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Getting Started

  #1 (permalink)
perionan
Colorado Springs Colorado/United States
 
Posts: 1 since Oct 2013
Thanks Given: 0
Thanks Received: 0

Hello All!

I am a 27 year old woman, and I have been interested in day trading, and becoming financially independent for years now. I haven't filled my head with the "get rich quick" articles or whatever, in fact I have mainly focused on the risk factors associated with day trading and the warnings against it. I consider myself a realist, and I am not looking to make a fortune, mainly I am hoping to maintain a comfortable living situation for my son and me, without having to rely on babysitters, and daycare centers. I am a quality manager for my day job, therefore I am anal and pay attention to detail. However, while my job is a very good one, the job market is rocky, and my company has been experiencing some losses lately.

What I am hoping for is some good advice. How much cash in hand is best for starting a day trading venture? I've already read the book suggestions, and those are great, so thank you for all those that replied to that thread. Is there any other advice folks are willing to give? It would be swell if I could meet someone on here that is open and friendly, and willing to act as a mentor.

This sounds terrible, but I am hoping to use my inheritance (whenever I should happen to get it) as my stepping off point into the world of day trading. I plan to use this time to learn everything I can about day trading, and then once I get my comfy little cushion of cash, to take the plunge - which in all honesty is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

So yeah, that's all I am really hoping for. Friendly advice. Like I said, I've already read the don'ts and the warnings, and all about how difficult it is and yadda yadda yadda. I am willing to put in the work, I am willing to take the risk. What I need is real time day traders sharing their experiences and what they've learned over the years. All of you were in my shoes at some point, so I'd like to hear from you.


Thanks!

Shannon

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  #3 (permalink)
 
shodson's Avatar
 shodson 
OC, California, USA
Quantoholic
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: IB/TWS, NinjaTrader, ToS
Broker: IB, ToS, Kinetick
Trading: stocks, options, futures, VIX
Posts: 1,976 since Jun 2009
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Thanks Received: 3,709



perionan View Post
Hello All!

I am a 27 year old woman, and I have been interested in day trading, and becoming financially independent for years now. I haven't filled my head with the "get rich quick" articles or whatever, in fact I have mainly focused on the risk factors associated with day trading and the warnings against it. I consider myself a realist, and I am not looking to make a fortune, mainly I am hoping to maintain a comfortable living situation for my son and me, without having to rely on babysitters, and daycare centers. I am a quality manager for my day job, therefore I am anal and pay attention to detail. However, while my job is a very good one, the job market is rocky, and my company has been experiencing some losses lately.

What I am hoping for is some good advice. How much cash in hand is best for starting a day trading venture? I've already read the book suggestions, and those are great, so thank you for all those that replied to that thread. Is there any other advice folks are willing to give? It would be swell if I could meet someone on here that is open and friendly, and willing to act as a mentor.

This sounds terrible, but I am hoping to use my inheritance (whenever I should happen to get it) as my stepping off point into the world of day trading. I plan to use this time to learn everything I can about day trading, and then once I get my comfy little cushion of cash, to take the plunge - which in all honesty is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

So yeah, that's all I am really hoping for. Friendly advice. Like I said, I've already read the don'ts and the warnings, and all about how difficult it is and yadda yadda yadda. I am willing to put in the work, I am willing to take the risk. What I need is real time day traders sharing their experiences and what they've learned over the years. All of you were in my shoes at some point, so I'd like to hear from you.


Thanks!

Shannon

Welcome!

I meet a lot of new and wanna-be traders through my Meetup and here is the advice I lay out, with a little math

Let's say you have a lifestyle of $100K per year. The best traders on average have annualized returns of 10-20% a year. That's annualized. That means some years they may be up 50+%, other years down 40+%, but on average, over time, they make 10-20% a year. Let's be optimistic and say you can actually annualize 20% a year. That would mean you would need 5x capital, or $500K of trading capital to start with assuming you use good risk management.

This also assumes that when you have down years that you don't spend any of your trading capital, you just don't get a paycheck from your trading, so you'll need some other savings to pay for your drawdown periods. I'd guess that would mean you need another 1-2yrs of savings on hand. So now we're up to 600-700K. The reason this is important is that you must not spend your trading capital in drawdowns, because it will make it harder to recover from your drawdowns with a smaller and smaller account size.

