Another day trader bites the dust

Thanks smallfil,

I am starting to use 2-3% risk of initial capital as well.

What are your money rules for when to stop trading for the day after losses? I would like to use percent as well.

Sorry, not a day trader. Only swing trade and stop at 5 trades at work. When I sell one position to close, then, I add one new trade. If I close 2 trades, I add 2 new trades to replace it. That is enough action for most traders.
 
I can't make it in day trading but I'm pretty sure there are surely others who can, especially many elitetraders here. The proper question to ask is ... is it worth your time to do day-trading for the returns?

A person can have a full-time day job and still participate in the markets while at the same time, enjoy higher returns than if he day traded.

Day trading is suitable for people who have a passion for the markets and do not mind being glued to the screen. It takes a certain temperament to do that. For people who do it for the excitement or only want the money but lack the passion for markets, there are better ways to earn money.

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.
 
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Sure you have bud. And Im a billionaire. See how it easy it is to claim some BS over the internet? Moron.

Edge is defined as a probabilistic outcome determining which way the markets move in any given direction. Risk is not part of the equation. You cant predefine risk and then say "welp I predefined my risk at 1% so I have an edge that the market will be bullish".......You are a fuck pig if Ive ever heard one.

Your expectancy SHOULDNT CHANGE just because of risk - thats where people get into trouble by not following their edge flawlessly. Get a clue.

Edges are a dime a dozen - Douglas says so in not so many words in his book

"I'm not going to make any specific recommendations about what system or variables you should use, because I assume that most of the people reading this book are already well schooled in technical analysis. If you need additional assistance, there are hundreds of books available on the topic, as well as system vendors who are more than willing to sell you their ideas. However, if you've made a genuine attempt to do this on your own but are still having problems picking a system, you can contact me"


Pick up a book and read once in a while or watch one of his seminars online you sorry fuck.

This is the last thing Ill say to some inch worm that thinks because you predefine your risk at 1% that it gives you a probabilistic edge on which way the market goes.

AARP is calling, time to hang up your suspenders and go to the glue factory you wrinkly fuck.

You are so stupid. I'm not talking about % of capital at risk you fool.

Edge:
For a unit bet, the edge can be calculated from the probability of winning (p) and payout odds (b) as shown below. It can be thought of as simply the probability of winning (p) multiplied by the sum won (b-1), plus the probability of losing (1-p) multiplied by the sum lost (-1).


Payout vs risk. (1R. 2R. 3R trades) will almost certainly effect probability of win. Like I said I never talked about percent capital at risk. I used risk in terms of points or ticks.

Trade management is different and Kelly Crit. has been a great rule of thumb for most dumbasses like yourself. Im fully aware of what you're talking about.

I apologize maybe I dumbed it down so much earlier that even your stupid ass can't figure it out.

And yes. since the 90s with a custodial account when this shit was in fractions. So the AARP shit doesn't apply either. Youre wrong about that too. I feel bad for your parents.
 
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I can't make it in day trading but I'm pretty sure there are surely others who can, especially many elitetraders here. The proper question to ask is ... is it worth your time to do day-trading for the returns?

A person can have a full-time day job and still participate in the markets while at the same time, enjoy higher returns than if he day traded.

Day trading is suitable for people who have a passion for the markets and do not mind being glued to the screen. It takes a certain temperament to do that. For people who do it for the excitement or only want the money but lack the passion for markets, there are better ways to earn money.

Its near impossible to make it in daytrading. First you need an edge (hard) then you need trade management (harder). Takes a certain type of person. Lastly no one really wants to put in the time. Theyre in this because they dont want to work. But guess what. This job takes brains and work.
 
Here are the main reasons why I continue to make money virtually every day for the last 30 years (22 years from home).

1) Market policy (Government): ie Markets flooded with activity. A guy like Bernie Sanders (if he could do everything he wants) would change this

2) Market structure: Exchange rules (dictated by HFT's) typically hurt "day traders" but it seems the more anti competitive the Exchanges get the better it is for those who really understand the rules. There are some rules that actually give you advantages over the big boys

3) Threads like this. When your competition says it "can't be done". It doesn't matter why people say it but is important to know that Wall Street is a saturated place with some of the smartest minds, much smarter than me but it seems many simply won't do the work that people like me do...

4) Market access: in my case: having a great broker (IBKR) and great data vendor (Nanex).

I'd love to pat myself on the back but it is important to know that I have NO control over these four things. Take one of them away and it would be harder (perhaps it would even end my profitability). However, it is 22 years and counting and nothing has really changed...

As Buffett says - its all about the moat. And what is ironic is my competitors (#2 and #3) not only create the moat but they help maintain it



It can be done, but not without the work.

best of luck
 
Here are the main reasons why I continue to make money virtually every day for the last 30 years (22 years from home)......
You day trade, every day and flat each night?
Stocks or indexes or other?
 
Its near impossible to make it in daytrading. First you need an edge (hard) then you need trade management (harder). Takes a certain type of person. Lastly no one really wants to put in the time. Theyre in this because they dont want to work. But guess what. This job takes brains and work.

Good point. Some people want to move into trading/investing full-time because they hate their day job. I won't judge them on that. They should find out the real reason why they hate their day jobs. If the real reason is they're lazy, then they're not going to make it with trading anyway because it takes a lot of hard work to succeed. If the real reason is they love trading more than their job, then they have a better chance to succeed but failure is still highly possible given the low success rate.
 
Good point. Some people want to move into trading/investing full-time because they hate their day job. I won't judge them on that. They should find out the real reason why they hate their day jobs. If the real reason is they're lazy, then they're not going to make it with trading anyway because it takes a lot of hard work to succeed. If the real reason is they love trading more than their job, then they have a better chance to succeed but failure is still highly possible given the low success rate.

Exactly.
 
You day trade, every day and flat each night?
Stocks or indexes or other?


Arb trading. some minimum risk positions (ie. Conversions). some risk arb. Virtually zero delta every night. Overnight Margin usually around 2% of capital

mainly equity and equity options but I will do some futures as well
 
Did not read the whole thread.

I'm very skeptical of this story. Or some important details are missing. The implication seems to be that the friend is a smart guy (profitable position trader for 6 years implies significant competence), but day trading somehow turned him into a retard.

OP also claims no one can make money day trading which suggests he himself might be a bitter failed daytrader with an axe to grind. He also started a thread a year ago titled "No day trader on this planet can make yearly profits"

If the story was true, I would expect to hear about a specific event that caused the blow up. Like some wacky thing with short options. Just trading stocks it is very difficult to ride a big account all the way down to $0. You'd practically have to be doing it on purpose.
 
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