Can't fathom why one trader would revel in another trader's demise Can't fathom why one person.., calling another person their friend - would revel in their friend's demise Sad..., pathetic..., or fucked up Yup RN
Had you considered (a) day traders become longer term traders and (b) day trading as we know it is relatively new?
With my trading it is true I think short term. It is true I see the market from a short term perspective. The "short term memory" thing is B.S. Why would I pretend to know what the market is going to do long term? Why would I care what the long term outlook is? I am looking to get 10 to 20 ticks off a short term move; how would a long term bias aid me?
We are not getting the whole story here. How much did he have in his account when he closed it? What was his lifestyle? If he made nothing trading he was only spending $62,500 a year to live. Not that much in today’s economy. You also failed to mention what might be helpful to other traders. Why did your friend not succeed? Did his edge fail, was he a gambler rather than a trader, or was he semi successful then went on tilt. Anecdotally I went from day trading to swing and position trading not because I couldn’t make any money but because I achieved about the same returns, and left my days free to pursue other activities. Did I mention less stress?
IMO the only time it pays to make more intraday trades than swing/position trades is when volatility and range rises such that there are legitimately more opportunities within a session. It's also important that the volatility is good volatility and not toxic volatility where price is volatile but irrational and untradable. If volatility is just ho-hum then your TIME is worth more. This is also why some day traders stick to specific parts of the session (like the open) and then go do something else for the rest of the day. As a real world example, take Crude back in Jan-Mar vs now. I'd rather be day trading the former and swing trading the latter. Also remember that every trade put on is an opportunity to lose money.
Once you get good at day trading you transition to swing-trading and position-trading as your stock or options continually behave. It's a craving for action and stupidity that blow's up peoples accounts. If your buddy survived eight years, as asked by others, how much did he spend on living expenses or taking care of his family. He lasted eight years is great, there's more that loose $250k less than a year than survive eight years off $500k Smart Traders transition back to Day or Overnight Trading once the Market becomes less visible like it's acting now. Short Sellers holding positions in Oil MLPs might consider changing up after having made a killing.