Day Trading is a pipedream.

[SnakeEYE]

Quote from guy990opl:



Unfortunately many people have to experience that "pain of losing money" ...

as well as the pain in the arse

aaaahahahahahaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha

 

[SnakeEYE]

Quote from pairsarbtooo:

Here is a corollary of what I mean. Here we have a guy (that probably doesn't trade for a living) that is echoing the same thing (save the algos..although before algos traders manually performed the same fuctions that computers do now) that others have said over the past few decades. He also seems quite indoctrinated into the buy only side or buy and hold mentality ("stocks are always hammered down by the shorts."). Did it ever occur to him that he can set up a method to profit on the short side as well? Guess not.
I am 43 now so I can say that with some degree of experience. There used to be floor guys running stops..etc etc. Same stuff different day.

What he is saying is basically...profitable systems are like the holy grail, any one of them that works must be a secret, and the edges diminish quickly.

The most important aspect of failure in trading is failure to follow a system. It isn't finding the "best" system, because there isn't one "best" system. Each trader has his own tolerance for risk volatility heat etc, and different methods or rather different traders fit different methods.

If I were a beginning trader, day trader, whatever I would do this. First, find or create a system. Second, match the risk management to the level of your risk capital. Third, make every effort to follow the system exactly win lose or draw. If you do those three things, either you will succeed financially or you will lose, but in losing you should be able to have the confidence that you followed your method, and that should lead to a modification of the method if it didn't work well enough or some other key that will support you in becoming a good trader. The key ability though is not the best method, but the work you will inevitably need to do in order to follow a method. Sound easy? if it does that's why you are failing. This is where most of the work in trading is, and where the rewards follow from. If you survive these trails you will eventually find and hone the system you can follow, and have the necessary psychological skills to trade your plan effectively.

Too many traders make the deadly mistake of thinking trading is about finding or creating the best system. It isn't about that, it is about having a reasonable system and executing it like a master.

stop this crapola!

 

[SnakeEYE]

Quote from SnakeEYE:

as well as the pain in the arse

aaaahahahahahaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha

and you stop this crapola too,jerk!

 

[Bernard111]

Quote from pairsarbtooo:...

Would it seem strange to hear a person say," I went to the operating room and wanted to perform neurosurgery....." or "I took the train to flushing meadows and tried to play in the USopen..."..

and there's around the famous quote by a neurosurgeon saying:

"I thought that a neurosurgery to the brain was difficult until I tried to trade the S&P"

 

[keeptradin']

Quote from pairsarbtooo:

you have some setups, you determine what conditions you will enter the trade (have a price), you enter the trade, you manage the trade, you exit the trade.

is this so difficult that so many great minds cannot fathom how to do this within a day of trading? Haha...yes the learning required can take years and years, learning how to execute a trade properly, and all the associated psychological work that may require for most aspiring day traders.

Some things about trading may have changed because of technology, but human nature is still the same, and traders who master this nature will win to the degree that they do it better than other traders. Yes, it is that simple. And no, it probably won't be easy. Day trading is a pipedream if that's what you tell yourself.

I feel fantastic with my lifestyle and it's due to the daytrading that I do in a few hours each day. True, some days I spend more time, but it doesn't feel like work to me. In general, though, I make superior returns (not measured in hedge fund metrics) that seem natural to me.

In any profession it takes some hours to acquire the skills of a professional. For some reason I see a lot of posts that begin and end something like..." I tried daytrading and lost, it was difficult, I lost money, so I quit." Well that's a pipedreamer for you.

Would it seem strange to hear a person say," I went to the operating room and wanted to perform neurosurgery....." or "I took the train to flushing meadows and tried to play in the USopen..."

You think you are competing against novices. I suggest if you want to daytrade, realize that you are trying to take money from other professionals, because the profitable traders are the ones that have all the money. Do you honestly think you can attempt it for a day, a few weeks, or a year and win consistently against them?

I think if you are not insane you know that answer...it takes time and learning work to become a professional. It is a simple process but it can take time.

Good post.

Trading has taught me that just because a task or process is simple that doesn't mean it is easy to perform. In fact, the opposite seems to be true in my experience.

Trading is very similar to sports, in that we may be able to perform well on occasion, but have difficulty achieving mastery. I can hit a golf ball well some of the time, but not most of the time, which is why you don't see me on TV.

The more I learn, the less I know, and the less it matters how much I know.

Happy trading!!

 

[anituchka]

Quote from DHOHHI:

I'll start -- I don't have an ego. As a trader I realize one has to be humble.

Predicting the future? Over time one can get a feel for what the market will do. Perfect example today. Anyone who had a clue knew they'd try to run it to 11,000 near the close. So you went long into the close. Not rocket science.

Gambler mentality? LOL. How is trading any different than someone sinking $100K (or $500K) into a restaurant or some other venture? Get a clue -- life is a gamble.

Distorted reality? Huh. As a trader you see the REALITY in front of you day by day. You know you need to make money to pay the bills. Reality to a trader is much more apparent than to a person working a 'secure' corporate job that takes things for granted.

And I base my reply on FACTS. 14+ years of trading and making a decent living are what I draw my knowledge from. You guys who shoot from the hip really lack a lot of credibility. You post generalizations. You assume if it's tough no one can succeed. You couldn't be more wrong.

Excellent post, thank you!

 

[2steps]

Quote from guy990opl:

Just wanted to write that, in case anyone has any doubts.

Never met a day trader who can make money consistently...there must be a reason.

I wish I came across this post earlier. I would have quit years ago and would not have wasted so much money and time.

Now I have decided: I will quit trading and become a firefighter.

If they turn me down, I will go to a private school and get an MBA.

 

[d08]

Quote from 2steps:

I wish I came across this post earlier. I would have quit years ago and would not have wasted so much money and time.

Now I have decided: I will quit trading and become a firefighter.

If they turn me down, I will go to a private school and get an MBA.

Firefighting needs discipline too, I hope you're not as loose at that job as you were with trading.

 

[trader198]

I have record three months straight no red day, averaging 4k a month (not matchable with my former softawre engneer job).so called consistency is misleading.

no one can have consistency. in my straight green day 3month, sometimes I just get it green, sometimes I green lot. the important thing anyone should achieve is: keep red day as few as possible, and keep loss as small as possible or below a thrashold.

you can not do consistently, why? the market keeps going forward, you need different strategy to extract profit. if you see market is changing mode or changing direction/bahviorpatterns, you get to change your method, so it is impossible to do robotic work or programmable work.

someone is searching systematic mmathod, that will be fruitless. the past is not the future.

just any software project, always have different things there, whether the programming language or scales or customers needs, though coceptually we called software project, but its inner containts are different. so there is no consistency requirement between different customers.

trading is the same. pricinple is the same: buy low and sell high. but the applications are different, it depends on situations, so there is no consistency.

Quote from guy990opl:

Just wanted to write that, in case anyone has any doubts.

Never met a day trader who can make money consistently...there must be a reason.

 

[Lights]

Quote from guy990opl:

Just wanted to write that, in case anyone has any doubts.

Never met a day trader who can make money consistently...there must be a reason.

Daytrading was golden from 1997-2008, it lasted for about 10 years until terminator took over. There are still opportunities in daytrading but if one finds himself putting on a trade every single day, the odds are now seriously against you.