Have not really felt this attitude from other trading "professionals." If you are successful in any way and have had some longevity in the business, why would others (I guess you mean other traders from hedge funds) have low respect for me. My boss is a scalper by definition and he's worth multiples of millions. I don't think anyone in any trading community has low respect for this guy. Sorry. I think your question is a bit unfounded.
i figure a lot of scalpers have posted here so I wont make a new thread but its kinda off topic. Q: Do scalpers care about profit targets and stops..or is it all done by your feel of the market and you enter/ exit when it feels right? I took some scalps on usd/jpy and made money..not a lot (less than 20 per trade), but im happy i got in and out with a gain..is this the right mind set?
from personal experience, scalping is the thing i learned on day 1. as excited as i was generating consistant profits with extreme accuracy, they blow up? as the cliche goes in trading, its not about the profits, but its about your downside controls. scalping involves, cutting your upward potential, to maximize certainty of profit, however this goes against the old saying "never cut your profits". the reason being is that, over the long run, you will mount to losses depending on how tight your stops are. usually scalping invovles risk;reward ratio of at least 2:1, this is to once again apply the notion of maximizing certainty of profit over the downside risks. so using tighter stops willl result in lower rate of profits. using larger stops will result in higher rate of profits but an increased risk exposure. where's the logic behind this? you are cutting out your profits, and to be continually generating income, you have to take more risks than your reward. because the market is subject to random events, over the long run, you will absolutely guaranteed force to get margin calls. i believe through my own experience and realization, what the older traders are saying is true. trading is all about your downside exposure and how much you can control it. my two cents.
Quote from day7793: Day traders are the lowest profession on Wall street. Can you imagine being at a party and someone asks you" What do you do for living? And you say " I am a day trader, I scalp for a living ". Not only that its very very risky way to make a living. SEC has strict rules for day trading since people with small capital start gambling and eventually lose it all. Read SEC website they dont hold day trading in high esteem either. Most day traders lose their accounts in first 6 months... u know what for the first time, i have to agree with day7793. but it seems ironic coming from a man who likes to time the markets and whining and bitching about how other traders are constantly "bringing down the US market". anyhow, day is right about daytrading being the lowest profession, for a good reason. this doesn't require much intelligence to figure out but, when you are observing the market everyday, you are not seeing returns, you are dealing with NOISE. anyone make money off NOISE but they can lose money too, because noise is simply that, gambling. so its natural to assume, why people will smirk when hearing traders taht say "im a PROFESSIONAL daytrader (note emphasis on professional) " because u might as well say "im a professional gambler"
I think "feel" is a big part of it, at least for me. I use profit targets and stops. I always know exactly where my stop is. However my profit targets are usually more a question of my patience and how much momo is in present in the move. Stops are usually within 5 pips of my entry and if it breaks it, I get out. Often I'll stop and rev, double my previous lot size or more. The key for me is having the flexibility to vary my position size. For example, one trade may be 1 lot and the next 5 lots. Lot sizes are like an arsenal of weapons. I vary my size all day long. I find it very hard to scalp using the same lot size all day.
If people smirk when traders say, "I'm a professional day trader," is because it sounds retarded. It's like someone telling you what they do for a living by saying, "I'm a professional plumber," or "I'm a professional doctor," etc.
A professional daytrader A professional gambler Would have lot less respect than guy who says I drive a cab. I make my living driving. There are some age old sinister prejudices with these kind of occupations come to think of it. People have lost homes, lives and families doing this kind of work.