Most (99%+) daytraders lose money. Those who don't lose money are barely breaking even. Nobody has EVER made a killing from daytrading.
I would not claim "nobody" and your 99+ figure sounds exaggerated but it is surely >90%. Day trading falls somewhat in between high frequency trading (which requires high upfront cost, good strategies, good programmers), and position trading. I guess day trading is the most attractive choice to some novice wannabe because it sounds exciting, it is highly hyped by those who actually do make the money on the other side of day traders (system vendors, data services, brokers, snake oil sales men). I claim there are some few big winners in each category but day trading is probably the most difficult to statistically come out ahead simply because most moves in an intra day time frame are close to random while trend and reversal strategies more likely play out over a longer time frame. Of course can can short term trends or reversals be observed and traded in an intra day time frame, however, when I speak of random moves I meant that such trends/reversals are close to unpredictable and therefore it comes close to chance whether a chosen strategy intra-day pans out or not. But hey, who cares, for above mentioned reasons there are enough cowboys who would claim they all belong to the winning group of traders. Truth is that most of the money goes into the pockets of the longer term players and brokers.
You're a moron. Go back with the other 99%'ers. Now that Surf is gone you get my vote for dumbest guy on the site. That's saying a lot considering that Stock_Trad3r is still around.
People laugh because they're insecure, jelious, and perhaps angry that you're living a life they can only wish they had. I have people in my family that laugh when I proove them wrong because its there way of saying "Ya, whatever buddy!", but of course they wont say it too your face. Just people being stupid assholes man, ignore them. cm
Nobody that has made a killing has personally looked you up, forced you to read their statements and showed you how to do it... What are you doing on a site that is owned by guys that made $100 million trading and teach opening range breakout?
I guess most people have the general consensus that the majority of 'daytraders' are unsuccessful. I get the same response when I say 'daytrader'. Although now that I've added options to the mix I prefer the term 'derivatives and/or equities trader', it sounds a bit more prestigious and draws a much better response btw, nice nickname.
Wow. This seems a very selective trading. Especially for a professional "day trader". Pre-holiday, don't trade. Fed announcement, don't trade. Low volume, don't trade. "Random", don't trade. Tight-range, don't trade. No breakout, don't trade. etc. etc. etc. Imagine Pete Sampras standing in the middle of a tennis court and not moving an inch. The tennis ball is too far to the left, I don't return it. The ball is too far to the right, I don't return it. Too far up the net, I don't return it. Too high above me, I don't return it. The ball is too fast, I don't return it. ..... After all, I am a professional tennis player.
Its all in the words and how you spin them. You know right off the bat that if you said daytrader then all these negative thoughts will rise. It makes you look like a gambler where one bad trade will send you to the poorhouse. If you were a guy named John who had a daughter and some guy walked through the door and said "I sit in my bedroom all day staring at a monitor using Interactive Brokers, stare at charts, watch TV and surf the net." what would you think? The answer to what to say is to spin the truth in such a way that it can be embraced and welcomed. Here is how you spin the truth: "I have my own business where I work from home. Its a family enterprise managing money through selective short-term investment vehicles." I would avoid words such as "hedge fund" or "fund" as that is not really the truth and then more questions will arise placing you in an uncomfortable situation requiring more explanation. If more explanation is required because of further questions then I would outline how the business is growing and revenue was enhanced by such and such. Lets say you made 75k last year and are set to make 100k this year. You dont want to disclose exact numbers or figures. What you want to do is point out your gross revenue rose by 33% year over year and that you are set for your best year yet. If they ask how, then you talk about different strategies developed through years of experimentation...etc etc. If you mention certain words like "trader", then automatically flags rise in people's heads. More explanation will be required. I would avoid such words that will raise flags and just stick to the fact that you are operating a growing business which you have started out of your home and has grown by such and such year over year. When the words are spun right, then you come out looking like a pioneer or a hero who has successfully rejected corporate america and is now making it on their own versus the daytrader who was somehow involved in manipulating and crashing their 401k account. When you address someone, always imagine yourselves in their shoes. This guy you dont know approaches you and says they are a trader for their own fund...flag goes up and instantly you have questions. Saying less is always more. Dont use certain flag words which will require more explanation or clarification. Keep it simple, short, sweet and sufficiently vague.
I wanted to add that you could even get yourself some business cards. Lets say your name is John Smith. You get some cards that say "Smith and Company". Again, keep it simple and dont put words like money manager or fund on the card as that might be perceived as misrepresentation or fraud. So, "Smith and Company". President: John Smith, phone #, email, etc. Thats it.