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

Redneck said:
Either gamble as a gambler.., or the house

RN
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I certainly understand that, and agree in both a practical and logical way.

Mark Douglas talks about though... if one was raised religiously...

I was raised an evangelical fundamentalist. Dancing... movies... and gambling... were sure fire ways to hell fire.

I'm in the 'spiritual but not religious' camp and have been for some time, but I compensate for that early upbringing somewhat by technicalities. Some states tax various kinds of income, and gambling is taxed in a certain way. Some states don't tax poker winnings the same as gambling because there is a skill beyond random involved. I assume trading is a skill, so I just choose not to use the gambling terminology either.

But if you equate gambling and risk -- trading has risk... and is at it's essence about risk... in that sense it is gambling. Even if I don't call it gambling, I don't want to take the risk out of trading. Mark Douglas talks about one of the great errors traders make is trying to take the risk out of trading.

For example, moving your stop to break even as soon as you show the slightest profit makes you feel like you have no risk -- but it is one of the surest ways to fail.

So even if I don't want to call what I do gambling, I want to embrace, accept and use... risk in a way that works for trading. Which is another way of saying to be the casino, and not the person in the casino for whom the odds work against them. Same thing RN said.
 
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Excellent question.
It is worthwhile checking some "gamblers addicts" forum for unhealthy psychology that might shows up in trading. It is helpful to delineate some psy problems.
 
I do not think one can do consistent greed in trading he has to suffer from loss due to this emotional state. Forex is like an addiction , we are habitual to watch market daily. Any time when we trade it is up to us how we do trading experienced traders set their psychology positively.
 
I don't think it can become an addiction, but it should be more like Walmart hours, 364 days open 24/7 so I can trade more.

Actually, one area that allowed me to turn the corner in scalping was at some point in ticks or in time to get to breakeven plus one tick stops, everyone has there own ah-ha moment.

Anything can become an addiction if one allows it. Best to have set hours, then leave to do other activities, give old noodle time to rest.
 
Of course. Most would be traders are gamblers.

I really like this quote from Trading & Exchanges by Harris which I've posted once before:

"In contrast, gamblers are uninformed traders. Although they hope to make money, they have no rational reason to expect that they will do so.

Many - probably most - traders who gamble in the financial markets are unaware that they are gambling. Most believe that they are pursuing other objectives. Traders need great discipline to discriminate between prudent risk-taking behavior and gambling. Many traders who believe that they are speculating actually are gambling because they do not recognize that the information upon which they trade does not give them any advantage over other traders. Traders who gamble can sometimes be identified by their enthusiasm for trading and by their inability to clearly articulate their reasons for trading."
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Equity King said:
Could actually relate to this , the more you win the more you feel the urge to trade more.
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Which is why I do really well, for a period, the better I do, the worse I do, when it goes against me, trying to hold onto the doing really well.
 
Redneck said:
Can day trading become an addiction

As can
eating
drugs
alcohol
video games
porn
tobacco
lying
nail biting
a myriad of other things

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since it is so similar to gambling?

The two are not even in the same universe

RN
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Exactly-LOL-LOL.And drinking water can be addicting. And many people dont drink enough water; about 7 or 8 glasses /day.Market Maker's Edge book uses a 8 day, moving average.Good book= dont pay attention to the daytrading cover, much !! I gambled for some silver .25's, playing pool; but not many silver quarters anymore.Psycho babble says trading + gambling are the same-the 2 are not even in same universe.

A REALTOR friend told me buying a certain lake from house ''was gambling''[NOT really gambling @ all -he meant it was too much risk, stupid size risk, stupid size risk !! I bought it not + sure did not business ''bet'' on it, as the WSJ lies, calling risk sell or buy, ''bets.
 
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