Dude,before attacking read the previous posts Thats why if you were to compare two equally great traders with the same $ amount, one a day trader, and one a position trader, the day trader would probably make more on average.
Psychological barriers are, in my view, the biggest impediment to successful trading... Yes the opportunity factor and potential returns may well be higher for outliers within the sphere of daytrading relative to position trading, but this would apply to a distinct minority... If more people gave position trading a go, I believe that there would be a greater number of profitable traders, since everything is done in slow motion and it's way easier to defeat the psychological demons...
Then how do you explain the larger drawdowns position traders must sit through to get to the higher profits? Nothing comes without relevant costs in opportunity lost, etc. Psychological, emotional and fear are in all time frames etc. it just depends how the trader deals with them. Funds say stay the course : What they really are saying is: Keep your head so you do not withdraw your money and take away our fees as we provide you with a less than inflation, taxed etc return a year as we get rich on your money. Daytrading must be better because the profits can be daily and the drawdowns can be kept to a minimum if a trader is fast etc. I always picture position traders waking up with a huge gap against them and saying to self: No problem, i am tough as nails and i have a professional as a fund manager. ....
i dont really think people get a choice in becoming a day trader or position trader, i think most people are forced into it because of the inital capital requirements Daytrade: small ddown, small gains, large comm. Overall the impact on equity is not that great so a small inital capital Position: Big ddown, Big gain, Small Comm. needs a big inital equity requirement Most position strategies would obliterate a small starting account of say 10-20k whereas a trader could survive for quite a while whilst day trading on a 10-20k acc.
Position traders do not sit through large drawdowns. They sit through acceptable drawdown periods. It all has to be related to total net worth. This is why most day traders choose daytrading. They are not capitalized well enough.
Also, would it be acceptable to sit through larger drawdowns in order to gain higher profits? --I think yes.