A Day in the Life of a Trader
Taking the long road
Taking the baby steps • It all started with pips ⎼ Sitting at my dads dining room table trading a demo account • Started taking steps to learn about what I needed to learn
⎼ Tracking down and talking to brokers ⎼ Going to events and meeting people ⎼ Asking a ton of questions ⎼ Taking opportunities to sit in trading rooms for the day
• With a huge amount of luck I got a job in a bank
⎼ First step into the world of finance ⎼ Started buying shares and Unit Trusts with my savings
• The first trades were disastrous • Work for knowledge, not for money
Taking the plunge • Had spent some time working as a sales guy, selling technical analysis courses ⎼ Was my way of doing rather expensive courses for free
⎼ Trading without a plan ⎼ Not predefining risk ⎼ Trading out of fear and greed • Lost all my money in a few short months
• Joined a day trading firm ⎼ False impression of how easy day trading was, was quickly shattered • I fell into every pitfall you can think of: ⎼ Overtrading ⎼ Trading too big ⎼ Revenge trading
• I learned some of the hardest and most important lessons of my life in that trading room
The hard truths • Don’t predict just follow • Anything can happen • The market is bigger than you • Don’t forget the big picture • Don’t lose discipline
• Emotions can take over • Learn when to sit on your hands
• Humility
Pressing on • Left the day trading firm poor and penniless
• Wrote regulatory examinations in order to get a job as a broker • Took a number of opportunities to work a brokerage firms and asset managers throughout South Africa ⎼ Worked in Durban for no pay ⎼ Worked in Cape Town for a niche asset manager ⎼ Worked in Johannesburg
• It’s been a seven year journey • At some point without even realising it my dream started coming true • Recently started my own brokerage firm
Things people ask me
What should I study? • There is no real degree that you can do in varsity that will prepare you for what trading entails
• If you want to become a stockbroker or trader at a FSP you will need to get a
recognised qualification
• You should probably do a few courses and do some self study ⎼ Just One Lap ⎼ Traders Corner ⎼ IG Bootcamp and Master Class
⎼ RPE’s – SAIFM ⎼ RE’s – Moonstone of any other FAIS examination body ⎼ An economics or finance degree would be helpful, but is not
• A trader trades, so if you want to be a trader, trade
required
How do I get into a firm?
• You need passion
• You need to come with a track record
of your own trades I’ve been told this a thousand times over and never really understood it
until reaching a trading desk became my only option
• Money must be your motivator
Now that I’m here
The daily routine
Mornings • Wake up and check the overnight session – offshore markets – while still in bed • Boot PC and get the coffee going • Have some breakfast
⎼ Been eating a lot of muesli and yogurt lately, with some fruit and nuts and honey ⎼ Good breakfast helps you focus the whole day ⎼ I’ve been eating breakfast at my desk a lot these days
• Take a shower and realise that I am already in my office
⎼ Hit the phone and Skype and Twitter and Whatsapp • Have a detailed look at what happened overnight ⎼ Look at charts and levels ⎼ Look for big stories that broke that I might have missed ⎼ Check SENS for stocks I am following or stocks in play • Upcoming news events for the day ⎼ www.investing.com
Pre-market open • @RANsquawk • Check Twitter to get a sense of the mood of the market
• @Storm_Trading • @JediEconomist
• Looking for general feeling of tweeters who are, to me, the best around
• @CalConfidence
• @Trader1137 • @Richards_Karin • #ALSI • #OOTT
Pre-market open and market open
• Go through charts on local stocks and indices ⎼ Check for levels ⎼ Developing setups ⎼ Track progress of open overnight trades
• Equity market opens ⎼ Are there any opportunities from stocks opening too high or too low ⎼ Usually dual listed’s or holding companies or sectoral plays
• Futures open • Get on the phone with clients and form a game plan for them for the day • Place order in the auction call period
• Look for opportunities and setups in stocks that are in play • Continuous trading till about 11:00 • Break for coffee and start thinking about lunch
The mid-day woosa • Time to eat again ⎼ Can’t eat things that will give you the slump • Get outside for a little while and let my mind go
⎼ Just need to think about other things for a while to keep my brain from turning into mashed potatoes
• Cycle through all the charts again to check for progress on open trades and see developments on stocks in play • Talk to other traders to see where they are and if anyone else is in the same trades I am • Scour the SENS feed for something that I may have missed during the morning session
The afternoon session • Back to continuous trading and monitoring of current open trades
• 14:30 is usually U.S. data time ⎼ Need to be sharp and ready to react if anything drastic happens or changes • 15:30 is U.S. open ⎼ Usually some volume that comes in as offshore participants start to trade
⎼ Can usually spot some trends that happen when the U.S. comes online ⎼ Watch for reversals • Energy is starting to run low ⎼ Coffee time • Mindful to stay in the zone for the last stretch ⎼ Highest volumes are traded in the first and last hour of the trading day, so a lot can happen • Closing auction is the last chance to get out of intraday trades
Post-close wrap up • Ensure all trades are logged • Take screenshots of matched trades • Run through trades and see where I went right or wrong and to spot trends in my own trading
⎼ Also to evaluate the success of various setups • Usually some radio stuff
• Have been trading the U.S. market more and more now that I am trading from home ⎼ Continuous trading mode for the U.S. futures market • Trading is less intense and usually in slightly slower timeframes ⎼ This allows me to do admin and check emails and get through the ‘work stuff’ I need to do • When ’work stuff’ is done make sure that stops and targets are in place and turn off
Time to relax • Make – or find – and eat dinner • Relax and unwind ⎼ Occupy mind with something else other than the market ⎼ Ideally it would be playing games or watching a movie ⎼ Cooking is pretty relaxing also so that helps a lot
• In all honesty, the trading platform is open pretty much all of the time, so I am keeping an eye on the market • Shower and then sleepy time ⎼ Zzz…
Favourite set-ups
Simple trend line breaks
Head and shoulders
Head and shoulders
Head and shoulders
Inverse head and shoulders
Ice-berg breaks
Ice-berg breaks
Reality check
Staying focused
• Avoid distractions ⎼ Trading time is not social time ⎼ Headphones in, music on • Take signals without hesitation • Manage risk ⎼ Know what you can lose ⎼ Don’t forget about exposure
• Don’t juggle too many balls • You must have downtime
The scary stuff
• This is not easy ⎼ Emotional stress and pressure • Being hard on yourself • The feeling of helplessness ⎼ Not following your own rules ⎼ The market is so much bigger than you are
• The risk is not always known • Whirlwind of increasingly bad trades
Managing the bad times
• This too shall pass
• Being wrong is ok
• Positive self-talk
• The outcome that you received from any given decision that you have made, or action that you have taken, is nothing more that a perfect reflection of where you are in your development and what you need to do in order to improve
⎼ Self belief
• Your system can save your sanity • Taking time off • Remembering that you are a person
⎼ Keep learning
Why do it all?
• It’s in you bones
• If you can master this art you can attain true freedom
• The perfect trade • The last frontier • This time it’s different
This is the only thing in the world in which your effort in your own self development and personal growth, on almost every level of your life, is rewarded financially.
Thank You
[email protected] // @TraderPetri
Disclaimer
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