Dennis Campbell (“GatorDC”) gives great insight into the life of a trader who trades stocks and options while managing a full time job. Given the nature of trading, it is extremely hard to simply “become” a full time trader from the start, so having a full time job while trading is extremely common. We learn about what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and what strategies and systems “Gator” has put into place in order to help make his profits as consistent and efficient as possible.
If you are someone who has inspirations to being a full time trader, yet still has to deal with the “day job”, don’t miss this very informative (and of course, “realistic”) interview!
Notes:
Dennis got his first taste of the market in the 2008 recession, made 100% on his few trades and took a break for 5 years.
Even with early success trading, his main focus at the time was on his career.
Gator approached his trading as a business instead of a hobby and decided to get educated first before putting money on the line.
Throughout his full time trading he continued to invest in his education and that really helped him develop his own strategy.
With time and experience, Dennis was able to reduce his emotional response to gains or losses to almost zero because he had a plan and trusted his trading system.
Gator moved to trading options about 85% of the time based on the lower capital outlay required and the risk established up front.
Now having a full time job, Dennis went from worrying about using a mobile platform to being the most comfortable using it strictly.
Many traders with full time jobs utilize conditional orders and trailing stops to allow the platform to manage the trade for them if they need to step away for work.
Gator came to the realization that discipline is a huge part of trading and worked on that heavily right from the beginning.
Quotes:
“I realized I wasn’t educated and stayed away from the market because I knew the professionals would run me right over” tweet this quote
“I liked the idea of being emotionless and a fully technical trader. I just wanted to trade the chart.” tweet this quote
“I studied for a month before putting on a trade. I wanted to figure out what my trading style was.” tweet this quote
“I knew in the back of my mind that I needed to educate myself before I went into a business where there were other professional traders. tweet this quote
“My trading was mixed to start. I went through Robotic Trading 4 or 5 times to pound into my head what I needed to know. Once I was in the trade, I didn’t really have a plan.” tweet this quote
“If I see the candles making certain shapes and patterns, I need to know whether that’s good for the offense (bulls) or good for the defense (bears). In learning one side of the trade, you learn what the other side doesn’t want to see.” tweet this quote
“I realized emotions and psychology were a big part of trading. Looking at the psychology side of it, I tried my best to not get overly emotional about either gains or losses. It was hard to do.” tweet this quote
“Probably 75% of my trades that were really big losers were because I failed to follow my rules. At some point I had to put my foot down and say, “If I’m going to do dumb things, I need to be punished by putting myself in timeout.” tweet this quote
“I did not like having a lot of money out there on the table. I liked the lower capital outlay using options while still using my strategy.” tweet this quote
“Going long on a stock is like walking up the stairs of a slide and being short is like going down a slide, and that’s the fun part.” tweet this quote
“One of the stages you will go through as a trader includes buying the top and then it will go against you and you will sell the bottom.” tweet this quote
“At the end of the day when I put on a trade, I have a strategy and I have a plan. Whether that trade makes a profit or a loss, when I follow that plan, it is a successful trade.” tweet this quote