With all of that said, this all assumes you actually have the skills and discipline to make 20% annualized. If it's only 10% then you need 2x that capital. While your attention-to-detail skills will be very helpful, it's only one tool you will need to master. Deciding to becoming a full-time trader is like deciding to become a doctor, a lawyer, or play professional sports. You can't just jump in and expect to be successful just because you are smart, work hard and are determined. It takes a lot of work and practice achieved over time. You will probably blow out 2-3+ trading accounts on your way because you have not yet mastered the skills needed, so you'll need some "tuition" money to lose on the way. It will probably take you at least a few years to get where you need to get to.

Enjoy the journey and try to minimize your tuition losses on the way.

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  #4 (permalink)
 
cory's Avatar
 cory 
virginia
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: ninja
Trading: NQ
Posts: 6,098 since Jun 2009
Thanks Given: 877
Thanks Received: 8,090

you can read about user 'wgreenie' to help you get a sense of where to start.

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  #5 (permalink)
 
Big Mike's Avatar
 Big Mike 
Manta, Ecuador
Site Administrator
Developer
Swing Trader
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Broker: IBKR
Trading: Stocks & Futures
Frequency: Every few days
Duration: Weeks
Posts: 50,396 since Jun 2009
Thanks Given: 33,172
Thanks Received: 101,537


cory View Post
you can read about user 'wgreenie' to help you get a sense of where to start.

Uhm... she went off to sell indicators and systems instead of trading.

Mike

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  #6 (permalink)
 
cory's Avatar
 cory 
virginia
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: ninja
Trading: NQ
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Big Mike View Post
Uhm... she went off to sell indicators and systems instead of trading.

Mike

Well, before getting to the selling part there were things that she had to over come and steps a beginner could learn from.

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  #7 (permalink)
 
Big Mike's Avatar
 Big Mike 
Manta, Ecuador
Site Administrator
Developer
Swing Trader
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Broker: IBKR
Trading: Stocks & Futures
Frequency: Every few days
Duration: Weeks
Posts: 50,396 since Jun 2009
Thanks Given: 33,172
Thanks Received: 101,537


cory View Post
Well, before getting to the selling part there were things that she had to over come and steps a beginner could learn from.

True

Thread:


Mike

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  #8 (permalink)
 Sony108 
Buenos Aires / Argentina
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Tradestation
Trading: YM
Posts: 15 since Oct 2013
Thanks Given: 46
Thanks Received: 14

Thank you shodson . Your contribution really valid, there are many who speak of large numbers, profits, millions and easy money, it's good to see people who posts things consistent, thank you very much.

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  #9 (permalink)
 Sony108 
Buenos Aires / Argentina
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Tradestation
Trading: YM
Posts: 15 since Oct 2013
Thanks Given: 46
Thanks Received: 14

Hello, I'm in a similar situation to Perionan, I have a little more experience, very little in futures, with a few months in a live chat room with not so good experience .... (I know, do not tell me anything ....)
You have a lot of experience can you recommend some place to start studying seriously to have more potential in the future to be a profitable trader?...

Thanks!

Sony108

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  #10 (permalink)
 
Big Mike's Avatar
 Big Mike 
Manta, Ecuador
Site Administrator
Developer
Swing Trader
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Broker: IBKR
Trading: Stocks & Futures
Frequency: Every few days
Duration: Weeks
Posts: 50,396 since Jun 2009
Thanks Given: 33,172
Thanks Received: 101,537



Sony108 View Post
Hello, I'm in a similar situation to Perionan, I have a little more experience, very little in futures, with a few months in a live chat room with not so good experience .... (I know, do not tell me anything ....)
You have a lot of experience can you recommend some place to start studying seriously to have more potential in the future to be a profitable trader?...

Thanks!

Sony108

Watch the Where to Start webinar:



Then just start reading as many threads as you can on nexusfi.com (formerly BMT), or watching the other 100+ webinars.

Once you feel confident enough to start trading, then you should start a journal to track your progress. It will be a huge help to you.

Mike

We're here to help: just ask the community or contact our Help Desk

Quick Links: Change your Username or Register as a Vendor
Searching for trading reviews? Review this list
Lifetime Elite Membership: Sign-up for only $149 USD
Exclusive money saving offers from our Site Sponsors: Browse Offers
Report problems with the site: Using the NexusFi changelog thread
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Last Updated on October 13, 2015


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