You&#x2019;re Married?&#x2026; Not When You&#x2019;re Trading You Aren&#x2019;t

Quoting clockwork71

Disliked

Why not just put a position on and walk away? It's what I do, and it makes me money..... I need about 5 minutes of time a day, nothing more.

Ignored

5 mins a day! Wow… I’d wished I could do so. Will you tell us any trading secrets? I’ll be so happy spending an hour and make good money.

halkins

Jul 21, 2010 8:08am

Quoting clockwork71

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(...) Let's say you average $200 a day at your job. It's a steady, yet unexciting job that you are "content" with. It's not a great life, but it allows you to have one. Now, pretend you are a trader that "averages" $200 a day. You sit at a computer 12 hours a day, and never really know if you are going to make money (...)

Ignored

There is a huge difference Clockwork71
Let’s imagine you are good enough to constantly profiting 25% a months of your entire portfolio. Let’s say you start with average broker account of $10.000. Now, if you gaining 25% and constantly keep increasing your positions and portfolio month by month, you will hit $1,5 million after 24 months of trading. All right folks !!! I know it’s plain theory, but that’s what attract people. Boundless unlimited profits.
You won’t make $1.5M on your daily job.

sloanman

Jul 21, 2010 7:34am

I cannot understand why some traders denigrate position trading. The winning percentages are higher, the setups are more reliable, indicators work better, you are not paying the spread over and over.

I have a ten year time horizon to retire from my day job. I trade only daily charts and get maybe three or four trades a week which I hold for days, weeks, sometimes months. I roll profits over and increase the size of my trades. In the meantime I work my day job and keep the money in the account.

Laugh at me if you want but it is a successful strategy and I literally only adjust trades at the close of the daily candle. Of course stops are set when the trade is initiated.

I wish I could do day trading but I can't separate the noise from what is real on lower time frames. It certainly is more fun and I know there are many people that do it successfully, just not me.

cesarg

Jul 21, 2010 4:43am

The real problem comes when there is just one computer in home... like my case

.... When you seriously try to focus on trading, you not even have an hour to trade without your wife trying to watch the other's people facebook comments. It's a complex situation.
I am building an "office" in my home just to trade without any trouble (to achieve the point of the Yohay story)... And with my wife away my NEW computer...

SimonK

Jul 21, 2010 8:24am

Not sure this is the right thread for this discussion. But as Clockwork has said, you need to be highly capitalised to afford the luxury of trading the long-term timeframes.

However, I know a handful of traders who make good money trading the smaller timeframe charts. Short-term charts are the only option for traders who do not have 250K in the bank.

The market moves and makes the same patterns on all timeframes. No timeframe is wrong or right.

waves

Jul 21, 2010 6:26am

I have found the best way to avoid distractions and battles for the computer is to set trading hours....if you work all day, have a set time to work your trading job...no distractions....you're family will know what to expect from you and will be less threatened about the time you are spending at the comp...I agree with entry orders, and if you are pressed for time from work, family etc etc use longer term charts for longer term trades so you won't have to be glued to your monitor praying things go your way. longer term charts take longer to play out and don't change so much in a few candles that you really need to put alot of time into them everyday.

halkins

Jul 21, 2010 3:59am

Good thing could be you can teach your kids profitable trading since they are six. They will have plenty of time to gain necessary experience :-)))

DanyalDenyo

Jul 21, 2010 4:45am

I trade from home, it's what I do for a living. Most of the time trading is what I want to do most, so I don't get distracted by anything else. If you enjoy watching TV more than trading, then you shouldn't be a trader in the first place.

DanyalDenyo

Jul 21, 2010 6:55am

Quoting BackTestDummy

Disliked

Just seen all your threads - you obviously spend a lot more time on forums than you do on your trading LOL.

Ignored

Possibly earning the money from forums etc. rather than trading itself.

fsiltd

Jul 21, 2010 8:15am

"Those that say it cannot be done, should try not to interrupt those that are doing it" -- Chinese Proverb

mike22

Jul 22, 2010 11:34am

I agree. I want to trade with you cowboy.

Quoting clockwork71

Disliked

Why not just put a position on and walk away? It's what I do, and it makes me money..... I need about 5 minutes of time a day, nothing more. I am leveraging my TIME as well, which is just as important than anything else. Who in the hell wants to sit in front of a computer 12 hours a day. Hardly "Freedom" I would think. I prefer to put on a trade, then take my two sons down to the park.....

