Does anyone do any kind of trading?

[GroutyShouty]

I'm trying to build a decent pot of money so I can take a step back from work.

I wonder whether anyone on MN has dabbled in any kind of trading? If so, what? Where and how did you get started?

A friend made a decent wedge from crypto trading last year. I've always been a bit skeptical of crypto but she made a few thousand with (it seems) quite minimal effort.

For context, I already have stocks and shares through ISA and non-ISA tracker funds. I have premium bonds. I have pensions. I'm gradually building my pot but I could do with it moving a bit quicker.

Thanks so much for anyone willing to share their experiences.

Just don't do it. It won't work. If it did, everyone would be doing it!

I don't think someone is going to come on here and offer a straightforward and easy route to making money out of trading otherwise we would all be doing it and making loads of money. I'm very happy to be proved wrong though so 👀

Forget trading (gambling) and stick to investing

All you have to do is come up with a fantastic product that everybody really wants and no one has ever thought of before.

This is what I'm working on - I'm just struggling to come up with the fantastic product that everybody really wants and no one has ever thought of, at the moment.

OP I work in tech and my mate has lost £10s of thousands on crypto and NFTs. It's basically gambling. There was times when he was ahead but the market turns on a dime. You may aswell go to a casino, it's super volatile.

Nobody can give you any real advice, some people will have done well out of crypto some people will have lost their shirt. The people who have dome well out of crypto will try to recruit you because it is basically a pyramid scheme where you don't want to be the last twat holding the hot potato.

If you want to invest stick to the world tracker funds.

The stock market, and certain shares / sectors are cyclical, so as long as you have a plan and patience, you can do well. It's easier to make returns with less risk but only if your investment pot is greater than £50k (100k better). That way you can take less risks, and still make decent (15%+) returns annually.

This.

I have some crypto pots of money that are doing really well. Now is a good time to get into crypto because it is the start of a ‘bull’ market when things are predicted to go up a lot over the next 18 months or so. Have a look at Kraken app or Coinbase to start with and learn more about the basics on YouTube vids. There is a lot to learn and (I think) really interesting!

I sell covered calls on two of my stock positions. I don't sell especially risky ones, and it's a lot less risky than momentum-driven day trading. It adds some nice income to my portfolio.

Do not do it. Carry on with your investments and saving. As others have said this is absolutely gambling and I have a friend who has ruined their mental health through this.

I have to second this. Even experienced traders can lose their shirts if the market moves against them. I've lost money on some specific calls I've written when I had to buy them back to keep the option from being exercised. I still do it because, in the long run, I make much more than I lose, and my losses on any specific call I sell are limited.

I'm mostly a "buy and hold" investor. That's a good strategy for making money in the long run. For the vast majority of investors, index tracker funds from a company like Vanguard UK are the best option.

I'm an accountant. Over the years, I've had several clients who've gone into options/futures trading, NFTs, etc. Every single one has lost money, some have lost tens of thousands of pounds. Every single one "thought" it was risk free but they all got suckered in to the riskier areas. Please don't get involved, it's just not worth it. For every one person who makes money, there will be dozens who lose - after all, the money has to come from somewhere! When you have professionals working in the money markets who are betting both for and against different scenarios (i.e. hedging their bets), an amateur really doesn't stand a chance, other than blind luck occasionally.

Not every daytrader loses money but a high % do. Why? because they think one day they'll dabble in the markets without a scooby on how markets behave. Markets are dangerous waters for the naïve. You're in there with the big banks, algo programmers, global hedge funds and some very good retail traders and people think they can just waltz in there with no knowledge whatsoever and take money from the market - Its hilarious when you think about it - you wouldn't do this in any other profession.
Find your market, study an instrument to the nth degree, learn how it behaves and create a strategy based on your findings and more importantly, don't ever buy an online trading system no matter how tempting it may be.
No successful trader will ever share their edge btw...

Experienced traders do not lose their shirts - c'mon... ppl who think they're traders may well do. If you have a tried and tested system with good risk management you will be fine. Anyone who says daytrading is simply gambling is talking from no experience. I've come across many a good trader making 3, 4 or even 5 figures a day consistently...
In the world of trading, consistency is everything, but finding consistency is a tall order when you're up against the best minds in the world, but its certainly not impossible. You have to do your homework and that can take many years and to make it worse, nobody will tell you what that homework is....