a few notes (Score 1)

I moved from software dev to options trading. I must say those fields you consider have nothing in common. For successful day trading, my guess is being a lucky monkey will do, so just go ahead and try to survive the longest possible. You should just know that some are better equipped and informed than you are. it's not just about monitoring a specific company, it's about integrating all the information and make strategic thinking about the relations of credit risk costs, interests rates level, forecasted profits, and capital market structures changes. Aka it's not information you can get by staring at your news desktop. So you have to look at where you can get a hedge, by your skills or preference, and try to leverage on those. You will always start low in this domain, getting a bette feel of what's important, but have the ability to move quick. So if you are a good statistician, the best fit is a large bank for some quantitative strategies. If you are more of a probabilist, you can do options and/or structuring. If you are more of a good organizer, go where your skills will help, for instance an exotic options desk. Most importantly, talk with many people. Everyone has a different vision of what finance is.