Ignored

SimonK

Jul 21, 2010 5:26am

The answer's easy. Just get one of these:

http://www.roomsoutdoor.co.uk/

SimonK

Jul 21, 2010 7:01am

That's the thing about trading. It's easy to talk the talk. But can you walk the walk

waves

Jul 21, 2010 4:52pm

can i steal that one Trout???????

Derek1959

Jul 21, 2010 3:15am

How true this is,, Im not yet in a position to fully work at home, but when I do return home after my days labour, the potential distractions leaves alot to be desired, Fortunatley my spouse enjoys some of the soaps starting at 1900 hrs,, so I at least get a minimum of 2 hours trading without being disturbed, It works to my advantage..

Jul 21, 2010 5:00am

Why not just put a position on and walk away? It's what I do, and it makes me money.....

I need about 5 minutes of time a day, nothing more. I am leveraging my TIME as well, which is just as important than anything else. Who in the hell wants to sit in front of a computer 12 hours a day. Hardly "Freedom" I would think. I prefer to put on a trade, then take my two sons down to the park.....

Jul 21, 2010 5:21am

Quoting clockwork71

Disliked

Why not just put a position on and walk away? It's what I do, and it makes me money.....

I need about 5 minutes of time a day, nothing more. I am leveraging my TIME as well, which is just as important than anything else. Who in the hell wants to sit in front of a computer 12 hours a day. Hardly "Freedom" I would think. I prefer to put on a trade, then take my two sons down to the park.....

Ignored

If you can make a living from just 5 minutes per day, you must be one hell of a trader - care to expand on your methods.....

Jul 21, 2010 7:04am

Quoting BackTestDummy

Disliked

Just seen all your threads - you obviously spend a lot more time on forums than you do on your trading LOL.

Ignored

Because I trade a decent size, and I only trade when it matters. When you have trades that run weeks, and not minutes - it works out that way.

Scalpers get crushed. It's that simple.

Forex is only one of my businesses. I don't make a living trading - I cannot imagine a worse fate - constantly looking for set ups to eat. My goal is simple: trade my way to a house, then maybe a car. I could buy the car now - the house is a ways away. When you only start with about 5k - it takes a while to get to 30. And then to 200k.

Of course, that's reality....most people don't want to hear that. They want the "dream." Which is exactly that.

As far as my methods - it's simple: Staring at the screen won't make it do what you want to. I have a life, and it's not staring at pixels preying they go my way - there are much more important things in life is the point.

Jul 21, 2010 7:33am

Quoting halkins

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Quoting clockwork71

Disliked

Why not just put a position on and walk away? It's what I do, and it makes me money..... I need about 5 minutes of time a day, nothing more.

Ignored

5 mins a day! Wow… I’d wished I could do so. Will you tell us any trading secrets? I’ll be so happy spending an hour and make good money.

Ignored

You obviously don't get it. My trades aren't measured in minutes....they are measured in days and weeks.

If you think you can make a living off of micro-movements, your are going to be broke, and fast. Remember, a handle in Eur is less than a 1% move!

I look at charts, see if I need to adjust or put a trade on - and go on about my day. Simple. Easy. Profitable.

Jul 21, 2010 7:41am

Since I am taking a break from doing taxes.....gotta love these filings. I thought maybe I would put this question to everyone, since some people aren't catching the meaning.

Let's say you average $200 a day at your job. It's a steady, yet unexciting job that you are "content" with. It's not a great life, but it allows you to have one.

Now, pretend you are a trader that "averages" $200 a day. You sit at a computer 12 hours a day, and never really know if you are going to make money. Can't make it everyday after all. There ARE losses. So.....is today going to be worth $200? Or is it going to be one of those you will have to "make up" later? A little more stressful than showing up with a pulse at your state job.

Also, you will be introduced to a whole new level of taxation. So, it's not the same amount of money you made being slow, and not accomplishing anything while working for say....the State of Ohio. (Ok, it's my bias coming through. lol)

So, worrying about making a certain amount of money, sitting in front of a computer all day sweating it out.....oh and then there are days you LOSE money.....flies in the face of why we do this - FREEDOM.

Hell if that's freedom, I'd rather be that mind-numbed robot at say...the Ohio State University enrollment office.

Of course, if you trade higher time frames - you can do BOTH. And that's the magic. If you are trading with less than 250k, and trying to live off it - you are fighting a losing battle. (Of course, it's cheaper in places like Liberia....but you get the point I think.)

Sorry about all this Yohay.....didn't think it would turn into it's own thread. ANd as far as your article, you haven't met my wife! lol.....

