Hello everyone,
I'd like to tell you a little bit about my situation and ask some advice. So here's my story. Around sophomore year when the housing bubble burst I began to take an interest in the economy. I guess that's when I first caught the bug. Since then I have made an effort to follow the markets every day and learn all I can. I've traded equities a bit and had some success but feel much more comfortable in forex. That being said I've never staked real money in this market. I started demo trading last year after doing the Baby Pips thing and learning all I could for a year or two before that. Trading at school is tough for me because of the spotty connection and firewall so I have to get my time in when I'm home for the summer, breaks, etc. In the mean time I study charts and read whatever I can about trading. For that reason it has been a bit difficult for me to gauge my success.
I know Vegas' 1 hour method doesn't get much respect around here but in my limited use of it (2 months) I've found it to be quite good when used with a few extra filters in a conservative approach. I keep a concise trade journal with reason for entry, emotional state, etc and try to revisit it often. Am I telling you all this to brag and feel good about myself? No, not really. I've read this forum enough to know that there are plenty of people who already claim big wins so my little success isn't going to impress anyone and it shouldn't. I'm telling you all this information you probably don't care about to give you a better picture of my personality and where I am in my trading journey.
This May I graduate from college. Obviously this is an important time in my life as I must begin to chase down my dreams for real or give up and move on. Ideally I would like to get a job in finance but at this time I don't see that happening. I have pushed myself for the last 4 years and I think my transcript reflects that however my resume is inadequate for the field. Strangely enough I spent the first 3 years of college doing pre med coursework and majoring in philosophy. Now I'm basically a college grad with a philosophy major, an honors thesis on healthcare policy, and no job prospects. I talked to a few finance firms and they basically laughed in my face. So much for going the conventional route...
So back to the forex thing. I seriously want to make a go of it in the next few years. I'm 21 now. I figure it's fair to give myself until 25 to let this absurd fantasy play out. So here's my plan. Until I graduate I'll keep on learning what I can and trading as much as possible. Graduation day I hit the ground running. I'll move back in with my family (...great) and basically act like a professional forex trader. I'll follow a strict daily routine and when I'm not trading read about trading. Despite what I said I do have a job lined up for next winter (ski patrol). I'm not sure how that will affect things but I'll most likely adopt a longer term strategy at that point. I will do this until I am confident in my profitability. At that point I break into the real money. I'm fortunate as I have about $30k available to me for my purposes. My plan is to ease my way in funding my account with a much smaller sum to get my feet wet. If I find success I'll slowly add more as I gain confidence. If I'm losing money I'll go back to the demo.
I probably come off as sounding totally idealistic and nuts, and I probably am. So here I'm looking for honest advice. I get the feeling people will want to come down on me pretty hard and that's ok. I don't really tell people about my dream anymore because they just tell me I'm an idiot. As far as I'm concerned it's extra motivation. They say you can't discourage someone who is meant to be a trader because nothing disuades a real trader. I don't know if that special title is meant to belong to me but I feel unstoppable. This is what I want and I'll do anything to get it. Thank you for your time and any help you're willing to give.
Ian
I'd like to tell you a little bit about my situation and ask some advice. So here's my story. Around sophomore year when the housing bubble burst I began to take an interest in the economy. I guess that's when I first caught the bug. Since then I have made an effort to follow the markets every day and learn all I can. I've traded equities a bit and had some success but feel much more comfortable in forex. That being said I've never staked real money in this market. I started demo trading last year after doing the Baby Pips thing and learning all I could for a year or two before that. Trading at school is tough for me because of the spotty connection and firewall so I have to get my time in when I'm home for the summer, breaks, etc. In the mean time I study charts and read whatever I can about trading. For that reason it has been a bit difficult for me to gauge my success.
I know Vegas' 1 hour method doesn't get much respect around here but in my limited use of it (2 months) I've found it to be quite good when used with a few extra filters in a conservative approach. I keep a concise trade journal with reason for entry, emotional state, etc and try to revisit it often. Am I telling you all this to brag and feel good about myself? No, not really. I've read this forum enough to know that there are plenty of people who already claim big wins so my little success isn't going to impress anyone and it shouldn't. I'm telling you all this information you probably don't care about to give you a better picture of my personality and where I am in my trading journey.
This May I graduate from college. Obviously this is an important time in my life as I must begin to chase down my dreams for real or give up and move on. Ideally I would like to get a job in finance but at this time I don't see that happening. I have pushed myself for the last 4 years and I think my transcript reflects that however my resume is inadequate for the field. Strangely enough I spent the first 3 years of college doing pre med coursework and majoring in philosophy. Now I'm basically a college grad with a philosophy major, an honors thesis on healthcare policy, and no job prospects. I talked to a few finance firms and they basically laughed in my face. So much for going the conventional route...
So back to the forex thing. I seriously want to make a go of it in the next few years. I'm 21 now. I figure it's fair to give myself until 25 to let this absurd fantasy play out. So here's my plan. Until I graduate I'll keep on learning what I can and trading as much as possible. Graduation day I hit the ground running. I'll move back in with my family (...great) and basically act like a professional forex trader. I'll follow a strict daily routine and when I'm not trading read about trading. Despite what I said I do have a job lined up for next winter (ski patrol). I'm not sure how that will affect things but I'll most likely adopt a longer term strategy at that point. I will do this until I am confident in my profitability. At that point I break into the real money. I'm fortunate as I have about $30k available to me for my purposes. My plan is to ease my way in funding my account with a much smaller sum to get my feet wet. If I find success I'll slowly add more as I gain confidence. If I'm losing money I'll go back to the demo.
I probably come off as sounding totally idealistic and nuts, and I probably am. So here I'm looking for honest advice. I get the feeling people will want to come down on me pretty hard and that's ok. I don't really tell people about my dream anymore because they just tell me I'm an idiot. As far as I'm concerned it's extra motivation. They say you can't discourage someone who is meant to be a trader because nothing disuades a real trader. I don't know if that special title is meant to belong to me but I feel unstoppable. This is what I want and I'll do anything to get it. Thank you for your time and any help you're willing to give.
Ian