SW,
It's GOOD advice, and anyone thinking of doing this should take it very seriously. I've learned first hand how easy it is to lose capital trying to play the game without adequate tools. Enough so that I stopped playing the game for a while until I learned how to obtain and use the tools properly, but fortunately not so much that I'm finished. I'm developing the discipline you speak of, and testing some of my own strategies for identifying appropriate stocks to ride for profits.
I'm now in the paper trading phase with All-Tech using their workstation for real time quotes, graphs, level 2, instantaneous executions, etc. Every day I learn some new way to use features of the system to my advantage. I will go live in a week or two with limited numbers of shares to get used to interfacing with the system for real, instead of the simulation used for paper trading. Then I'll work my way up to full lots.
I'm also shopping for a computer, and I have done some lurking over at the DREAM MACHINE thread. I'm thinking along the lines of two computers at the moment. One for the trading station with a dedicated link to the trading house, and another for internet access for delayed information I might want to check. It is a bit pricey, but nothing compared to what you can lose by trying to save a few bucks on equipment.
I won't for a minute discount the value of experience, and I have placed myself under the tutelage of some very experienced traders. Many of them will honestly tell you that the low fruit has already been picked in this orchard, and the game is getting tougher. The days of picking any liquid stock and using SOES to scalp a few teenies many times a day may be getting short, but there are still plenty of stocks that make substantial moves everyday. The right blend of analysis and cutting edge access to the market still holds a lot of opportunity.
Dan |
