I posted a message here last weekend and the response was a bit disappointing. Are you folks serious about trading are do you simply chat/post nonsense all day? The question of whether there is proof of successful day traders is a bit ludicrous. Of course there are. Internet day trading is an evolution of scalping in the pits and scalping in the pits has been occurring for many decades and has been done successfully by some scalpers for all of those decades. Sure, there are those who try and fail but there are those who make a good living and do it as a career for many years. If you have sufficient capital and preserve it during the hard times, then you can make a good living. If you are talking about swing trading where you trade each day but mix in some day trades with position trades (this is what I do), then the answer is again an emphatic yes. I've traded in a public forum for over three years now, have been profitable each year, have beat the average of the averages for three years and have minimized drawdowns. In my book that is successful. So again, I would say by my own account a swing/day trader can successful over time. There are countless other examples of swing and position traders who make a good living over time. I cited the Market Wizards in my last post and of course that drew ridicule as well. If all folks can do is ridicule on this forum then this will be my last post. If there are people out there who want a serious discussion then let's see something serious said and then we can actually do something constructive on this forum.
Some middle east investment firms with collusion with various middle east banks trade news. They gang up and take usd up or down for 100-150 pips. They use over billion dollars to day trade sometime. They tell each other when to enter and it is secret.
You don't need evidence. Out of every 10,000 coin flippers you should find 10 who get heads 10 times in a row.
Make money in the market? That's impossible. I trade so I can post to ppl I don't know on ET. Furthermore, I like sitting on my ass 70 hours a week to lose money in the markets. I enjoy these type of things. Life is great. ozzy
lol i trade just so i can sleep well at night, knowing some tosser somewhere on the other side of the world is living the life of luxury with all the money i have given him. i get that warm glow knowing i have given to someone less needy than myself. i woz gunna giv my cash to the starving children in africa, or help the palestinians buy a few more rockets for those horrible israelis, but i thought no. that rich market maker and those investment houses in their ivory towers need the money a lot more.
I know a securities industry person who has made money every trading day for the last 4 years. And he takes almost zero market risk. He's the guy who clears my trades. We all pay way too much in commissions. At the same time, we have much more blood, sweat and tears than the clearing people. Imagine a business where someone pays you to haul something away - and then someone else pays you to get it. You get paid on both sides. Some traders don't know that clearing firms are paid to bring volume to exchanges in both stocks and options. Then the clearing firms charge you. And don't forget the software charges. You gotta pay that. And the ticket charges. The seat fee is totally necessary. How can you not pay a seat fee? Are you trying to get away with something? Pay up. The only SURE WAY to make more money trading is to lower your commissions.
Don't even think of beginning to trade without getting 3 different commission rates for your business. You HIRE your clearing firm. Fire them if they don't perform.