Day Trading is a Powerful Addiction

[ElectricSavant]

https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...say-you-vote-here.47844/page-119#post-4666197

 

[ironchef]

You are totally missing the point of OP's post. It is not about benefits of being a trader or whether trading can be profitable for some. It is a zero (negative) sum game so by definition there will be losing traders no matter how hard they work at it.

I used to think so but after some more thoughts, don't think it is true. In general, the US equity market has an up trend of ~5%-10% a year, which means statistically both buyers and sellers of equities, on average, can be profitable (ignoring slippages).

I am not sure about other instruments, but in general, one can look at a long term trend (e.g., US currency has a down trend for several decades, commodity has a general up trend due to inflation...) and bet successfully, statistically speaking.