Jul 21, 2010 7:43am

Quoting sloanman

Disliked

I cannot understand why some traders denigrate position trading. The winning percentages are higher, the setups are more reliable, indicators work better, you are not paying the spread over and over.

I have a ten year time horizon to retire from my day job. I trade only daily charts and get maybe three or four trades a week which I hold for days, weeks, sometimes months. I roll profits over and increase the size of my trades. In the meantime I work my day job and keep the money in the account.

Laugh at me if you want but it is a successful...

Ignored

You mean there are plenty of people that claim to do it successfully......brokers love this.

Jul 21, 2010 7:44am

Quoting DanyalDenyo

Disliked

My trades sometimes take months, my size is "decent" as well and sometimes I stay out of the market for weeks looking for a good opportunity. Even when I'm not in the market I keep up with what's happening in the market and it at least takes a few hours. 5 mins every day? Oh C'mon.

Quoting clockwork71

Disliked

Quoting BackTestDummy

Disliked

Just seen all your threads - you obviously spend a lot more time on forums than you do on your trading LOL.

Ignored

Because I trade a decent size, and I only trade when it matters. When you have trades that run weeks, and not minutes - it works out that way.

Scalpers get crushed. It's that simple.

Forex is only one of my businesses. I don't make a living trading - I cannot imagine a worse fate - constantly looking for set ups to eat.

Ignored

I can imagine a worst fate: Being an hypocrite to sell people your so called trading knowledge and constantly having to be a forum who**. I don't know which one is worse but I do know that if you could actually make money from trading you would actually be spending much less time than you are.

Ignored

Sadly, you have broken rule #1. And you have obviously been reading my thread.......served.

Jul 21, 2010 7:53am

I don't think many short-term traders criticize the swing traders, I think it is more like the other way round, always saying it can't be done - rather than excepting it is just they that can't do it.

Anyway, this post was about people TRADING FOR A LIVING - not about those that invest in the markets for the long term - that won't pay the bills, unless perhaps, you're highly capitalized.

I wasn't criticizing clockwork - it was genuine amazement that he could earn a wage from just 5 minutes per day - I now realize he doesn't and doesn't want to, so he should have perhaps made it clear that he was suggesting something that didn't relate directly to this post. I know 2 or 3 traders who work for banks, they do at least 12 hours a day - I just thought I was going to learn how I could give them something that would allow them 11 hours and 55 minutes off per day!

sitting_duck

Jul 21, 2010 7:14pm

Quoting Trout

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Once you realize that life is the priority and trading is the distracton you will be in a much better postion to improve your trading...

Ignored

It's great, Trout, you reveal something that was hidden from my newbie sight.

Jul 21, 2010 9:24pm

Quoting Trout

Disliked

Once you realize that life is the priority and trading is the distracton you will be in a much better postion to improve your trading...

Ignored

Well, they say if you're not very good at something, teach it - perhaps this was one of your pupils taught that his job is merely a distraction - 'Recent GBP volatility attributed to a trading error at a Dutch bank' - LOL.

Trout

Jul 23, 2010 6:01am — Edited

Backtest, I had no idea...I'm sorry one of your teachers did a number on ya' like that...hope you weren't too vulnerable...I know to never question a persons motives though so I wont' take offense...hope they didn't scar you too bad...

In some circles, it's actually honorable to move between profession and academia...

Jul 23, 2010 6:56am

Oh it's ok, it's a long time since I had a teacher of any description - and any scars have long since healed, thank you

I'm glad you feel honorable...and it's certainly easier than the hard right edge!

automated

Jul 27, 2010 8:07pm

Quoting Trout

Disliked

Once you realize that life is the priority and trading is the distracton you will be in a much better postion to improve your trading...

Ignored

I don't think it can be a good idea, but still want to have this as my goal

Jul 21, 2010 3:25am

....and be prepared for all your friends and extended family (and especially the ex-wife) to have the opinion that you don't REALLY work!

Jul 21, 2010 5:24am

Just seen all your threads - you obviously spend a lot more time on forums than you do on your trading LOL.

Jul 21, 2010 7:55am

Yes of course I read (1) of your threads, good luck to you.

Trout

Jul 21, 2010 1:38pm

Once you realize that life is the priority and trading is the distracton you will be in a much better postion to improve your trading...

Trout

Jul 21, 2010 5:16pm

Hi Waves, sure Buddy, I looked at it again and it might be better read "Once you realize life is the priority and trading is a distraction, you are a trader".

automated

Jul 21, 2010 6:25pm