About 12 years ago I got my first online retail brokerage account. My knowledge was bleak, but I invested nonetheless. Around that time I found the prospect of playing penny stocks (OTC and Pink Sheets) fun and it could be quite lucrative. However, it was more like going to the casino than playing the stock market. I later became more interested in conventional long term investing, as focusing on my career did not allow me the luxury of the time needed to day trade or keep my eye on speculation grade stocks like those throughout the day. On top of that, I would later find there are much more lucrative ways to make money trading, especially if you’re willing to lose all your money on a whim through microcaps.

After amounting a sizable savings account from my work in the IT industry I realized I needed to make my money grow. The best way to do this was through serious investing. After making a nice return in some bull markets, I started to see the potential in day and swing trading as a supplement and an eventual replacement to the traditional job. After lots of studying and plain hands on market experience, it came together.

When it was all said and done I balance my income with short term investing and running an IT company. I don’t have a ton of risk capital or enormous safety net just yet to totally walk away from the IT industry, but if I had to live exclusively on trading, it could be done, though it is not the smart move. The key to everything is to manage your risk and make smart decisions. If you don’t do both, you will be a loser in more ways than one. My goal is not to retire to an island tomorrow, but to retire to an island while I still have good years in me. Even if you could net $2,000 every day of a five day trading week, that is still only around $250,000/year before taxes. You’ll need a bunch of good years like that if you goal is to retire really rich and live for many years after retiring with a moderately lavish lifestyle.

Although most would advise to do one thing and do it good, I am diversified in my approach to milking the markets. I invest long term with dollar cost averaging using many of the same principles for Rule 1 investing (Buffet, Graham, Town style). I swing trade a select few stocks based on automated trading strategies. I intraday trade many days on volatile (for scalps) or trending stocks. I also play the index futures (ES and YM e-mini contracts) intraday. I don’t do this all at the same time, and some days I am not even watching the market.

I will add more info in the future, but this should give you a little insight into what I do to decide if you think I am a crackpot or not. :)