Exception returns in anyone's language, My guess small / medium caps unless it was something like Tesla?
Another day trader bites the dust
- Thread starter teewoods
- Start date
Day trading is the bad guy, for a start a day trader will probably have to make between 10 to 50% per year just to break even.
I mean there is more commission, spread, and slippage to overcome with day-trading.
Then there is the psychological pressure. It is intense. And you have to use high leverage. Because the intra day moves are generally too small on most days.
Jesse Livermore figured out the big money was in Position trading 100 years ago.
Still you can make money as a day trader just the odds are massively stacked against you.
Sad story. It didn't have to happen... Instead of losing it all day trading, if he had just given me the $450k I could have kicked him in the balls and then given half of it back. He would have had the same experience, but it would have saved him $225,000.
I'm just here to help.
I'm just here to help.
The actual title of this thread should be "Another TRADER bites the dust"
It's common knowledge that ALL time frames of trading can be profitable if one has the appropriate skill.
The easiest level is to just buy and hold an index fund and do nothing. Everything else can be considered short term trading, whether it's on a time frame of months, weeks, days, or minutes.
Is short term trading more difficult than just buy and hold? Absolutely, but there is a difference between difficult vs impossible. I know of few other fields where someone has the EGO to make a declaration that something is not possible simply because they can't do it or everyone they personally know failed at it.
You also have people in academia that says ALL trading is impossible because of Efficient Market Theory not allowing people to to capitalize on market fluctuations.
So the OP chooses to disregard EMT but then makes his own proclamation of what is "impossible".
Patterns exist in all time frames but having the skill to find and exploit them is the key ingredient for success.
This thread is a clear example of repeat patterns of people posting day trading isn't possible followed by people challenging those posts.
The problem that guy had isn't "day trading". Letting an account go from $450K to $0 in 18 months is horrible risk management, period, regardless of the time frame.
We live in an age where sim trading is identical in all aspects to real except for the risk, and yet this guy supposedly put all his money on the line in his real account rather than seeing if he could actually succeed in his new time frame? That points to bigger problems than just being bad at trading.
OP joined ET in 2009 and made ONE post, then ten years later makes another post in 2019 that day trading isn't possible. He repeats his PATTERN about a year later with another anti day trading post.
There are trading horror stories in ALL time frames. Just ask the folks that loaded up on some company stocks and held onto them through their glory years, only to lose it all when the company went on decline into bankruptcy.
A person with BAD RISK MANAGEMENT is a disaster waiting to happen, no matter what time frame of investing/trading. It just becomes apparent faster in shorter time frames.
Don't blame the time frame, blame the TRADER.
My guess, there's good money in day trading but not for sheeple with their stupid Rsi's and MA's nonsense.
To get good at it one would need a novel approach + automation along with spending dosh on data and equipment.
Someone on ET mentioned just plugging for 1 point per day.
That might work but still requires thinking outside of the norm.
The way to the slaughterhouse is by following the sheep.
My goodness. A lot of you have been polluted by too much conflicting information over the years. I can just tell from your attitudes - which shows in your reasonings in this thread. Harder than a DR? lmfao, not sure if that is your ego talking or delusion. "Ya john, im a successful day trader, ya a lot of people say its harder than a DR"
Some of you just like hearing yourselves talk apparently.
By definition if you are making 10-50% a year you are not breaking even. You can make 1-2% a month conservatively. Starting out? probably not unless you found a good mentor to help you and answer any question you have under the sun.
Ill listen to people who actually traded in floor pits. One being Mark Douglas, he wasnt concerned with " i need this indicator or these sets of indicators. This indicator is garbage" etc. Most indicators have their place. Its up to you to master which ones you want to use and how you use it.
AKA, its not the indicator, more than likely its you. Al brooks uses a MA indicator, i see a lot of threads around here that says it garbage. But yet he is successful with it, which makes my point.
There are many edges that work. But I can guarantee most of you get hung up on the "1000 year backtest" and/or do not perform your edge flawlessly over enough trades to get an accurate reading of how reliable it/YOU are. I can almost guarantee it, no matter how much you think you do.
A novel approach? You arent moving markets here - they need a novel approach, not some scrub on ET (whoever that may be). Retail traders, in liquid markets, are doing nothing but skimming from them. Its like the old saying goes "I just need a dollar from everyone in the US and ill be rich"....... Its the same concept when it comes to trading.
SKim from the Billionaires and call it a day. Overcomplicating shit is most traders downfall.
Some of you just like hearing yourselves talk apparently.
By definition if you are making 10-50% a year you are not breaking even. You can make 1-2% a month conservatively. Starting out? probably not unless you found a good mentor to help you and answer any question you have under the sun.
Ill listen to people who actually traded in floor pits. One being Mark Douglas, he wasnt concerned with " i need this indicator or these sets of indicators. This indicator is garbage" etc. Most indicators have their place. Its up to you to master which ones you want to use and how you use it.
AKA, its not the indicator, more than likely its you. Al brooks uses a MA indicator, i see a lot of threads around here that says it garbage. But yet he is successful with it, which makes my point.
There are many edges that work. But I can guarantee most of you get hung up on the "1000 year backtest" and/or do not perform your edge flawlessly over enough trades to get an accurate reading of how reliable it/YOU are. I can almost guarantee it, no matter how much you think you do.
A novel approach? You arent moving markets here - they need a novel approach, not some scrub on ET (whoever that may be). Retail traders, in liquid markets, are doing nothing but skimming from them. Its like the old saying goes "I just need a dollar from everyone in the US and ill be rich"....... Its the same concept when it comes to trading.
SKim from the Billionaires and call it a day. Overcomplicating shit is most traders downfall.
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Did your friend have a
Solid Trading Plan and
Tested Set-Ups?
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The intraday should start in demo, when it is profitable for a time, then 1 micro contract when it is profitable for a time, then 2 micro contracts. What kills those who try is greed for wanting to be rich rather than experts.