I have been trading professionally ( meaning I have no other source of income or activity ) for the last 2 years and last year my account was up 34%. My setup can only be applied to options not daytrading and this is certainly not the place to get into complex details. I still have a lot of stuff to learn but so far I am doing much better than most daytraders. Daytrading is a loser game for the majority of retail traders. Watching the markets long enough does not mean that you will do well. It is not about working harder but smarter. The only reason to trade is to make money. The idea is to trade so that in your life you can buy and have the time do do the things you really like. That is not not staring at a screen all day long.
They think they are so smart shaving 100 milliseconds off execution times. That's not going to slow me down. I've talked to my doctor and he says I can get that 100 milliseconds back by shortening the nerve from my brain to my fingers by 2 feet. So, while we are having a long weekend, I'm going to have surgery to sew the fingers of my right hand to the side of my head. That will shorten the distance the nerve signal will have to travel to my fingers getting back those 100 milliseconds during order entry. Ha! They thought they could pull a fast one over on us. I suggest the rest of you do the same. Just have your doctor sew some of your fingers to the side of your head. Your trading will be profitable again in no time. :eek: :eek:
And I am sure there will be an increase in the number of server slots one can rent from the exchange at their server farm... as well as an increase in price. Those of you who are stuck with a T1 line need not apply.
Seeing how you have been trading for a whole two years you are definitely qualified to know whether guys can make money daytrading or not. I know plenty of daytraders that make a lot of money....I know plenty of longer term/swing traders who make a lot as well. Trading is trading. If you don't have certain things in place (risk, money mgmt, etc) it doesnt mean jackshit what your time frame is.
EPrado, It has been more than two years, maybe 4 but I started recording everything, performance, trades etc etc 2 years ago when I quit my job as a photographer and started trading full time. The fact that I can not daytrade or don't know good daytraders does not mean that it can not be done. Agree on everything you write except the time frame. Daytrading is the hardest way to make money.
Recent NYSE changes are not trader friendly 1. They are not publishing market maker trade statistics. Goldman Sachs is dominating the stats. (Goldman also runs private '"dark pools of liquidity" systems for big money customers. French President actually warned Obama about these "dark pools of liquidity" causing future problems like CDOs and derivatives did. 2. Longer term traders will be less affected, but shorter term traders like scaplers are taking more risk now. 3. System Traders will increase. 4. It will be interesting how the old short uptick rule will be implemented in this environment. 5 ms uptick?
". I still have a lot of stuff to learn but so far I am doing much better than most daytraders. Daytrading is a loser game for the majority of retail traders. " Not sure, but you seem to have a pretty negative stance on daytrading. I have never traded retail.....only for hedge funds/prop firms. The pressures are very similar. Whether you are a guy trading 200 shares in a retail account, or 50k shares for a hedge fund/big prop firm, if you don't have certain things down, you are toast. I never got the whole retail trading vs. prop/hedge fund trading. Trading is trading.
Usually hedge funds have an edge, with no edge one is a gambler. The majority of retail daytraders are gamblers and blow up. Ask around. If you can daytrade and make money all more power to you.
I dunno, its kind of late, and maybe since I only trade futs I may not have a full grasp of the situation, but it appears to me the only thing that has changed is how long it takes the NYSE to execute an order once it arrives at the exchange. That by itself has no impact upon whether your order gets filled. What does have an impact is the amount of latency between the time an order (buy or sell) reaches the exchange and is processed, and the time it takes for that change in the B/A to be displayed on your monitor. Other factors, of course, are how long it takes you or your BB to recognize an opportunity and to act upon it, and the latency between you sending an order and it being received by the exchange. Again, how fast the exchange processes these orders has no impact upon whether your order gets filled.
I know plenty of guys who trade their own money and do very well who don't hold overnight. For a guy who has been trading 4 years you sure do know a lot. Seeing how I have been trading for 17 years I don't think I need to "ask around".