Trading as a Business. Facts to Consider

Day trading Forex for a living. The allure of be able to make money from trading has intrigued us all at one time or another. The prestige, the gratification of having investments, owning stocks, buying options, commodities, the e-mini futures and lastly the foreign exchange all encompass the world of online trading. The idea or the vision created in the mind of having all that money. It is there, we all know it and we watch everyday as billions of dollars are made and lost. The process of trading is very simple: have money to invest, open an online brokerage account, choose an investment vehicle, make trades. If you are able to accomplish the above the next trick is to survive. Statistics don’t seem to change much from business to business so the success rate is small and the failure rate, as usual, is very high. Every time I heard that I didn’t want to listen. Honestly I just kept telling myself I would be different and that I could make it in the extremely stressful and competitive world of online trading. Well I didn’t listen to the all negative hype and chose to believe in myself and all that the market could offer.

To be successful as a trader you will need a plan. First and foremost is create a business plan. In the list above I mention “have money to invest”. Money in itself needs to have a plan or structure. This part of becoming a successful trader is most often over looked. A great number of people or I should say almost all traders immediately want to know what to do to get into a trade. Their focus is to understand market direction. And that understanding will alleviate the fear of not knowing (losing money) or will help secure the expectation of having lots of money (greed). Understanding market direction is a key element in successful trading but it needs to have a foundation to rest on. That foundation is a plan. Your trading skills are going to rely on your business plan. Your business plan will save you when your trading skills don’t go as planned. It will be your survival guide. How you develop your plan should be tailored to your needs and what type of trader you are. Put it on paper, list all scheduled time slots for items to be accomplished, research time or morning prep before you begin trading. Since markets are virtually 24/7 it’s hard to say pre-market anymore. Develop a budget: monthly data services, forum fees, software programs, and daily risk reward ratio, when to bank the day or call it quits at your max loss. Allocate money for research and educational material etc. Decide on a simple framework and then elaborate. You will also need to revise and revise again. Your business plan will need to change as you change and grow as a trader.

Once you have your plan in place you can begin to approach trading the market, what ever trading medium you choose. Forex has become the latest focal point of many money managers and financial institutions. You will need to choose a trading platform, a firm that handles all of your transactions. Learning to operate all the features and components of your trading site is an education in itself but with time all trading platforms can be mastered easily. My experience through forums and chat rooms is it’s a matter a personal preference, easy user interface and/or what you cut your teeth on. You have to start somewhere and if you are not happy with your trading platform it is easy enough to switch from one dealer to another.

This is a very brief outline and I mean very brief outline of understanding what it is to trade online for living. I will continue to post commentary for those who are interested in due time about entering and exiting trades. If you have questions or comments you can e-mail me at bbrad63@comcast.net but you will have to type it in manually
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