Can day trading become an addiction since it is so similar to gambling?

people do not have time for addiction here... its over for most very very soon

on top of that fear is the most dominant feeling that the wannabe daytader very soon develops :) - not a pleasant feeling to be addicted to :))

just pure fear of market

and of course money.... they are draining extremely fast...
 
I have been a semi-professional poker player. (I don't consider poker gambling like slot machines.) I think that experience helps my day trading, I learned in poker you can't base decisions on what you wish will happen .. only on the data you have (math and reads on your opponents). No bluffing in day trading .. but there is a definite market psychology.

Addicting? I quit my day job. I work harder at this than I did my previous jobs. Often 12+ hours a day (programming, research in addition to the market hours). But the attraction is the freedom of working for myself...

I review my financial results with my wife and track and review every trade and that keeps me honest and realistic (very grounding). I'm a programmer, so my program makes most of the tactical decisions and makes better decisions usually than I would have, it forces (allows) me to a more strategical view.
 
Eddiemorra said:
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.
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Hell, I wish markets were open on weekends, LOL But I don't get any thrill from it at all, just letting automation grab points. I think if you treat it like a business, keep it like that, it will remain like that.

 
Lloyd W. Coutee said:
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 .
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yes, i'm a compulsive gambler

i had to channel my obsession into finding an edge
[card counting, etc]

marc
:cool:
 
marketsurfer said:
Any psychologist will tell u its exactly the same thing. Remember the market holds the greatest attraction to those least suited for it.
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Your last statement, Mr Marketsurfer is strange but true,LOL. You first statement proves why that group is seldom listened to.T pretend trading is gambling -compare a stock market winner to a card counter winner in Los Vegas. LOL. On second though don't do that; card counters are kicked out, or beat up in Los vegas. Don't take disareement personal; its simply what tek students call a market correction-thanks, Mr Market surfer.rememeber I paid you kid a compliment on his TA comment long ago.
 
I would say if your chasing price around opening and closing trades and not waiting to see your specific setups, triggers or confirmations and thinking and wishing it should go higher or lower then your gambling.
 
All are forms of gambling, but there is skill in some and not others

This first set are almost entirely luck.

A) Slot machines / Lottery / Roulette / Black Jack (not counting)

B) Poker / Black Jack (card counting) / Trading

The second set involves a degree of skill. The more skill one has the more you'll reduce the amount of luck (or statistical variance). If you have low skill levels then its mostly gambling... for you
 
Funny how nobody ever mentions anything about probability.

  • Profitable gamblers use probability to their advantage.
  • Profitable traders use probability to their advantage.

End of story.
 
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