When evaluating your trading results, is it proper to compare to a simple buy and hold?

If you do buy and hold for 20 years. You will find that at the end of 20 years, you should get a positive return.

Individual stocks too. Anyone who bought MSFT back in 2000 at the ATH of $60 a share should do quite well today.

 

I am actually trying to get back into day trading and I am not kidding. Have been paper trading for the past month making good paper profits.

Seems like easy money to me, all you have to do is buy low sell high or sell high buy low.

But I am afraid it will be like 2010 all over again. I day traded for a couple of years then. Made good paper profits but never made any real money.

 

I agree you should (key word here is should) get a positive return. The reason for that is that the S&P index kicks out the losers and adds the new winners. But every so often your liquid net worth gets cut in half as the market sells off. I didn't like that so I changed from being a long term investor to a speculator.

As for individual stocks it depends on which ones you own. Granted MSFT and AMZN have done really well, but what if your portfolio included Nortel, Research in Motion, World Com and Enron?

Buy and hold gives the market control over your investments. I prefer to have more control.

 

Looking back what was the difference between your demo trading and real time trading?

 

What are you daytrading? Futures, stocks?

 

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LOL\bad thing about buy + hold, they dont figure in bid ask/spread.
I'M planning[not a prediction] to switch Insure Co late AUG;
i tend to drive careful ,but get plenty [about 10X] state minimum for liability.
I skip the collision coverage even though Insure co prices it to make a profit so they really hate that LOL.
May average a bit more short term trades if AUG gets sideways clop chop; but i have to allow 1% for slippage on my exits, so seldom disapointed on that

 

Agree. since 2014-2015, I followed what @Handle123 told me: Dance options around my buy and hold. It worked. Reduced some of the stinks of a drawdown like 2020 & 2022.

 

Stocks, mostly around my buy and hold.

 

Mainly, psychological, and discipline, I think. Back in 2010 I really didn't know what I was doing and didn't keep good records.

I am older now, hopefully wiser? This time I will keep a good record.

 

The tech wreck 2000ish was my wake-up call. Changed from buy and hold to trader and managed to avoid every major down turn since then. Long only or cash.