True enough that for every buyer there is a seller. However, the seller isn't necessarily a loser if he bought 2 months ago, etc. And even if the seller is a short seller, if the shortseller isn't a weak hand, that short seller may buy back two months from now at a nice profit. Therefore, there doesn't have to be a loser for every winner.
You are assuming that it is impossible to switch between styles, contingent on a discretionary assessment of the trading environment and an identification of the style most amenable to that environment... I therefore disagree with you, since many of us are flexible enough to adapt, even on an intraday basis...
Candle, I didn't say it was impossible to switch styles day to day, in my experience it is just not a way to be CONSISTENTLY profitable. If you can honestly say that some days you are a scalper and some days you are a trend trader..... then you are the best trader I know. The best traders I know have a plan and then trade the plan when the set ups unfold. They don't have new plan everyday.
I do not claim to be the best, or the worst. I just trade for a living. During my day while waiting for signals....I search for set ups that can complement my current excursion. For example If I am position trading and need to be at the computer each half hour to check the position....then I could probably try scalping in between my signals. Michael B.
Well, I am not the best trader who I personally know! hehe... there are loads of traders out there who are perfectly capable of trading multiple strategies, depending on how they are assessing the market on a given day... its called flexibility... but to do what I do, you gotta be pretty much of a discretionary trader, since it is outside the comfort zone of a systems trader whose raison d'etre is to follow a specific system rigidly...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Daytrader-pete is right in the sense probably very few switch. However I dont see much difference in trend trading days,weeks and day trading moves on 30 minute candles, Both candletrades are in my plan. Trends may pay better in a bull market which we are in now ;must be nice to be a scalper when the market trends sideways. Scalping may pay more then. Tshin-01; Art Cash [cashin in] said something like being in cash now is like driving BACKWARD on a toll road!
======================================== With a name like Art Cashin [Cashin in ] I am sure Art Cashin is well read . Recently looked up cash in dictionary;included coins & checks.
The market is not a zero sum game. More shares are held long than short and over time the market rises creating more "winners' (i.e. more wealth).