Submitted February 28, 2003, 6:07 PM
During what years were you an active day trader?
How developed were your computer skills before you day traded? What software did you use to trade? Did day trading affect your use of computers for things other than personal finance?
I was an IT consultant. Basically, I am an expert regarding computer technologies.
I utilized charting software (Omnitrader and TC2000) and trading software (Cybertrader and RealTick). I currently use Omnitrader for end of day charting and CyberTrader for trading and intraday analysis.
Day trading inhibits my desire to use computer outside of trading. Basically, I prefer to shut off my computer or check email outside of trading.
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What was your employment status before, and during the time you day traded?
I learned about trading while I was employed at IBM. In 2001, IBM laid me off in a cold IT market with no chance of employment. IN 2001, companies were laying off 10's of thousands people every day. It seems that the layoffs have slowed but there is not enough hiring to abaorb the laid off workers.
After I was laid off, I began trading full time.
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Did you day trade at work, at home, or in a trading office? How many hours a day did you trade?
I daytraded at work occassionally. I now trade at home and in my personal office. The legnth of my trading day varies. I may trade from pre-market thru after-market or I may trade the first hour only or I may trade a little during the day. It all depends on market conditions, how I feel that day, and the trading prospects available to me.
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Where did you access information for your day trading? Online or offline? From chat groups, message boards, websites, or other sources?
I currently use Briefing.com as a key source of market information, not ncessarily for stock picks. I use Omnitrader to assess market condions - up, down, trending, flat, etc.
Generally, I trade QLGC on a daily basis. I follow QCOM, CREE, NVDA, and a few others throughout the day. Sometimes,they are tradeable.
I also utilize CyberTrader's intra-day mining capabilities to find trading prospects.
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What has been the result of your day trading? Were you financially successful? How has trading affected your professional and personal life? What are your thoughts about your experience?
In the beginning, I had mixed results. I would make a lot of money and lose a lot of money. The pressure of having to make money skewed my trading judgement and I put on a lot of bad trades. Or, I mis-managed the trades.
Now, I am very consistent with finding good trading picks and managing the trades. I do have my occassional losing trade.
When I hit a losing streak, I step back and reassess my tactics.
Based on my most recent trading, I am making good money but I am missing a lot of money. It seems that I am cutting my winners short since they move significantly higher after I sell.
The point is that I make money most of the time. The question becomes, how can I improve? So, I must look at missed opportunity as well as bad trades to determine better trading tactics for me.
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