....OR big losses. Day trading has always captured my attention as being more fun, but I cant day trade for legal reasons. The thought of buying 5000 shares of goog, and making thousands in just a single hour puts position trading to shame. But the grass is always greener..... To be honest non intraday trading is boring.. *click, buy*...well that was fun! now I'll sit on my ass for a week and hope my positions do something. I'd like to be more active in the markets.. cm
One can incur "big" losses day trading too, the only difference is that it happens in a shorter time frame and the day trader incurs extra commission and slippage costs in the long run. And boredom is probably the worst enemy of a trader, I have made so many stupid trades in the past due to boredom, seriously it took me quite a while to overcome that.
Spot on. The vast majority of traders do not possess the "edge" or the nimbleness to trade during the day. It is the promise/allure of making large percentages that creates the losing trader. The trader who trades less and overcomes the temptation as you put it, is generally the big winner. Less is more in trading.
When done right, this method feels goooood . I wonder what day traders are thinking when they sell xyz and it continues to make new highs. Looking at the long multi-month trend on VLO..i cant help but see dollar signs when I say to myself "If only I bought here, and sold here, I would have made x amount". ...on the downside, this is boring compared to the other trading styles, but probably the highest % chance for success. cm
Yes. The best extended gains come from trading less, not more. The daytrader gets nervous about giving back the days profits and doesn't look at the bigger picture, Thus, tomorrow they will need to look at the intraday charts again and try to find the perfect setup. Meanwhile the market continues it's gains etc. The truth of the matter is that while there are many many more opportunities on the intraday charts, most of those will be missed. The vast majority of retail traders are not nimble enough to take advantage of what's presented intraday. It's also very difficult to get a large reward to risk intraday. I see lots of folks using 1 to 1 and sometime less than 1 to 1 intraday. That's a recipe for failure. Then look at the position/swing trader--let me give you an example-- I am long ES from 1436. Current price 1514----I am long NQ from 1807.75. Current Price is around 1910 or so---I am long Canadian Dollar from .8636 Current Price .9045--I recently closed a long British Pound position at 2.0040 and I was long from 1.9387. There are other positions I am in like the Euro FX etc that are also giving great gains. Those kind of gains CANNOT be made intraday except with a load of contracts and very close stops which means more commissions and more opportuity for failure. Anyway, CashMoney, I hope that you are finding "boring" trading actually leads to a more "exciting "life.
Could you explain B1S2? most people average in when the price goes up. so you buy more when the price goes down and then and only then a new trend starts? why did you buy it in the first place if no trend was apparent at the time you bought it? just trying to understand thanks
I recently changed my stance on this. Even though it had been successful for me for a long time, my research of past trades indicated that I would have been more profitable (much more so), by just using my full position right at the beginning of the trade. This is because of the fact that there were times when markets exploded and I had not averaged in my full position yet. Now, I don't scale in or scale out. It's much better now and there is less work to do as well.
During the recent run up in Canadian dollar futures, the intraday chart gave sell signals nearly daily. This happens in every market that is trending. The poor daytrader then takes their profit and gets out or tries to go against the predominant trend and gives back. Meanwhile the effective, relaxed position/swing trader keeps their hands off and lets the market do it's magic. Less commissions, less stress, more income per commission/trade, more quality of life. Successful trading is usually boring. --Be bored!