What's your time frame and trading style?

Just a quick poll to get a sense of what style most traders on ET seem to prefer. Let me know if I left out a popular option (I don't know much about forex trading styles, for example).

I scalp myself, but would eventually like to branch out in a few years.

 

Yes, you left out OPTIONS.

 

Oh god, of course! Sorry.

Rewriting post.

 

Unfortunately I can't modify the poll. Won't be a representative data sampling then. Arg.

 

Thanks for the revision, ChaosNSX

 

Day trading and swing trading are not mutually exclusive. One can swing trade on an intraday basis. Swing trading refers to using technical analysis to forecast the next swing. Swing trading does not refer to how long one holds a trade, as the poll implies, but I understand your intent.

I swing trade futures using multiple timeframes (hourly/daily/weekly).

 

At the moment I am just starting out trading a mechanical system I developed for currencies. Holding period is about 20-30 days on average per trade.

I've not yet been able to overcome trading fees when developing intra-day systems - though I've found a few that would make loads of cash if I could trade for free

 

That is why Van K.Tharp said:-

"I seldom see a system that over a number of years produces profits that are much bigger than the transaction costs it generates - that is, if a system generates a million dollars in net profits, then it probably generates more than a million dollars in transaction costs."

and Bill Lipschutz said:-

"If most traders would learn to sit on their hands 50 per cent of the time, they would make a lot more money."

Trading Quotes

 

Oh sure, I agree with you that no flexible trader can be pigeonholed into just one holding period, and that these definitions aren't absolute. I scalp equities for the most part, though a majority of my profits come from catching 40+ cent intraday moves. It's just those profits come from tape reading and identifying larger buyers/sellers rather than just TA patterns or swing points, and that's typically a skill that comes from scalping.

I think the common definition of swing is that the holding period on tends to be longer than a few days, whereas in day trading you have to close out by the end of the day. But I agree that the same swing TA skills can be applied to hourly and weekly time frames.

 

I have been through most styles over the years...

I am currently a lazy, but profitable, swing and position trader (stocks)...