ok i'll bite. if you trade during the day and go home flat, what is the distinction you are hinting at.
I once told a guy that I was a commodity trader, then he proceded to tell me about his brother who was a genius. I told this other fellow the same thing, and he started talking about how he planned on going back to school to get his Masters' in physics. Then after that lunatic went on a killing rampage in Atlanta, everybody calls me a gambler...
'daytraders' were portrayed a certain way in the media, and in all those 'trade online to quick riches' books, etc. They were also strutting around in the late 90's, yapping into cell phones about how much money they made. I traded with paper charts and a telephone when I started out. (no, not stone tablets...)
"I am NOT a daytrader. I happen to be flat each day, but that's beside the point." OK chasinfla you've got me wondering how you can trade and go home flat end of day and not be called a daytrader. Darkhorse, I like the idea of just saying your a trader. If the conversation goes further and they then come to think you're crazy, at least it wouldn't be the first thing they think of you. ********************************************** "I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it."
there is another funny thread to this issue! http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1885 by the way - if you tell somebody you trade "futures" - what kind of answers do you get?
im a trader who gets flat. 'daytrader' has been defined (or mis-defined) as I mentioned above. I find that, other than being flat every day, I really don't fit most people's idea of what a 'daytrader' is or should be.
Hehehe...that's right. When I first started trading we didn't have personal computers. I did all my charts by hand from newspaper quotes. People didn't even use the word "daytrader". You were a "speculator".