What markets to trade if you work 9am - 5pm

8eni

I'm currently doing a course in trading and really enjoying, however Im beginning to wonder where my place in the market as a day trader lies, Im aware Europe trading is roughly 7am-11am and US takes over from 11am-4pm.

What are people who have jobs and are slowly moving into trading doing?

I'd imagine alot of people are in the same position as myself, any advice out there would be greatly appreciated.

Timmaay

Can't say I'd recommend trying to hold down a fulltime job, and be a day trader in the eveningtime also! Being a daytrader looks like a hard enough job as is. Instead I'd be looking at longer timeframes, and spend the evenings doing research into possible companies to invest in.

alantrader

I'd have to disagree with timaaay to a certain degree. Yes I do think he's right in a sense that maybe with the hours you work and if you were looking to trade then maybe long term investments might be the right option for you. I do think that there is time to trade outside of your average 9-5 working hours as there are plenty of markets open during these periods, quite a few markets are 24 hours. I think you need to look at the bigger picture, start small and see how good you are, trading isn't for everyone, in fact it's for less than most, try to build a portfolio which shows your profitable, if you can manage this then it may be something to take seriously, if your good and can get capital it may be an option to quit your job and go full time trading, then again this is quite a big risk which most aren't willing to take and those that aren't willing to take then shouldn't be in the game. Anyway keep me posted and let me know how you get on, where is your course?

Timmaay

alantrader wrote: »

I think you need to look at the bigger picture, start small and see how good you are, trading isn't for everyone, in fact it's for less than most, try to build a portfolio which shows your profitable,

Agreed with this, use the likes of a spreadbetting account, with the minimum stake (10/20cent) as an aid to get use of money management and dealing with the emotions of exit points etc! My reasoning behind avoiding day trading wasn't that I thought the evening is the wrong time, as you say, plenty of markets open then. Its just from a balance point of view, with the fulltime job also, from my small bit of both daytrading and longer term investing I find doing research alot less exhausting than sitting at the computer with the finger hovered over the sell button ha!

Hillmanhunter1

8eni wrote: »

I'm currently doing a course in trading and really enjoying, however Im beginning to wonder where my place in the market as a day trader lies, Im aware Europe trading is roughly 7am-11am and US takes over from 11am-4pm.

What are people who have jobs and are slowly moving into trading doing?

I'd imagine alot of people are in the same position as myself, any advice out there would be greatly appreciated.

It doesn't matter what time-zone you invest in. You are a retail investor without the skills, knowledge or experience to trade anything, no matter what the grifter who sold you a trading course says.

The appropriate investment horizon for you is at least five years, during which time the sun will rise and set many times on many lands - it doesn't matter where you invest, so long as you understand what you are buying, and you intend to hold on to it.

delux

I suppose outside of those hours you could trade the US markets and currencies. The transaction costs would be the real killer for day trading. With Interactive Brokers you can pay $1 for trading US shares so that's ok, but anywhere else you'd be paying too much to cover costs with what you make. It would be tight. Also remember the pattern day trader rule where you've 3 buy/sell trades or something in a week before you're looked out for 3 months - something like that, unless you've >$25K in your account.

I'm not an "expert" but i've been through all of this before so just passing on my experience.

Timmaay

delux wrote: »

I suppose outside of those hours you could trade the US markets and currencies.

FX is a very volatile market and not really beginner friendly at all, from my limited experience anyways!

arrowloopboy

Forget it,forget day trading,forget forex,you need to come up with a strategy that fits into your life,not the other way around.
If you start day trading forex or crude or anything else,just after doing a ''course'' while working a regular job ,you will get raped,simples.

Low Energy Eng

arrowloopboy wrote: »

Forget it,forget day trading,forget forex,you need to come up with a strategy that fits into your life,not the other way around.
If you start day trading forex or crude or anything else,just after doing a ''course'' while working a regular job ,you will get raped,simples.

What would you recommend to get started? Say with a spread betting company?

arrowloopboy

Low Energy Eng wrote: »

What would you recommend to get started? Say with a spread betting company?

Equities would be a good starting point,be it ISEQ or FTSE100/250 listed.
A subscription to Investors Chronicle or The Motley Fool would also be money very well spent,but they don't cover ISEQ listed companys ,mostly FTSE and FX/Commodities/Funds etc,I like the Chronicle a lot.

That's where I'd start,and hold off on depositing money anywhere until you've done some reading/research and formed some ideas on what kind of companys and/or Funds appeal to you and what kind of risk you'd like to expose yourself to.

Read/research/back test ,formulate an investment strategy ,in relation to what % of your account your going to invest/trade on any one idea,and how much of a stop loss/depreciation in share price youre willing to take before saying that's not working.

In my opinion 2% of your account is enough to be investing/trading on any one idea,that way you get lots of diversification(by default) and if you are wrong,its not going to cause you any long term psychological/monetary hurt.The psychological bit is very very important.

2% sounds low ,but if you can put 10k together,you've plenty to start investing/trading in a meaning full way (from a spread betting point of view),its not feasible buying shares with 10k and this model.

Arrow

Cute Hoor

8eni wrote: »

I'm currently doing a course in trading and really enjoying, however Im beginning to wonder where my place in the market as a day trader lies, Im aware Europe trading is roughly 7am-11am and US takes over from 11am-4pm.

What are people who have jobs and are slowly moving into trading doing?

I'd imagine alot of people are in the same position as myself, any advice out there would be greatly appreciated.

The ISEQ, LSE and Europe (mostly) open from 8:00 to 16:30 (Irish time)
US opens from 14:30 to 21:00 (Irish time)
The Aussie and Eastern markets open odd hours between 00:00 to 09:00, but I'm assuming that you will need some time to sleep as well.

beerbuddy

If you do want to try and trade forex i would suggest sticking to one currency pair for example euro/dollar but i think the advice given above not to trade during worktime is good advice. I currently use IonaFX.com which i find to be very professional.