Gambling is significantly different from day trading and it is unfair to characterize day trading as gambling, but I am willing to recognize that the rush of winning is likely the same feeling for both .
Can day trading become an addiction since it is so similar to gambling?
- Thread starter Lloyd W. Coutee
- Start date
That "rush" is certainly there, we are human afterall to react to rewards and losses. 
-- But great traders are rather psycho, if you will.....they just see those as numbers. not really money, per se.
I like to equate day trading as a psychological thriller; you against the joker of a market,
-- But great traders are rather psycho, if you will.....they just see those as numbers. not really money, per se.I like to equate day trading as a psychological thriller; you against the joker of a market,
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Yes
To understand why it's worth knowing that certain types of gambling are more addictive than others; probably due to certain factors which reinforce the stimulation the brain receives during play.
There appear to be three main factors associated with the most addictive games. Firstly there should be an illusion of control, which encourages the perception of skill and hence more play. Lottery players often prefer to pick their own numbers.
Secondly the game should include apparent “near-misses”; frequent chances of almost winning the biggest prize. These are especially potent if you also receive lower value prizes, as in lotteries and slot machines. Finally the game should be rapid and continuous to give a constant flow of stimulation. Buying a lottery ticket is not as addictive as an instant lottery or scratch card where the result is known immediately.
The illusion of control is present with all forms of active investing. Ironically the feeling of control is almost absent when investing systematically, which is one reason why many people find it difficult to utilise this method of trading.
But the second and third factors are clearly more likely to be associated with very frequent, “day trading”. It is extremely difficult to make profits when trading quickly, and it is unlikely that more than a small percentage of day traders both cover their costs, and make a reasonable income and return on capital. Yet many amateurs feel compelled to try, and to continue trying, to beat the odds. Their daily frantic churning of trades is not so very different from the addict spending hours in front of a slot machine.
GAT
Any psychologist will tell u its exactly the same thing. Remember the market holds the greatest attraction to those least suited for it.
Both gambling and trading are perceived as "easy money"... you know, you don't have to "work" for it. That allure is almost universal and can be addicting.
I guess my girlfriend would say i'm addicted too it, lol. 5 years full time and not making consistent money. I don't see it as addiction, though. I don't get any 'rush' or anything. I just spend every hour of the day looking at chart patterns etc and testing setups and trading in the hope of one day becoming profitable.
I'm not a day trader, but I can expand your statement to the whole subspace of trading without loss of generality. I am most definitely addicted.
No rush from winning, just the fear of losing it again and repeating the cycle for ever.
11 years I think on FX day trading, only very part time, but yeah it's totally addictive, miss it all weekend, when I'm BORED smeg less, strangely in the week, my fear of losing I think limits my trading to mainly watching, then moments of yeah lets do it, trade, then back to watching.
Not consistent, but getting closer and do make good $$'s at time, giving them back less and less often.
11 years I think on FX day trading, only very part time, but yeah it's totally addictive, miss it all weekend, when I'm BORED smeg less, strangely in the week, my fear of losing I think limits my trading to mainly watching, then moments of yeah lets do it, trade, then back to watching.
Not consistent, but getting closer and do make good $$'s at time, giving them back less and less often.
Trading w/demo or real money?