used to trade equities, but with the power of bloomberg, plently of in and out house research as well as the basic technicals we all use. Know of ppl who left the city and still do it from home.
but without those sort of professional tools, i do feel at a massive disadvantange, but you can trade profitably without them, but they are a nice luxury to have.
one thing i will say about trading is you have to be f-ing dynamic. Strategies come and go like the wind and youve got to spot the market conditions quick enough not to make a big mistake. In markets like this i might throw in the towel on an idea v.quickly
like i was saying in another thread, correlations are fleeting in and out, and with news youve either got to spot it f-ing early otherwise your last in line. Got to be able to process relevant information and turn it into a trading strategy fast while controlling your entry and exit. You can plan ideas before the open but it rarely ever goes according to plan, thats where the skill comes in.
as for those guys with those sit and wait technical strategies, like a trade is just going to fall on your lap, your p&l will likely suck for 6 months of the year, whilst all the news/ information/analytics passing you by and not taking any notice. but i dont think anyone is stupid enough to think this is a long term way to trade
trading on pure technical rules will and can work from time to time but returns really depend on how the market is moving e.g. using MA crossovers in a range bound market is gonna wipe you out, so gotta b dynamic. .
sorry 4 waffle but from what ive seen, good traders use a combination of learning how the market reacts day to day and to specific announcements, and specific companies e.g. mining stocks combined with a healthy flow of trade ideas as well as basic technical indicators. To me there is no silver bullet in trading.
from what you were saying, yea it can be a f-ing pain in the ass on days when 99 out 100 of ftse are up in the morning and all are negative by the afternoon but youve gotta be ready for that headache. Good trading is not a part time job and nobody expects an equity trader in a bank to be a professor in macroeconomics but thats not to say you shouldnt keep mindful of the headline risks.
times like this stock fundamentals kind of go out the window, but either sit out on some days which inevitably will happen or look for something else, e.g. stay away from a pairs trade but could trade the sentiment on Europe through the uk banks, if youve got the nerve switch to headline announcements instead. and while this is still all going on youve gotta have the other eye on risk management too.
Ive never been on an FX, fixed income desk so i cant speak for those markets.
