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Trading for a living ??

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Not applicable
Hi All I am fairly new to trading (bout 6 months part time now) and i would just like to get your opinions on day trading for a living.In my quest for financial freedom i find myself considering trading full time.Sure i have made profits here and there and boy also had my fair share of losses. So here goes... How much capital (minimum) is required if one is to take trading as a business and gradually make it big? Is the income (profits) consistant in terms of reaching daily targets?Can i live off my "profits"? Chartist, barry, john, which of you guys trade full time? My portfolio is currently in the region of 20k is this enough to make it or am i just kidding myself? I have most of the trading books out there Dr elder,Van tharpe even schwager Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !!
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11 REPLIES 11
john_1
Super Contributor
Keep saving, keep learning, keep building and if it happens let it happen naturally.
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Not applicable
Thanks john,would you recomend I continue trading stocks like gij, sbg & psv or should i start looking at more liquid stocks like gfi,mrf & imp?
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striker
Super Contributor
Boris - no expert myself, but the short answer - You're kidding yourself OMO.
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Not applicable
No you cannot trade for a living off 20K. Even Chartist admitted it was not posible to trade for a living and I strongly suspect he plays with more than 20K. I know he has more knowledge and experience than you. If it was that easy we would all be doing it and a lot of others. The reason that a few make it is because a lot loose it and all think they are the few, a dynamic most prevalent at the beginning.
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Mr_Bean
Frequent Contributor
Youre basically asking how long a piece of string is? If you want to make a living from day trading, you best not wear your shirt to work,cos you will lose it (a bit negative) R20k worth of investments would, depending on your required return, put too much pressure on you to perform, resulting in you forcing a trade that is not really there. ie lose your shirt. Listen to the elders.....build slowly on the side. Slow is good, and it does work.
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Wizard
Super Contributor
The amount is too low.the risk is too high..there is just no solution here.
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Galuc
Super Contributor
If you tenfold that amount it is still not enough to make a living!
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SimonPB
Valued Contributor
far to little money, more importantly if you are losing, why up scale the losses ? And a top tip, day trading is not a fun way to make money. rather lazy trading be the way.
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sk_1
Super Contributor
In one of my portfolios I am trading with aprox half a million which I had built up from about three hundred K over a couple of years. Last year I was up up to 680 k but recently lost about 150 K over the last 10 months and am back to 515 thousand.... I recon you need at least two million to make a living the non daytrade way. I tried daytrading and quickly lost some good money.
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Major
Regular Contributor
I tried daytrading a few years back and succeeded in loosing lots of hair, we well as money. Nowadays invest for the long term and enjoy lots of dividends and capital gains taxed at 10%. Way less stressful than day trading.
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schizo
Frequent Contributor
find a time frame that you are comfortable with.....long term doesnt suit all personalities....i found it much easier to follow my system using a shorter time frame...the longer the time frame the more i think the more changes i make to my system which eventually becomes detrimental
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