I take it you are having us on, for no person in their right mind would do what you are doing! What makes you think you are good at daytrading, btw? How long have you been doing it and how long have you been making money every week? How much do you risk per trade, as in % and $ amount? What criteria do you use for selecting stocks? What are your target levels for long and short trades based on, your stop loss levels, and your expected hold times? How did you learn what you think you know so far? J_S
I would normally skip these kinds of questions, but because I have time to kill before I get off work and my heart is pounding just thinking about next week, I will respond hoping to get more feedback from others. Please see below: What makes you think you are good at daytrading, btw? - On every virtual trading competitions I've participated in at the marketwatch site (3; hahaha), I've gotten good results. My days in college I didn't have enough capital to daytrade, but I occasionally gave myself mini quizzes such as: "If I'm really good as I think I am, then I should be able to make 5% this week." And during that week I would skip everything else in life and just focus on trading only. So far, I've passed most tests I gave to myself. How long have you been doing it and how long have you been making money every week? - Real trading since 1st year of college (end of 2010). Have I been making money every week? Well, I used to keep track of my progress on a monthly basis. For example, most months I had $5000 account on margin with a target of $1000 a month, so needing about 10% returns a month. I was able to hit 10% most months, and this was with PDT restrictions. However, there comes a time when I miss a month or have a negative month, and well, I'm screwed from that point on because I was using the $1000 earnings to cover my rent, phone bills, any school expenses, social life, etc. So my base money of $5000 would slowly decrease until the next FAFSA (my school was quarterly schedule). Every 3 months I would take out maximum amount of loans possible to "QE" my brokerage account and bring it back up to around $5000. So short answer: Not really making money.. How much do you risk per trade, as in % and $ amount? I dont really care about the $ amount. I only look at the % and my game plan is exit when I'm down 1%; try to earn 2% a day. What criteria do you use for selecting stocks? Depends on how I'm feeling, but on a typical say I might go to stocktwits and see what others are talking about (top row of the site). I pull those charts up on google finance and just look. On a glance, I can tell if I can "read" this chart or if I can't. If it's a chart I can read, I analyst how it did past couple days and months. Also look at volume. I don't care the name of the stock, industry, or anything else about the stock (except earning dates b/c I don't trade on earnings). I can predict how it would move, say, for the next couple minutes. Over time I've gathered some of favorite tickers and if I have a good number of names, I just watch those daily. However, if the names on the list isn't getting much volatility, then I go on a search for new names I can watch. To put it simply, I would answer this as: predictable volatility, how it has been moving past couple days, and volume. What are your target levels for long and short trades based on, your stop loss levels, and your expected hold times? No long trades. Hate long trades. Target level defers and depends on the chart. My hold time can be 2 seconds to end of the day. I hate keeping open positions overnight. I try to keep my "maximum loss of 1%; try to get 2% a day" rule - it has worked out very well for me at least in virtual trading account. How did you learn what you think you know so far? I don't know much. Learn? More like it just came to me. When I didn't know a thing about trading stocks and was planning for a doctor job in healthcare, I was forced to participate in a virtual stock trading game in my econ class. I'm very competitive and hate losing, so I decided to develop a plan that I thought would work so I can get 1st place. I was able to get daily consistent returns and was 1st place by a long-shot. Was hooked to trading ever since. Over time, I read a lot of articles and from experiences trading live and blowing up accounts, (think) developed a mental numbness needed for trading.
Before I reply to your reply, what do you mean by... "I would normally skip these kinds of questions" and, why? J_S
These kinds of questions: questions I'm not interested in. Why: it might lead to more questions I'm not interested in.
Well, it looks like you have a very long way to go yet, and with that attitude you will not shorten your journey by much. The one word that stands out in your reply is "stocktwit"! J_S
LOL yea that was pretty mean, im sorry. I thought my response was pretty funny though. I just don't like answering questions that ask about myself because 1) its my personality. I don't like to reveal things about myself; 2) My responses might get judged and it might lead to arguments, which I try to steer clear of. Probably just overthinking on my part haha but that's what I do. I'm a super introvert. Still hope you will wish me luck! If I fail at this point in my life, next 5-10 years of my life will be a real drag..
I'll lend you 18000 with an APR of 18%. Forget trading stocks, I think I want to become a banker now.
wabu, u have to ask yourself what you want in life. If you want to be rich, start up a business, build it and sell it. You can swing trade on the side anyway. Day trading is imho something which you either have talent for or you don't. I would advise taking a month sabbatical from your job, day trade and see if you have the aptitude for it. The odds are you will not, nothing to be ashamed off, in fact you will have saved yourself a lot of time and money.
@wabu27 I don't see the borrowing as the problem (although the interest rate is too high) but the fact that you don't seem to have a very clear methodology. When I started, I knew I had something and when not trading it, it felt like throwing away money. Before that, I didn't even want to trade that much because my methods were very uncertain. You said "Wish me luck! I really do need it." and that sent alarm bells ringing for me. I'm not rooting for you to fail but I think you will.
There is no such thing as luck, and I am also sorry to say that Leprechauns do not really exist! Borrowing money to trade with is a fools game, so that makes you a fool, whether you like it or not. For 2 days this week, my max outlay was under $6K, max trade size was 300 shares, and realized profit was around $360, which roughly is bout 6% return. I think for 2.5 days profit is bout $500, with same outlay and max share size. Point is, you can still make money with under $10k in your account, all you need do is pick the right symbols and trade the right way. Listening to stories from people will do nothing but cause you to lose your money, so the quicker you grow up and take responsibility for your own actions, the sooner you will see some results. J_S