Working full time and trading?

Life is a gamble at the end of the day. If you feel you have enough knowledge to go full time, then go for it. Trading for me is my second job however I have more flexibility. I am soon considering going fulltime with my own small fund.

It is like starting any business however I find in business the downside risk far outweighs the upside risk and everyday does not present the idea of profitability or income. In fact most business require constant investment with years to wait for any return.

Yet millions every year quit their jobs and start businesses with life savings. Just watch Dragons Den…

Good luck whatever you decide.

A personal broker is not really affordable because I am only a small trader.

Trading full time is an option which I am likely to take after a few years of successful trading and building up enough capital to trade in larger volumes. But at this moment in time I am trying to full understand forex and trying to figure out the best strategy and trading plan to use, so all is work in progress at the moment.

i still trade partime in this time. but i belive i will trade full time in next time. i hope all of you will get money from this market.

Living in a country of GMT+8, major market opens are at odd hours. I would say it is about the discipline. getting my ass out of bed at 4am to do my analysis for the day. putting in my orders between 5am to 12pm whilst juggling school. (in class, 1 hand jotting down notes, other hand holding my ipad every 5mins, i trade m5). sometimes i wish i was a fish. with my eyes on either sides of my face. so 1 eye can be locked on the blackboard while the other on my ipad

Do you know that MT4 has an app for android? I use it sometimes and it works quite well.

Best thing- Swing Trade. Go for the larger trends that last a few days, saves you time, make more money, avoid stress and worry of Day Trading in general.

I humbly believe more persons will earn more money/lose a lot less than they are now if they made this switch. Trends are a lot more stable, signals are more reliable and you have the time to carefully analyze, make a decision and calmly wait on the trades to hit their targets while you do other stuff.

This approach isnt as popular/promoted as day trading, but in the long-run, pays off.

Check out my thread in Swing Trader and if you are convinced, send me a message for more info.

I certainly can trade currencies while working a full-time job. You have several options:

  1. As mentioned in a previous post, trade longer-term time frames, but keep in mind the economic events that can affect your long-term positions.

  2. If MT4 doesn’t work on your laptop, then its because you don’t have admin privileges. In that case, you need to log into your home computer remotely by signing up for a service such as logmein.com. They charge $99/year.

  3. Make yourself available to trade the peak sessions (as mentioned in a previous post) even if it means getting up at 2am or 3am.

  4. All your choices are meaningless if you don’t stick to your trading rules and plan. This is why traders lose money, not because they are working full-time jobs.

Long-term positions and/or trading during market peak hours is generally the way to go, as others have already mentioned. The latter does require quite a bit of multitasking at odd hours of the day and it can be very exhausting, so it’s not for everyone. It depends on the individual to decide what’s best for them.

Another thing one can do is trade - or, indeed, deliberately stay away - when there are important events and news releases. The market becomes highly volatile when that happens, which some people find useful while others prefer to do nothing. It really depends on your style and what you’re comfortable with.

Excellent post, Victoria!

There really is no end to how flexible one
can be with Forex…

I always think of single parents running a
small business from home while integrating raising children, etc. It is indeed possible, but it is not for everyone… X

Hah, that is an interesting analogy. I agree with it. Trading and working full time is quite similiar to parenting and working - you need a lot of self-discipline to stay on top of things. It’s not easy, but if you’re well-organized, it’s doable.

You hit the nail on the head, Victoria:

being organised is all-important…

lol, you lot haven’t met my two rug rats. Trading is way easier than raising kids. At least I can turn the computer off when the markets are driving me nutz!

PS: read SimonTemplar’s comments on
trading as a stay-at-home dad:

http://forums.babypips.com/forextown/64809-why-we-need-more-good-female-traders-13.html

Will do, thanks for the link

Hahaha, true, unlike the computer kids don’t come with a turn off switch.

I love to rag on my kids but at the end of the day they are my inspiration. Its always hard to find time between work, family, trading or play. But when things are important you make the time. My kids are important and its one of the reasons I trade.

Great advice!!!

Reviving the thread…:slight_smile:

Thanks for reviving. :wink:

I, myself, also working full time and trading on the side. You could considered me as day trader/long term trader (depending on the trade). At first, I started out waiting until I get off work to start trading in the evening. Since I ran into similar problem that I did not have access to logging in during the day. I ended up using an android tab to download the app for my broker, and start trading during lunch break and when I come home I continue doing my trades.

Currently, I have a system to when I check on my all my trades. And I would makes trades during those times.

  1. When I get up before I leave the house, I would look into if I need to sell my current trades.
  2. After I get to work while I go get my morning coffee, I will check in to see how my trades are doing.
  3. During my lunch break, I would start watching the trades to see what I can buy and sell. I also do some of my research during this time.
  4. When I come home after I am done with everything I need to do. This is the time I spend most on research and trades.

It is manageable to work full time and still managed to do trading. :smiley: :smiley:

Working full time and also trading forex is like keeping two jobs and you may loose concentration in one even with a good time management plan. Unless in a situation where you wake up earlier to make your analysis, and trading on a different trade zone; for instance trading with the Asian time trading if you are in USA.