Yes, yes, yes. It does in many ways feel like a job - especially since you have to 'clock in' like an employee at specific hours for the best opportunities. So, I understand your decision. I do know some who seem to trade only the first 30/90 minutes of the day, so that's a compromise that could work for some.
I was trying out day trading as the third leg of a three legged stool in trading. Without it I only have a two legged stool. For the past six months, I have been studying volatility, i.e. risk, according to Wall Streets. If volatility is not exactly risk, there is a play there. A few ET members, the pros on ET, really understand that concept.
1. Position trades. Holding periods are months to years depending on my opinion on their fundamentals. 80% of my trading capitals are in ~ 10 positions I am holding. 2. Options, holding period are weeks to months. 20 % of my trading capitals are in cash or options at any time depending on maturity, timing etc. If day trading is the third leg, it will have a holding period of minutes, and I would have systems spanning minutes to years. Options outperformed positions which outperformed QQQ, my benchmark.
Would these be better named investments rather than trades? I know it's semantics but to me trading is speculating on asset pricing and investing is buying assets based on the fundamentals. An investor will hold an asset until the fundamentals change, a trader will hold a position until the price direction changes. Which begs the question on why the option allocation is so low.
Some people called it swing trade rather than position trade. Target/stock selection is based on fundamentals but getting in/out is more price action. As for allocation of options, with a win rate of ~30% I don't want to bet the farm.
Actually nothing fancy, simply just wait to buy low sell high, e.g. buying at 52 week low and once price target is reached, sell.
Thanks. It is luck. Luck because the past decade coincides with a raging bull market. Anyone betting with the market will do well. I wish money could buy more time.
If you have a "system" that produced the following outcome (paper trades), would you quit? I decided to give it up after 6/11/24 because it was a lot of work, felt like a day job and I couldn't figure out why it worked therefore it felt like gambling, playing roulette... Also, the returns wasn't better than trading options which doesn't require a lot of screen time and trading. However, l simply couldn't resist the urge and resumed paper trades in July. Maybe I am a gambler & won't admit it?