Do you think I can make a living from the stock market and quit my job?

Question

I started last august and been investing in the stock market off and on, i made 8000 usd paper profits early on before it crashed. I was down 6k for a while before heating up recently for 30k paper profit in like three weeks. I started with 35k in savings.

Until recently, I've been looking at lots of charts, and I have confidence in my pattern recognition ability. I also look at fundamentals which syncs with the the technicals. That's how I found the stock that made me the paper profits.

I don't really have the time to study the market in the recent month as much as i like because i always get the night shift at my low paying dead end job paying me 10/hour. I often get home at 2 or 3am. I can't really quit because my parents will kick me out the house even though i'm paying them rent right now.

I'm just afraid this is a fluke and I really don't have the skill to invest in stocks and this stock will crash and I will lose all my paper profit. And most importantly, I will lose my confidence and me depressed again.

Can someone who's making a good living investing the stock market tell me if I can make this my career. And should I just sell this stock (EFOI) now and take my profit? thanks.

Answer 1

Everyone makes money on the simulator. Every one. You're still playing video games.



Learn investing first. Become consistent with a plan.



You can test for probability and manage risk. What you are able to "do" is all that matters. Become consistent. Write a trade plan and test it on a simulator. That will give you the setup, trigger, stop, profit target, risk, and risk/reward ratio. If you don't have a plan or can't trade the plan, you got nothing.



http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/04/042104.asp

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20150831103157AAvnZgo



Edit:

You say "I'm just afraid this is a fluke and I really don't have the skill to invest in stocks and this stock will crash and I will lose all my paper profit. And most importantly, I will lose my confidence and me depressed again." Ditch the fear thing. This is business. You make a valid logical decision, put a limit on risk with a stop, and live with the outcome. Either it wins or it doesn't, but there's nothing more you can do than follow good investing/trading strategy. A scared trader is out. You have to be invested to make money. It probably is a "fluke" if you' don't have a trade plan, like fear of loss drives the markets. Inconsistent input gives inconsistent results. The only way to gain confidence is to become consistent and control risk.



But whoa, don't quit your job. It will take several years to learn "trading," if then, before you will even know if you're mediocre, another rut job that doesn't fit you any more than playing a violin. Concentrate on your strengths to earn money, learn investing on weekends and compound it over time.



When you have earned an extra $25,000 for trading, and have an another extra $25,000 to live off of for several months, and you have a tested trade plan that works on the simulator, then you might ask the question again whether to quit your day job. That's a minimum $50,000 to start "trading." Right now, you're putting the cart before the horse.



You can invest with a lot less.

Answer 2

You can't make a living off 35k in capital. In many places 35k a year barely covers rent, bills, car, taxes, etc. You would need a lot more in capital before you could live on the cash out return on your investments - and if you spent all the return you'd actually lose money slowly, since your capital will depreciated with inflation over time.



It sounds like the stocks you're speculating on are very unstable too. This is a great way to lose all your money permanently. The same forces that cause a 5x swing in profit can wipe out the stock to zero tomorrow. Watch out.

Answer 3

If you quit your job then you have the added expense of paying for living expenses. Say you need 2000/mo to live on. That would take a 6%/mo return to break even which isn't going to happen consistently unless you're a genius. And if you're a genius you should be able to make money without quitting your job.



You have most of the trading day open and a smartphone. Why do you need to quit your job?

Answer 4

There could be a lot of stress involved especially if there's a lot of turmoil in the markets which at this stage looks likely with China and interest rates. You will need balls of steel but who's to say you won't succeed. I would keep an eye on the markets for the next 12 months.

Answer 5

Go get a job. Learn a skill, make a living. Take 20k and buy a house, invest some and swing trade with only 10k. Trade only as a means to supplement your income not to be your income. That way there is no pressure and your judgment will not be clouded. Btw, paper profits don't pay bills! Sorry, but I am against what your trying to do (probability of long term success is not favorable). You can still make good money as swing trader or with longer time frames. Checkout:http://www.swing-trade-stocks.com/ Good luck

Answer 6

don't quit. sell your stock (today it might be a problem since the market was down over 400 points) and save up some cash for a downpayment.

focus on getting a better job.

Answer 7

It is a risky idea Slowly enter in the market trading, learn the techniques and if you are confident you may leave your job and concentrate in the Stock Market.

Answer 8

Hello



I would keep doing your current job so you are certain of money coming in. And the Stock market on the side



Andy C

Answer 9

MANY people (in fact it's safe to actually say "most") make money by investing.....but the ONLY people who can consistently earn money from trading stocks are the BROKERS who would be buying & selling your stocks on your orders...



About 95% of "traders" lose money.... http://vantagepointtrading.com/archives/7665





EFOI is up about 300% over the last 12 months....if you have HELD it during that impressive climb, sell it now to lock in your gain (lucky you!)

Answer 10

You're right. You can't. If you don't like your dead-end job, then come up with a more realistic plan to change your life - like education or vocational training.

Answer 11

Paper trading is nothing like trading real money. You will act very differently when you have real money on the line. Start trading real money, in very small amounts, while you work. See how it works, and gradually increase your size if you are successful.

Answer 12

No, I dont think you can.