developed yourself? In what platform? Been looking at a bit of systems stuff too.
It's all that matters. If you're not trading with a positive expectancy then you don't have a business, you have a gambling problem
Yeah it's how to KNOW you have it though, especially when we trade discretionary and the markets are ever-changing
With systems trading using in-sample and out-of-sample data and walk forward testing.
With discretionary trading I used similar techniques to code up repeatable patterns and test them (similar to what Thomas Bulkowski has done). Once you have repeatable patterns coded up and tested it then comes down to sim trading and collecting metrics to see if you're able to reproduce your testing results. Market conditions change from minute to minute when you're day trading so you find out very quickly whether you're going to be profitable. Tech/a 's threads on trading index futures with VSA are useful to see how repeatable patterns can be traded consistently.
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