So You Want to Daytrade

Inevitably when I would "bail out" of a position in this way, my instinct would be proved right, and the original position would subsequently get much, much worse for others who stayed in. What causes those alarm bells to go off inside good traders? I have no idea.

It has never been easy to make money trading, and it was certainly never mechanical for me. In fact, I've had many losing months and even one losing year. Keep that in mind if you're considering my career. How would you like to get up in the morning, go to work every day and end the year with less money in your pocket than when you started it? It's a tough feeling, let me tell you.

My day now starts at 6:30 a.m., when I check the overnight markets and news and map out a strategy (or at least a preliminary one) for the day. I light the screens up about 7 a.m., and they stay on at least until 4 p.m., with time for lunch. Depending on my overnight positions, I need either to keep track of the markets or to trade them actively a few times until I go to sleep. In other words, the hours that most successful traders and I keep aren't so easy or so few.

You can do it. I don't have any special talents that you don't, and I've seen every type of person succeed as a trader. I've been able to find no particular set of characteristics that guarantees success. But expect to spend long hours, have many moments of doubt throughout your career and even lose money in the first few episodes of your apprenticeship. And never believe that any mechanical trading system can entirely take the place of the most important thing that you bring to bear upon your trading -- you.

Of course, here's the most obvious reason why you shouldn't spend $500 on a piece of software. If it were such a foolproof money-making system, why would they be selling it to you?

« Previous Page

1 2 3

Next Page »