Initial Watchlist:
AET,AGU,ANR,AUY,AZN,CHD,CHDX,CRK,ENER,FSYS,GG,GSK,HK, HNT,IBN,IPI,JRCC,KGC,SID,SNY,SQM,TAM,TKC,UNH,WLT
Again no trades today. If we stay disciplined and it keeps us out of the market, then that can't be a bad thing. A couple of stocks which caught my interest were FSYS and TAM. However, FSYS 5th candle was wide with a large stop so I declined it as I wouldn't have bought many shares. TAM on 6th candle didn't trigger and then the 7th was stronger, so I pulled my order.
9 comments:
Thanks for posting watch list. I use it at night for my review. I hope to paper trade for one year, before I begin real-time trading. I will be following your blog very closely over the next year to track your daily postings. Hope you never stop posting. Also, curious to know at what point do you think you will gain the confidence to trade full time for a living. What would be the determining factor, should you choose to go full time?.
BTW: if I were to attain your skill level in a year's time, how much money do you think I will need to begin day trading?
What advise would you gave an aspiring trader before trading full time?
How long did it take you to acquire the skills you have? And what process did you employ to get there? Thanks Alex
Alex.
I wish you all the best in your trading. It's a good plan you have, so hope it goes well.
As to myself trading full time, I'll post something soon on that as a separate post. But I'll answer you're specific questions below.
How much money to start daytrading > I'm sure you know about the US pattern day trading rule of $25k. So I would say $30k at the very minimum. to start daytrading. And ideally more in reserve should you need it.
How long did it take me ?
I've tried daytrading for a number of years (around 3 or so). But not fulltime as I have always had my normal job. And I didn't touch the markets for roughly a year due to work committments. So I would say 2years > One year to find my feet, 6months paper trading, and 6 months live trading.
What process did I employ ?
Reading books, trading websites, some courses. More reading. Some training. Tried Live trading. More reading. Formulating a trading plan which brings together a strategy, money management and risk control. Then paper trading. Then live trading.
Hope this helps.
Alex, nice questions.
TR I did like to follow up with Some additional questions:
At this point in your trading are you satisfied with your performance level? In other words, if you were to loose your job, tomorrow, are you confident enough with your six months of live trading experience, to exclusively make a living day trading?
What areas are you currently working on to improve your performance?
What specific areas would you like to see improved?
Have you increased your risk per trade at gradual increments as your confidence increases? Do you plan to, if so, how soon, and by how much?
If you were in Alex shoes, how would you advise him to approach your blog and formulate a plan to internalize your system?
Thanks, Ralph
Ralph.
I will expand on all this in a separate post, but in the meantime:
If I was to lose my job tomorrow am i confident I would be able to make a living daytrading ?
Answer=No.
Now that may surprise you, but I will expand on this in a separate post later.
Areas working on > Discipline, Adding other strategies to one I currently use, Reducing time taken to go thru my watchlist.
Risk per trade > Increased after 3 months live trading. Next increase will be after 9 months of live trading. Each increase is 50%.
Advice for Alex > Don't copy me. Read my blog, read other blogs, read trading websites, books etc. And find a trading method which sits well with your Psyche which may well be certain elements taken from different sources.
Anon, study, read, study, read, study.
Paper trade if you can not come up with all the money but realize that in paper trading you will not face the fears you will when you trade live so your results may be misleading. Greed and fear are very common friends that accompany you when you are trading with real money.
Keep in mind that reading/studying is very important but nothing replaces good ol experience so try get involved as much as you can whether its live or paper trading.
I would even suggest that if you can scrap together something like 10K you could start "training" risking about $100 each trade (1%). Although you will only be limited to 3 trades a week you will learn a great deal that can not be learned paper trading. Also since you are limited to a max of 3 trades a week you will be focusing on only the highest probability setups.
This is actually what I do because I've only began learning how to trade less than 6 months ago hence my name PatternDayTrader. Fortunately for me though I have the luxury of being in a profession that allows me to be at my computer all day so I can actively follow the market. If you can not follow the market everyday it will obviously take you longer to learn.
Keeping a trading journal is also important. I've recently started to blog as my journal because its actually the easiest way. Maybe in the near future I will open it up to the public so beginners can get a good feel of all the problems that may arise when you first start to trade.
Remember trading is not a get rich scheme. It takes a lot of hard work.
Hope this helps and good luck!
TA good points about not trying to copy. Everyone must find their own style.
Curious, what percent of your equity do you risk per trade?
Cheers
TR, yes I was very surprised to learn that if you were to lose your job tomorrow you do not have the confidence to earn a living day trading your system full-time!
I understand your desire to post on this subject at a later date, but can you in a "nutshell" expand a bit on this "very unexpected" response.
With the trading results you are enjoying, I know many bloggers would give a right arm for just a partial of your success, including me.
So forgive my insistence, and please elaborate a bit more.
Thanks, Ralph
PDT: thanks for your response. Do you know of a trading software or company that offers you the opportunity to trade in real time but with a fictitious portfolio? I know some Forex blogs do, but not for stock trading.
I believe the only way to play basketball is to dribble the ball. In stock trading, the only way to dribble the ball is live trading. Why can't we be able to practice before loosing our shirt? In this day and age you did think it would be a no brainier.
Alex
Ralph keep in mind everyone's for a real amounincome is relative to where they live. I am sure if TA lives in say VA he could probably make a relatively good living. But if he happens to live in CA as I do I know the cost of living is a lot higher.
Anon, I know Interactive Brokers has a paper trading account but I am not sure if you need to open a real account first. I think the min deposit is 10K.
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