A Day in The Life of a Trader

There are many different types of traders. From the person that does it in his spare time, to the independent trader who either works from home or a small office, to the institutional investor, who does it with thousands - if not millions - of dollars a day. They are also defined by the hours they keep and their trading styles. Because of that, there is no such thing as a typical day in the life of a trader. But to give you a little bit of an insight, we come to meet a man who's been an institutional investor and is now an independent trader. Meet Thomas Veillet, over 20 years in the markets and now has founded Investir Advisory, which focuses on equities. "In my case, I'm starting every day at 4 o' clock in the morning. In this market for me, in this job the more important stuff is to get the information. If you don't know what's happening everywhere, if you don't know the information, what's gonna move the market, you miss something. In my case, I mean, there are some days I don't even trade. So when I'm trading, when I'm going to the office for trading, first I trade only at the office, and only when I'm in front of the screens, because I don't think you can do that from anywhere else. I know there is a lot of applications and that you can trade from anywhere you want, but for me you have to be focused, concentrated and following really closely what's going on in the markets. If you are distracted, you cannot trade. So, as long as the market is open, basically it's watching. Every trader has his own way of watching the market. I do follow the future of what's going to happen in the US for the polling, I do follow what's going on the EUR/USD, and I'm following different kinds of stocks. My universe of stocks is very small if I really count how much I am following, but I know all these companies, I know their work, what they do, how they behave in the market, so it's more like a habit. I'm doing it for 20 years now and basically there is some picture that you can see on the market. Sometimes I'm looking at some charts, and I say 'OK, there is a configuration I like' So there are some configurations I like to trade, but sometimes it's better to sit and watch, and wait for something to happen, better than just buying-selling everything and trying to make some volume." Now that we know more about his trading style, when does he think the best time of the day to trade is? "So there is more opportunity when the US market is open, and for me it's one of the markets I'm following the most so it's more important when they are and it's more fun. The good time is between 2 and 5 pm in Europe, because both markets are open. Also sometimes is very funny to trade during the rest of the day in US when you are in Europe. The key for being a trader for me is that you have to have some rules. I always work with why I do go in a trade, when I want to go, what's my target, and I am trying to stay and to focus on that one. And with a stop loss. When you start a trade and you say 'OK, I'm going to make quick money because this stock is going to, let's say, 12 to 14 in a matter of minutes.' Then suddenly it's going to 11 and the next hour is to 10, and so 'OK, fine, it's a good company, I've got to keep it for years because I'm going to make money over the next 10 years." You can't have a short trade who's becoming a long trade. It's wrong, everything it's wrong. You have to get out. So you have to know why you get in a trade and you have to know where you want to get out, and you have to stick on it. You can't change your mind in the course of it, because it would mix everything and be wrong, from my point of view. The biggest mistake I've made is changing my mind, the second mistake is changed my mind because I've listened to someone else. They say: 'No, I won't, you shouldn't do that.' Then you start to change your mind and say: 'Maybe he's right...'. So if you put a trade on by yourself this is your decision." So Thomas' rules: know why you're getting into an asset, have a set target, a stop loss, a trading plan, and stick to it, and make your own decisions. But why does he trade? I've been in this market for 20 years and I've never been bored. And this is the most important point for me. In this job, you can't be bored. There is always something to do, to find, to look after, to look after for the day after and there is always the dream that one day you're going to make big money and you're going to be rich. There is this kind of phantasm. Basically, it's not just one thing, it's a lot of stuff, and it's fun. Basically if I had just to wrap up the story with one word is fun.