Ryan Galiotto

Money Management & My Trading Secrets

Contrary to what some may believe, there is no “perfect amount” to start your trading capital with although the more you have, the easier it is because there are some fixed costs involved with trading.

Because most brokers charge a set fee, those starting out with a large fund will find the fee easier to pay. For those with a limited budget, brokerage is something you need to look at closely.

To make this a little clearer, let’s take an example where two traders wish to open a trade, using the same broker who charges a fee of $100 per trade. Trader number one has a fund of $1000 while trader number two has a fund of $10,000. In this case, the trader with $1000 will need to make a win of 10% just to break even while the trader with $10,000 only needs to make 1% in order to break even.

Of course you can still start trading if you only have a small float but you do need to realize that you’ll be at a slight disadvantage.

Furthermore, the type of stock trading system you choose will also be heavily influenced by the size of your float.

In my opinion, short term trading systems such as day-trading are far better suited to those with a slightly larger float. Those with a smaller float should rather consider a long term trading system because not only does such a system allow for you to continue with your regular job, but such a system also involves considerably less broker fees. As time goes on and you gain some experience, then by all means start experimenting with short term systems.

I know that many people start saving money before they actually start trading and of course there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead. On the other hand, there are those who max out their credit cards in order to start trading and for the most part, I certainly don’t advise this course of action. Sure, if you’ve got the necessary trading experience then yes, you can loan money from the bank, just as many others do in order to start a regular business. Remember though, the more money you invest, the bigger the results will be. Win and you win big, but if you loose, you’ll also loose big. The best advice I can give, would be that you start out slowly rather than risking your life savings only to loose everything.

Quitting your regular job for the sake of trading is really not advisable unless you have enough financial backing to support yourself for at least a couple of years. Likewise, it’s not advisable for you to accumulate debt for the sake of trading. If you do, you’ll spend most of your time worrying about repayments rather than having all your focus on proper trading. In fact, Don Miller also covers this in Trading Markets World Meets the Traders when he says the primary interest of new traders should be to trade properly, rather than aiming to make money.

Part-time trading is ideally the way to go for beginners because it won’t place excessive strain on your finances and apart from that, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing you still have a steady income while you’re learning the ropes.

Short and long-term trading systems:

Short-term system‚ For the most part these are 1 to 30 day trades. By their very nature, they require you to take part in more trades in order to enjoy multiple wins. However, short-term systems can be extremely taxing in terms of time and emotions and should only be attempted by those with the relevant experience.

Long-term systems involves trades of a month or longer, hence the need for fewer trades. While this means less wins, it also means you require less capital and it’s all round a better system for those who lack trading experience.

Essentially, the amount of money you have available will determine how much capital you start with. Of course, the tools you choose to use and the amount of risk you’re willing to take will also have an impact on how much capital you choose to start with. As I’ve mentioned earlier, there’s no “ideal amount” to but instead, decide how much you’re starting out with and then keep it aside as an individual business.

As a personal bit of advice, I would suggest you have at least $10,000 to start off with, and remember, your trading venture is just like any regular business so please treat it that way.