Don't laugh... 1 year for trading, 2 for studying/reading books and stuff around here/the web/anywhere I can.
@BlueWaterSailor said it best, and this is a life lesson, not just a trading lesson... "..especially when you don't know enough to know what questions to ask..." Emiril BAM!
Depends on what you mean by "this". So far, time is spent as follows: - 2h every morning before I go to work, spent either programming the system, or reading or both - 1.5h of more reading while I commute to work (back and forth) - 1h-ish here and there looking at charts, but this is on and off during the day or at the end of the day and it's not consistent due to other life related things (wife dog whatever) - when I'm out with the dog I also squeeze a podcast focused on trading The feeling is that of barely managing/scratching the surface. Current goal is to try to fit trading and active learning from that with my day to day job (aka work as or alongside a strat/trader/whatever is "close to the action" - whatever that means) Thoughts appreciated
You're doing fine timewise if it doesn't burn you out or mess with job, wife, family, ... 22 hours a week not counting weekend is a lot. What product are you wanting to trade in the near term?
So far i can only freely touch UCITS ETFs and spot currencies. Anything different would require me to knock at the compliance dept door before I do anything. Single-name securities I can't touch even in my dreams..
Do you have a broker set up and funded? If not, start there. Are you interested in trading options? In the near term?
@JonLivingston this guy is from your neck of the woods http://optionsinvesting.co.uk/category/strategies/
I do (with IB). Started with 10k (GBP) and traded through. Current status: 9.2k lol - yes I do keep the trading journal but inconsistent. Trades last days/weeks. No day trading. Options, yes I could and I did in the past but I see having to request everything to compliance as a drag. It creates friction in me. It's really a few clicks but still. A limitation of mine I know.. I was actually thinking of selling covered calls for my current positions but again..need to knock at compliance to make the move. Friction. Thanks I had that website saved already haha
You nipped the IB losses nicely, good work. IB provides currency futures which are much simpler than options to trade. Would they require dispensation from the compliance dept too? Considering your trade hold-time, currency futures could be a way to get off the bench and into the game while leaving plenty of time to sharpen your options chops, which seems to be where you want to be. Do you have any setups tested out? You might consider 30 minutes a day testing out setups on currency futures charts.