Day Traders Vs Swing Traders

[ironchef]

I am quite sure this thread is not new and a rehash of old threads but many old timers are gone and us newbies need to be told again so bear with me.

My questions for you:

1. The number of day traders vs swing traders here on ET. By day trader, I define those who opens and closes his/her position all within a day, including options etc. By swing trader, I define those other than day trading.

2. How do you trade? Do you use TA, charts, FA, mathematical formula, gut feel, back feel (George Soros).... as entry and exit? No need to disclose detail recipes.

3. Do you believe there are fundamental differences between day trading and the rest? By that I mean the methods you use can or cannot be extended or applied across all trading spectrum?

4. Are you happy with your method or formula? If not how do you plan to improve?

Let me answer my own questions first:

1. I swing trade options.

2. I use a combination of mathematics and FA.

3. My methodology won't work for day trading, too time consuming to set up for each trade.

4. Yes and no, it pays the bill but I like to capture the 10% per week gains day traders are getting so I am back studying charts and TA.

I enjoyed my time here at ET and best wishes to you all.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

1.) ...I assume everyone here is a paper trader, or just a sleepy/boring investor, a fake, or a degenerate alcoholic gambler.

2.) a combination of TA, charts, gut feel, economic reports, how Europe/Asia performed, yesterday's close, etc etc. The key is having a general premonition outline of how the market will loosely look like during the day...and wait for it, to hopefully, unfold in your favor. -- All in no particular order, varying degrees of importance. Have your judgement call before the market opens, but also be very open-minded to being nimble, remember the market can be irrational, a stubborn trader is a dead trader,
the trading chart is a constant battle of tug of war, or positive or negative, or good and evil forces colliding, if you will, -- the key is understanding the forces behind those forces. expectations unfolding and happening before your eyes,
trading is kind of like looking at mountains, you know it can only go so high...before it turns, and it can only go so low...before it settles to the ground,
Be aware of your potential support/resistance levels like a rubberband stretching or taffy,

3.) Of course there are differences...depending on your personal timeframe, viewpoint, and style, etc etc.
Sounds cliche...but as Gordon Gekko would say... Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought.”
Know your battlefield. and enemy.

4.) relatively happy, i would say,

The devil is in the details.
Alot of people may laugh at the idea of 10%/week...even more so in a Day -- but it's possible,

 

[Visaria]

I'm 90% fundamentally driven trader these days....the other 10% is technicals.

 

[ironchef]

I'm 90% fundamentally driven trader these days....the other 10% is technicals.

Good to know I have company.

Regards,

 

[wartrace]

I trade the 6E futures intraday. I use basic order flow (DOM, tape,footprint, volume profile and volume delta). It is a very simple method

 

[victorycountry]

I speculate 90% and 10 % is fundamental.

 

[themickey]

My holding period can be from a day to several months. I tend concentrate on a method to trade sectors which have been beaten down and showing recovery. If I'm out in a day or two it's because I feel my trade has doubled back on me and wrongfooted my anticipation. I try not to predict a breakout but will wait for it to occur, so in essence I'm a long term break out trader.
When I trade, often will buy or sell multiple positions simultaneously.
I dont use traditional TA, like MA's or STO or patterns (triangles, head & shoulders) but rely predominantly on support/resistance.
I pay scant attention to news or fundamentals, these things screw around my thinking, regarding Co. Announcements, rarely read them, again, they screw my brain with bias's, I prefer price action to be my news because the bottom line is I'm trading money, not trading beliefs placed in my head by media fu**ers.
When I say I dont use traditional TA, thats because my signals I rely on are things I have never heard spoken of as such.

 

[ironchef]

1.) ...I assume everyone here is a paper trader, or just a sleepy/boring investor, a fake, or a degenerate alcoholic gambler.

Including you?

After reading it over a few times, your post actually made sense.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[comagnum]

Swing trader - breakout/momo on futures, stocks/ETF's, & Forex from classic chart patterns (4-26 weeks long) with a focus on risk/trade mgmt. I am very happy with it.

 

[justrading]

Swing trader - breakout/momo on futures, stocks/ETF's, & Forex from classic chart patterns (4-26 weeks long) with a focus on risk/trade mgmt. I am very happy with it.

Sounds like what Peter Brandt does, except I think his minimum is 9 weeks or so, can't remember the exact details.