Someone who thinks that daytrading is a 1-2 hour daily job and he probably expects to double/triple his account every year .
I can absolutely relates to that. I am fairly certain that unlike 99% of the people on this forum and who trade either successfully or unsuccessfully, my definition of success isn’t really about making tons of money. If it was, my wife and I would be keeping our high paying and low stress jobs, continue to climb the corporate ladder and probably pass the $1m /yr threshold within the next 5years. Success in trading to me means being connected to the market, use it as a way to stay sharp, stay up to date and educate myself about world events, politics and the economy. The money is only a bi-product of that. Also, trading off a $100k account will never make me rich. Let’s be honest... a 20% growth annually (which would be amazing) would really be immaterial in the context of my passive investment returns. Even if I was only breaking even over 10years of trading at my own pace, while I get to do what I love... I would find it amazing; that would be successful trading to me
That’s a v good point. Originally I liked the idea of being liquid at the end of everyday as a way to both limit the amount of stress at the end of the day and also enabling me to disconnect for a week or a month without really looking or worrying about any open position. However, thinking about it now, it doesn’t have to be. I can imagine my system and my R-model with intelligent stop to still give the flexibility I need. What is your view on day trading vs mid term trading? Keeping in my that 98% of my invested NW is already fairly passive / invested over the medium to long term (as previous posts detailed)
In your situation, definitely mid term. I would use options ... Selling premium most of the time and buying calls/puts at turning points. This doesn't require seatting in front of terminal for hours. However, you still get lots of satisfaction from playing the game and putting big scores on the board without putting overall NW in jeopardy. In fact, I will most likely do the same when I retire.
In a few hours, when I shut my trading computer, I'll stop thinking about trading until the next session begins. I'll enjoy the rest of my life, living 100% in each respective moment. I made money swing trading stocks before, but never enjoyed scanning my long stock list looking for setups. I didn't enjoy thinking about positions over the weekends. I didn't enjoy having positions in the back of my mind when I was doing non-market related activities... I didn't enjoy the pace of waiting several days or weeks to see the result of a trade. Basically, I made some money, but I didn't enjoy the process. I do enjoy the fact that day trading basically requires world-class discipline. When I get a long streak of days where I've abided all of my rules, not taken any impulsive trades, or had any meltdowns, I gain a quiet confidence which carries over into the rest of my life. Even if the monetary results from such a period are lackluster, I enjoy the process. Would I do it if there was no absolutely no money involved - No. But that's not the case, and I greatly enjoy the challenge of making money this way.
Never day trade don't even try, algo's will eat you. Focus on identifying momentum,trends,liquidity and market sentiment. Learn how to read charts, financial statements and review after hours when trading is done, that is when decisions should be made, never intraday really... Trading is more profitable then investing ( buying and holding ) and you constantly gotta shuffle your longs, buy options only, selling options is market makers game, not retail. Options will bring you wealth if you are good, bull market 80 stocks/ 20 options, bear or close to recession 80 option 20 cash. I advise getting Quote Stream as your data and analytic's software, pay 90-110 a month and you will be set.Generally when a momentum ( either up or down ) is going a certain way for a company, it stays the same unless other wise corrected through market sentiment, news or financial report. Technically you can keep your trades for up to a year, if you due diligence wisely it should range from a few weeks to months at a time for stocks and options close position to your discretion
I wonder how many people on this forum are successful traders in their imagination. Or people who have had a lucky run over the shorter term. My suspicion would be that longer term success is more likely to be achieved through running this website for a bunch of dreamers. Or am I too cynical.