No, not at all. My reason for not doing it now is
that I have a full-time day job and can't possibly
justify the commitment to this level of trading.
I am seriously considering early retirement in about
a year and I am trying to prepare to ramp up to whatever
level of trading I might reach.
I have my own opinions about that, but at present I
trade at most a few times (this month a half dozen
round trips, or about 12 trades so far) including options.
Some months a trade a bit more than that; some months I
trade nothing.
But that's now. I'm coming off of many years as a buy-
and-hold investor, having been an active swing trader
(never a day trader) in the past. Distant past (I traded
options on RCA just after it was listed in the "second
twenty" on the CBOE, for example). Lost my butt, too.
So, no, the unavailability of options (which are supposed
to be available soon -- my God, shades of Datek!) isn't
a biggie for me right now, but yes, in the long run, I
like to hedge posistions and/or take positions in options.
Truth is, I'm feeling around in the dark trying to find
my proper level. I'm not ready to ante up 300 bucks a
month at this stage (can't possibly trade enough to
justify it). That MAY change in the next year, and it
might turn out that I'm just not suitable for it.
Probably at some point if nothing jells I will allocate
a few thousand to the experiment (enough to cover at
least a year of costs, I think) and just take a shot at
it. But I keep asking questions around to the effect
of "How can I ease into this?". I AM getting some
answers, little by little.
I'm sure you didn't want to know all this, but you got
it anyhow. <G> Sorry about that.
Regards,
Spots
PS. I talked to the MB traders representative (who called
in response to an email), and she was VERY helpful and
very much upfront about how MB might at present fit into
my plans. The upshot was, if I ante up the 300, I would
NOT be a second class citizen because I didn't trade
50 tickets. It would just cost me the fees, and they
would be glad to have me. When I emailed Cybertrader,
I got back an email full of marketing hype. In both
email inquiries I included what I was after and what
I was trying to find out. (Incidentally, I am willing
to commit 100k to it, though not initially till I test
it out, which I stated in my email.)
Right now, if I were to go with one, it would be
MB Trader. But since I'm not, I will wait and watch.
I may well decide I don't fit the model at all. |
