It doesn't matter what style of trading suits any one trader, so long as the trader is profitable and comfortable. Go there first or last, or not at all. What I can say from my experience is that when you find a style that fits vs fitting into a style you'll know it. Personal traits are different trader to trader. You gotta admit the last year or so has been a dream for buy-side position and swing players. Buy the dip, go on vacation. Pretty simple stuff. Unfortunately, I believe the simplicity has caused many of those players to stop learning. When it ends many will end with it. They haven't been exposed so they "couldn't" learn. Same might be said for different styles? CashMoney: limited market exposure isn't THE reason to daytrade. It is ONE benefit of daytrading well.
I hate to admit, in the past week or so, I've had better success day trading than swing trading. Maybe it's just luck, I dont know. I still trade a breakout strategy but I find it easier on 1/5 minute charts intraday. Too bad its just a demo.
The fact is --Stops are more easily placed on daily charts than they are on intraday charts. Intraday charts reveal support and resistance points that are so minor in nature that most of the time, they cannopt evem be considered
It was interesting to hear Jim Cramer this last weekend being interview by big Tim Russert. Cramer talked about early in his trading career at his hedge fund he traded stocks for small gains such as .15 .25 .30 cent. I "watched the blips on the screen and tried to extract small profits out of the market". Similar to an infantry soldier. Later on in his career he view the stock market again as a battlefield but "I looked at it as a general not trying to win small gains instead holding on longer and going for larger point gains". Saying "In any given year there are only a few great ideas out there why not hold-on to these stocks for multiple point gains". Such stocks as aapl, goog, cost where ones he mentioned. It seems a trader(who is good) would be able to make money daytrading and swing trading. Maybe its what style fits your personality the best.
The bigger gains are where the wealth is created. --Not in watching the blips and trying to get every turn.
Interestingly, in 47 pages not one person commented on the most important reason why swing/days,weeks is far superior to daytrading. What should be obvious to anybody who thinks clearly! Regards Johno
From a broader point of view - The mere fact that we are hear on this board, indicates that everyone of us is persuing a goal - a success in trading for profit. What are we trading? commodities, stocks, futures, whatever? Wrong - we are trading our resources for profit, and that includes human resources and monetary resources. By rough estimation, 95% or more of the ETers have more human resource than monetary resource - in the sense that they would probably earn more by working a regular office job than by trading full time. Conclusion - for the majority here, the path to success is to fully utilize our resources, by working a regular job, and position trading/investing. A decent college grad with a BA or MBA can reasonably strive for a $100k job within 5 years of graduation (with passionate work, and a bit of luck), plus maybe $20-50k income from his accumulated portfolio... The chance of achiving this would be better than 70% What can a full-time trader earn, after 5 years, with 70% certainty? net loss? zero? small gains? certainly not 120-150k.