Can You Make it as a Retail Trader?

BellaGeneral Comments, Mike Bellafiore's (Bella's) Blogs16 Comments

I received this email from a reader of our blog. I thought we could discuss:

Hi, this is Ivan in NYC (Bulgarian immigrant), a regular reader of the blog. I’m a retail trader and a relative newbie.

 

Although I can not formulate particular trading strategy just by reading the blog I enjoy reading it and find it useful. I would like to ask you about your honest opinion and advice to the retail traders like me: what are the main disadvantages we have compared to the equity firm traders?

What honestly do you think are retail trader’s chances to be consistently profitable in swing and day trading?

Thank you for sharing.

Bella responds:

Trading is probably the most difficult thing you will attempt in your life. It is like trying to join an exclusive country club: they do not let everyone in, and they don’t let everyone stay. But more are capable of becoming a successful trader than you may think.

There is this outdated bias that you must work at a big bank, live in NYC, and have millions behind you to succeed. This is simply not true. Technology has opened the markets to the masses. Trading platforms, like LightSpeed, with direct access to the markets are available. Charting software is simple to find.  Blogs with exceptional education are prevalent, many like this blog for free. Now we have StockTwits TV, a tremendous educational trading resource. Training programs are offered for those looking for help to become a professional trader. With 30k you can open a retail account (you will also need capital to survive the learning curve). Now anyone with a passion for trading, the desire to pay the price necessary to succeed, and some capital can compete.

But these are some pretty big ifs. Are you truly willing to pay the price? Will you work on your game everyday? Or will you bail as soon as things get a little tougher than you expected? Will you ensure you receive the proper training? Or will you just read a few charting books and conclude that this all the training you need and then foolishly attack the markets?  Is your passion truly for trading? Or do you think trading would just be something cool to try? Do you have some capital to trade your own account and survive the learning curve? Or are you under-capitalized and just hoping that you will start making money on day one?

Technology has opened the markets to us all. Can you become a successful trader? I don’t know. But I do know that it is entirely up to you.

Best of luck with your trading!

You can be better tomorrow than you are today!

Mike Bellafiore

One Good Trade
The PlayBook

No relevant positions

16 Comments on “Can You Make it as a Retail Trader?”

  1. A good reply. I just started trading for living last October. What a time to begin. I had taken classes in June as I knew I would be laid off. I recommend everyone take some classes. Trading ain’t easy. Be prepared to lose as you learn to win. The biggest lesson I have learned is taking small losses. Perserve capital!! After 10 months, I feel confident in saying the journey has begun, but I will be learning every day of my life that I do this. I sign up for every free class I can and follow almost all of the recommended folks on stock twits. Thank you for all the free stuff you guys do!!:):)

  2. A good reply. I just started trading for living last October. What a time to begin. I had taken classes in June as I knew I would be laid off. I recommend everyone take some classes. Trading ain’t easy. Be prepared to lose as you learn to win. The biggest lesson I have learned is taking small losses. Perserve capital!! After 10 months, I feel confident in saying the journey has begun, but I will be learning every day of my life that I do this. I sign up for every free class I can and follow almost all of the recommended folks on stock twits. Thank you for all the free stuff you guys do!!:):)

  3. A good reply. I just started trading for living last October. What a time to begin. I had taken classes in June as I knew I would be laid off. I recommend everyone take some classes. Trading ain’t easy. Be prepared to lose as you learn to win. The biggest lesson I have learned is taking small losses. Perserve capital!! After 10 months, I feel confident in saying the journey has begun, but I will be learning every day of my life that I do this. I sign up for every free class I can and follow almost all of the recommended folks on stock twits. Thank you for all the free stuff you guys do!!:):)

  4. Thanks guys for all your great posts! I felt like I’ve learned more from your blog than from many other resources combined. I just had a quick question related to this post. Do you have any recommendations for a real time stock scanner/screener? I’ve heard of Whisper filters from Insight, as well as MadScan and TradeIdeas. Just wondering if you had one that worked best for you and was easy to make your own filters with. Thanks again for all the hard work!

  5. Thanks guys for all your great posts! I felt like I’ve learned more from your blog than from many other resources combined. I just had a quick question related to this post. Do you have any recommendations for a real time stock scanner/screener? I’ve heard of Whisper filters from Insight, as well as MadScan and TradeIdeas. Just wondering if you had one that worked best for you and was easy to make your own filters with. Thanks again for all the hard work!

  6. Thanks for this blog – I find Bella’s reply rather encouraging. I was afraid he would say that the odds are too heavily stacked against small outside players in this business even if they are skillful and dedicated enough.

    I read somewhere that only 2% of the short term speculators in the financial markets are consistently profitable.

  7. Thanks for this blog – I find Bella’s reply rather encouraging. I was afraid he would say that the odds are too heavily stacked against small outside players in this business even if they are skillful and dedicated enough.

    I read somewhere that only 2% of the short term speculators in the financial markets are consistently profitable.

  8. “Technology has opened the markets to us all.”
    ___

    Yup, that is it in a nutshell. Though some may argue that trading is not a level marketplace, the bumps that remain are small and infrequent enough to work around as you often emphasize in your posts regarding dark pools, etc.

  9. “Technology has opened the markets to us all.”
    ___

    Yup, that is it in a nutshell. Though some may argue that trading is not a level marketplace, the bumps that remain are small and infrequent enough to work around as you often emphasize in your posts regarding dark pools, etc.

  10. “Technology has opened the markets to us all.”
    ___

    Yup, that is it in a nutshell. Though some may argue that trading is not a level marketplace, the bumps that remain are small and infrequent enough to work around as you often emphasize in your posts regarding dark pools, etc.

  11. When I first started trading it cost $100 RT for futures and there was no reasonably priced data feed. $500 a month was needed to get data at home.
    Today it is so much easier to be
    successful. Now we just have to conquer ourselves and figure out a winning approach. Much better chance now than 30-40 years ago.

  12. When I first started trading it cost $100 RT for futures and there was no reasonably priced data feed. $500 a month was needed to get data at home.
    Today it is so much easier to be
    successful. Now we just have to conquer ourselves and figure out a winning approach. Much better chance now than 30-40 years ago.

  13. When I first started trading it cost $100 RT for futures and there was no reasonably priced data feed. $500 a month was needed to get data at home.
    Today it is so much easier to be
    successful. Now we just have to conquer ourselves and figure out a winning approach. Much better chance now than 30-40 years ago.

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