I trade full-time now and have been doing since I was made redundant some years ago. I've been trading for the past eight years or so, on and off - working for stock broking firms means that your trading cannot be given the full concentration that it requires, as you have to get all 'personal account' deals signed off before you can trade - if the phones are busy then obviously you cannot trade (which is immensely frustrating; particularly when someone's trying to buy 2 BT shares and you're sitting there sobbing as your stock rockets on-screen - but you're there as a dealer for clients' benefit - not your own)! However this has obviously been of benefit indirectly to my trading style, as I've been able to witness myriad trading styles from all manner of different private investors.
Since "giving up work" in 1996 to do share trading full-time, I've never worked so hard in my life! Seriously though, I find it far more interesting and mentally stimulating than my job ever was, even though the latter was quite a decent job in publishing involving quite a bit of international travel and all the perks of paid employment.
Trouble is, being a paid employee means you are always having to answer to other people. The beauty of share trading is you can make your own mistakes without being reprimanded (other than by yourself, if you're wise), and if you get it right, there's no-one else trying to grab the credit off you.
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I admire those people who manage to trade successfully whilst being employed full-time. It's tough - I know, because I did it for 3 years. Admittedly in those days all my trading was done on the phone, which could be difficult; there were no online live share prices that I was aware of (15-minute delayed was the best I could get, and for the first two years of trading at work, I relied on Fidelity Brokerage's quote line, which I furtively rang a few times a day!), and setting automatic stop losses on your shares was unheard of. So I guess it must be easier these days in a few respects, but nonetheless there's nothing like being able to concentrate on your shares all day.
I think being a bit of a loner is helpful for being a successful trader, for the following reasons:
1. Yes, it is a bit isolated at times. Some people would, I think, find the loss of colleagues and office politics unbearable. Others would find it no sacrifice at all! Myself, I can live without it - I miss some elements of it, but am quite relieved not to have it as a compulsory feature of my life! There is an important difference between real friends and people you socialise with - for me, the former are far more important than the latter. Having email and the internet definitely relieves the isolation. For instance, whereas a few years ago, phoning an old colleague ‘out of the blue’ would have felt very awkward, sending them an email doesn't feel odd at all. I have re-established contact with a number of former colleagues this way recently.
2. IMO, being a ‘free spirit’ (as I prefer to describe it!) is an asset in trading. Knowing your own mind, and not being overly influenced by the beliefs and actions of others - whilst being receptive to new ideas at the same time - is, I believe, what distinguishes successful traders from mediocre or bad ones.
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I think that there is a wee bit of incomprehension, sometimes tainted by more than a touch of envy, amongst former work colleagues, when you tell them about full-time trading. I think they regard it as very different from the reality. On the one hand, they can't really believe that you could possibly make a living out of it, but if they then see how well you've done out of it (if you've moved to a much better house for instance), the envious ones seem to want to believe that you've inherited the money or something.
Certainly, once you've left work, you soon find out who amongst your former colleagues are real friends, and who are not.
Another point I guess is that I absolutely LOVE what I'm doing as a trader. It combines a fascinating ‘hobby’ with a way of making a living that is generally a lot more lucrative than work, minus all the office politics and general crap. It is something that I actually look forward to doing the next day. I wake up with eager anticipation each day. How many people working in an office can truly say the same?
So the ‘envy’ I touched upon earlier is not merely the financial rewards. It's also the things you mentioned - the freedom, the independence. But above all, it's doing something you really enjoy and really find interesting. I would still watch the markets even if it made me no money. How many people would really be interested in their job if they didn't get paid?
>> Page 2 - My Long Journey to Becoming a Shares Trader
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