The news of the day is the US election. It appears to be a cliffhanger, so my fondest wish is that it ends today because the worst thing I can imagine for the market regarding this election is that it drags on from recounts and legal challenges. Enough said. Now here is a question from a reader …
- I am considering a career in trading the stock market. I have been dreaming about trading for a living with my own money as a way to generate income for life. I would like you to get an informational interview for me with a stock trader who makes a living as a trader. Can you help me get some of my questions answered?
I have always recommended in this column that folks who want to enter the shark-infested waters of trading find a mentor. Find someone who can help them learn how to swim safely from point A to point B. Far too often I hear from readers who have jumped in without adequate preparation and their story is always the same – how do I stop losing money? My answer is always the same – stop trading.
My apologies to the above reader, but I cannot get you an interview with a trader. I can however, suggest that you a) find one on your own and b) in lieu of finding an actual interview simply tune in closely to TraderPlanet for a few months. If you do that, you will find more information than you can handle as a newbie, but if you take small bites, you can slowly catch on to what interests you. Once you do that, take bigger bites from that which you find interesting. A word of caution, don’t try to swallow it all, as you will run the risk of frying your brain.
The reality here is that many people have a dream of trading for a living. I suspect this is so because they see days filled with ease, ya know, picking a few trades here and there and then running off to the bank to deposit your winnings. They see a life where you can work or not work, play when you want to, lose the stress of going into work every day to a job you hate. They imagine there is “gold in them thar hills” and all they have to do is walk the creeks and rivers where they will simply pick it up and their fortune will be made.
No, I cannot get you an interview with a trader, but as someone who has been around this game for a while now, I can tell you the reality of trading or investing is less in the imagination and far more real. In my humble opinion, when one does trade to make a living, it is a job, number one. Number two, it is work and number three, if you are taking money to the bank, you earned it.
True, more than few traders have done well, well enough they can pick a few trades here and there, work or not work, and they play when they want to play. But they are far fewer in numbers than those who work their computers day in and day out, who track the news day in and day out, who search out data every day that will help them find the next opportunity, and then who work hard to devise a strategy to take advantage of that opportunity. More than likely my friend, this is the life you will find if you go down the road you are now envisioning.
Yet, the above is not to discourage you. I simply place the mirror or reality in front of you. Stare deep into the eyes that stare back and if in that moment you still feel the desire to go down the road you envision, then start scouring TraderPlanet. From there, well, who knows?
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
