Strategy for someone who works full time

Beginner Questions
1

What’s a good trading strategy to use for someone who works full time?

1 Like
2

You’d probably do good with a strategy working off the daily timeframe.

Have a read of this. It’s been an active discussion even though it started last year, about such a strategy you might find interesting.

You could trade lower, just depends on if you have the time…

Have a read, let us know how it goes.

1 Like
3

@mixm

Well you should probably stick to the daily timeframe thats for sure.

I have a full time job (first time in yrs) and its blessing to roll out of bed, analyze the markets for an hr and then go to work.

5 Likes
4

Treat your job as a blessing. It will mean you have far less time to over analyze and over trade.
One or two good trades a week can be more profitable than someone who is scalping all day.

4 Likes
5

True dat @TraderEvolved

In trading less really is more. But because we are all conditioned to work hard to make money, we think it applies to trading too.

Wrong!

To quote Livermore ‘it was always my sitting than made me the big money, not my thinking. Got that?’

Most the time we should be out of the market not in it.

4 Likes
6

Hi mixm :slight_smile: I would suggest, to trade a strategy on H4 rather than on the daily timeframe because there can be major changes in price direction caused by news/events which could ruin your whole analysis and in my opinion you can time it better to be out of the markets when you are trading on H4.

7

I agree, providing the 4hr chart set up is in line with the daily trend, or vice versa…

8

Can’t stand the four-hour chart myself - it is the neither here nor there time frame. If you are working you still have to check in to the market.

You still have to place orders, moved stops, look for setups etc

What is worse you are not being fair to your boss - because your mind is on the market, not your job.

8 hours are great if you can find a broker who does them.

Daily’s will always be the sweet spot IMO

However by all means listen to the well-meaning (but totally deluded) others (lol) - after all, difference of opinion is what makes a market

4 Likes
9

I totally agree @Johnscott31, when you cannot check the charts or it is not allowed, then 4H is not an option :slight_smile:

2 Likes
10

I think if we can work with market sentiment and flow, it will be much easier to make a profit and full-time trading will be possible.

11

I am working as well and yea like others said daily time frame worked better for me as well. But also I find out that automated trading made things a lot easier. At least I am able to spend my limited time on improving my strategies. So You can start trying out some automated trading. Do some backtest and papertrades on a daily time frame and see how it will go. There are some platforms on the web where you can create your strategies through automation without knowing any coding knowledge. While you are at work u can receive messages from your automated trading strategy when it opens or closes a position.

12

What if you don’t have the time during the day?

13

I think you can try the short-term investment strategy. I think I used it well and made a lot of money from it.

14

Do you have any details to share about this strategy?

15

If you open the trade, the work is not finished, there is more work. For example, when you open a trade, you have to manage that trade, you have to close the trade according to the risk ratio. When it comes to trading, if the market is volatile, it needs to be done manually. There is a lot of work like this during the day.

16

If you work full time, then you may not have much time to invest to look at the market. So, the best option is to choose a time frame during the day when you can watch out for the changes in the market and do all the trading during the time.

17

For working class heroes like us there are few options:

  • Good (and most popular) advice is to stick to daily/weekly charts and longer timeframe. Goal here is to sit for 15-30 minutes in the evening, screen through pairs/open trades, make decisions, shutdown
  • Second option is to build a robot. Still you need a valid strategy, but you are not limited by any timeframe nor session. It may require some cooperation / investment if you don’t have development skills at your belt
  • Generally good strategy for busy people is to pick one or few ETFs (or VERY strong stocks) and do the dollar cost averaging for few years. Not as spectacular as forex, but still viable investing method.
1 Like