Trade for a Living with ForexGen

So you Want To Trade for a Living

I always enjoy Brett’s books on trading psychology. While impressed by his ongoing sharing about this important subject, I emailed him recently to request an article for aspiring traders who want to trade for a living. This is not an easy feat, but it is not mission impossible. Trading the financial markets is basically trading your belief on the financial markets. It takes a disciplined mindset, proper money management and a good trading system to trade profitably. Most workshops teach you the technical skills, but rarely touch deeply on the subject of trading psychology. Therefore, I recommend you to read “Enhancing Trader Performance” by Brett N. Steenbarger to develope cutting edge of trading psychology. Below is an article he approved to publish at FX Operator:
I receive quite a few emails from aspiring full-time traders. Some hope to land positions with trading firms; others are looking to make a living by trading independently. Here are a few considerations for those thinking of making the leap:
Make sure you’re adequately capitalized - This is, in my experience, the achilles heel of most traders who aspire to make a career of their market participation. If you start with a capital base under $100,000, you have to make a huge annual return on your money year after year to sustain a decent living. That leads traders with small accounts to take outsized risks, and those risks are what eventually blow them up. As a relatively new trader, you’d do *very* well to make 20% on your money per year after costs. If you can’t make an adequate living from 20% returns, you know you’re undercapitalized read more….