More than likely, you feel you fall in to the large category of people who consider themselves part-time traders – or would do so if they were active in the markets. That can cover a lot of ground, though, so it makes sense to start with a definition.
For our purposes, a part-time trader is one who can, at most, spend a couple of hours a day developing trading strategies and putting them in to effect. That covers an awful lot of people It runs the full spectrum from those who can monitor the markets each day to those who only have a few hours a week, if that. Most of us fall in to that category.
There seems to be a stigma attached to part-time trading, though. All the notoriety goes to the day trader someone ready, willing, and able to spend long hours in front of the computer screen, with market information flowing before their eyes. We have certainly all heard the tales of those who quit their jobs to trade full-time. Even when that ends badly, there is still the idea that it was a venture of worth and should be admired.
What about the rest of us, though?
If you read much in the chat boards and trading forums, where there are regular...