I never said there was a guaranteed route.. I said "the more guaranteed route".. There is a difference And for the very good traders that's giving it away that's great.. But hardly anyone will become successful just by reading..
Brokerages and educational outfits are in the business of making money. The easiest to prey upon are the ones starting out. Most educational outfits come with very little value for what they charge, bar a couple. The only reason day trading seems like a myth is because most who tend to have "made" it are nowhere around to share their stories. The only stories you hear are of the struggles and so it goes to portray the image of day trading for a living being a "hocus pocus" field.
I find this difficult to believe. signs of success are everywhere in different businesses-- large homes, cars, guys writing books about it, etc-- where ( outside of flamboyant hedgies) does this exits in the "successful at home daytrading world" ? I defy you to show ONE EXAMPLE of a thriving at home day trader who did not start the game with substantial money, wife with big income, inside connections, etc--- a start from scratch to wealth story. It DOES NOT EXIST. Trading is something you do for fun, money and as a hobby after you make it in some other field --- surf
There are several examples that I know of and me mentioning Mr XYZ will make no difference to anyone. However, I will tell you a little about them. Below are real examples, bar the name. Trader X: Lived in NYC and worked for USPS. Wife was a stay at home mom. He juggled working overnight at USPS and getting a few hours sleep before he got onto the monitors. He blew his account up twice (2 x $25K) before he went ahead to make it. This was 14 years ago. He has evolved over time and today he works with major hedgies as a consultant for their algo systems and is in partnership with another two people (who started off as aspiring day traders as well) where he manages his own algos, as well as leases out some. I don't know how much he makes, but I know he clears over $500k per month (not year). Trader Y: Worked for a small e-commerce business as a package and delivery person. A car accident limited his ability to work. He trades straight equities and makes six figures now. He lost $12k and change in the learning process which started 7 years ago. He lost money for the first 3 years (progressively less each year) and started being profitable from the 4th year (making progressively more each year). Last year he made $102K for the year and this year he was at $144k in early November. I place his success on his ability to follow rules and instructions very efficiently. Trader Z: Worked as a Registered Nurse. She has no family (so no responsibilities) and had "played" with stocks for over 10 years. I don't really know what she makes, but she doesn't work anymore, drives a decent car and lives in a pretty nice area/home. I know she is also a position trader and owns 4 investment rentals. It's hard to gauge what her income is solely from her day trading, but she is trading everyday and is very aware about the happenings of lower time frame charts. I also have good reason to believe her based on the type of person she is. The common thing I have noticed in most successful traders is that they tend not to be very flashy (Mr X drives a 2013 Honda Accord!) and making truck loads of money isn't very important for them. They also tend to be on the more quite side and are very humble. They are silent about how they make their income and don't like telling everyone that they trade for a living. They are also very passionate about what they do. The eat, sleep and breathe trading. I respectfully disagree but acknowledge that you are fully entitled to your opinion.
I'm making money daytrading @home, though have some professional success in my day job previously. I noticed a lot fo sucessfull daytraders are borderline antisocial, which is quite contrary to the business world where you usually need a strong networking capability so these type of personalities don't usually go around telling everyone about their money printing machine. And theres this japanese daytrader that started from zero to a hundred million, i think is callsign was CIs or something.
Thank you. . I believe you completely--- however, other than the guy who went the hedgie route, these folks are making middle class income of any mid level manager with tremendously more risk--- in other words, its not going to last as the market morphs to take them out. The hedgie guy is the smart one of the bunch. nice going! I am still waiting to see any really successful start from scratch stay at home day traders without the things i mentioned earlier. surf
The stats show that if you make over $100K per year, you tend to be among the top 8%. Defining that as middle class is open to interpretation, but you can go on to say that if one is not a very materialistic person, it makes for a decent living. I would have to oppose this one from the perspective of anyone that is a consistent trader. Most traders that are consistent have one thing in common. Their risk management is top-notch and is the predominant factor in their strategy and success. Add on to this, the cutbacks from the greedy corporations (esp. to middle - top management) and I would have to say that a consistent trader fares way better. Why do you not think that it is going to last? There are traders out there that have been consistent for over 20+ years. The trading business within that period has changed drastically, esp due to technology. However, they have chosen to evolve and adapt and are doing as well as before, if not better. Take an example from Walmart and K-Mart and you can see what the resistance to evolving can do to the very biggest of giants. However, you are correct that there are some that will not last. If that is the case, then wouldn't it be prudent for them to invest in other areas, just in case the grass isn't greener on their side anymore? From the previous post, you can see that Trader Z is in the process of diversifying via Real Estate. If she has her investments paid up in time, it won't matter if her strategy fails later. She has an income stream and does not have to go and work for someone. Going back to the title of the thread: "Is day trading worth it?", just the fact that you don't have an employer or employees, makes up for the peace of mind it provides. There are very many other advantages.