Advise for a 9-5 trader

[Edgar 1]

I'm currently working out a business plan for my trading, but I've hit a bit of a mental road block.  I currently work 9am-5pm on the east coast, and our daily operations meeting is at 9:30 (of course it is!!!).  I wanted to get some guidance on how to balance the 9-5 while trying to pursue a trading career.  Should I stick to Swing trades only?  What time frame should I focus on?  Anyway, I'm really excited about becoming a member and learning from all the traders here whom I respect greatly.  

Thank you,

 

[sawtooth500 33]

If you have to work a 9-5 and can't flex those hours, then either stick to swing trading or consider trading something other than equities, like maybe crypto, that trades 24/7. We have some swing traders here but I don't really know of any crypto traders in the BBT community, however note that the BBT community is heavily focused on day trading. The most important part of day trading, if you can only trade part of the day, is the open, the first 30-60 minutes of the market. Otherwise, if you can't sit in front of your computer to monitor your positions in real time, probably best for you to stick to swing trading. 

[Brendon 146]

@EdgarI had that very same problem, but my wife was able to work remote and we moved from the East Cost to the West Coast on one salary. Then I found work and now trade and work full time. Problem solved. However if I was living alone I would try to get employed in a different time zone to allow me to trade and work. It's not easy.  

[RTrader 20]

I tried to trade and work when I used to commute into an office on the west coast. It was really screwing up everything. You might be better off on the east coast as long as you can watch the market at work all day 🙂 Believe me missing the first 30 minutes will probably save you a lot of losses. The best lower risk setups normally come 30-60 minutes into the day or even in the last hour of the day. Ultimately get a remote job and work from home so you can do both.

[mhileman 21]

I live on the East Coast as well and work a full time job from 7-4 that is allowing me to work remote as of right now with all of the Coronavirus restrictions in place.  Since I'm working from home my work laptop is setup right beside my desktop that I use for trading so I am able to keep an eye on what is going on with the stocks that I watch as well as the BBT chat room.  I usually do an early morning trade around 9:30-10:30 before all of my meetings start.  I too had a meeting that started at 9 am everyday and fortunately they stopped having it because it was a waste of everyone's time.  Swing trading might work out better for you if you are unable to get at least an hour to day trade.  

[Edgar 1]

Thank you so much for all the feedback.  My days at work got reduced, so I'm going to try and make the best out of it while I can.  If I go back to full time, I will have to stick to swing trading for now.