Most traders do in fact have stock investments, pension plans, and mutual funds. In fact, most of the individuals that I know that are day trading...it's as a short-term income regardless if they're using technical analysis or strictly the DOM. Simply, the problem is that you have is that you're making the assumption that if you're an investor...you can not day trade or if you're a day trader that you do not do any investing for your future. With that said, I'm sure you know that most endowment funds at universities hire top investment firms to manage their portfolio but they also have their own professional traders...institutional traders...salary jobs with the benefit of having access to the following investment vehicles: 401(k) Traditional IRA. Roth IRA. SEP IRA. Simple IRA and Simple 401(k) Solo 401(k) It's been a very long time since I've met a day trader that does nothing else except for someone that may be retired from a prior job. Thus, do not assume when you meet a day trader online or you meet someone using chart analysis (technical analysis)... it's someone that doesn't have something else that's much more important as a source of primary income. Look at this forum...the heaviest posting period is on the weekends and later in the evening. Those that post during the trading day most likely have another source of income that doesn't conflict with their trading hours or they're retired. Last of all, there's the issue of different time zones. Simply, it's not unusual for someone living in Europe with a full-time job to be trading the U.S. markets or vice versa. wrbtrader
Both fundamental and technical are great. Fundamentals tell you what to buy. Technicals tell you when to buy.
Very true! Fundamentals used to make the prices 30 years ago. It's more secure to follow the trend and it's easier to trade.
Technical Analysis is basically snake oil bs that social media, charlatan, sales personalities use to sell courses and content for ads. They sell dreams and riches to the basically naive, dumb, gullible, impressionable, sheep masses. Following a simple, past, line of when to buy and sell. Yea, sure....if it were that easy...there would be so many millionaires around High-Fiving each other and dancing around on the streets. All I see are angry, moody, strange, weird, depressed people in public. Trading does work, and it can make the right type of person very rich. But it's not as easy and simple as buying some bogus, TA, course.
Everything you said is also true for FA. But there is still some guys making money on either FA and TA..
This thread was formed on the basis of a false assumption: you cannot pick points on a chart to take a trade where the trader's equation (aka expectation formula), over a series of many trials, is in your favor.
The only thing that works consistently is trade management.... correct use of stops, position sizing, and re-entries. As I've said for years, "the Math is a lot more important than the chart patterns."
Fundamental analysis and investing is Easy. Just buy and hold all of the top handful of stocks everyone else is trading/investing in the for the really long haul. All of the obvious big names. None of those will go bankrupt; they will only grow in value. Trading, however, trading for true profit...is a much more complicated game that very, very, few seem to master. If someone can trade, predict, and manage themselves daily while watching the S&P...using options....they can get very rich quickly. Some people would be so happy to earn 10% in a year...try a day,