Day Trading

TheFoot · Jun 20, 2020

deaddog said:
Take the time to study why day traders fail. Then don't do any of that stuff.

If you were trying to cross a busy street and 9 out of ten people that attempted to cross were hit by a car, would you be as eager to try?

I absolutely understand what you guys are saying. And I'm sure you know what your talking about. I dont doubt that for a second but I would really like to try it. I ain't doing nothing else right now with my time except watching marathons in my pajamas and its something I have always been wanting to do. Kind of like bungie jumping or sky diving maybe those are less risky endeavors at that but I want to try it none the less. So help me. Lol

Bugsy · Jun 20, 2020

TheFoot said:
Hello Everyone so happy to find this forum. I have been dreaming of becoming a day trader for a while now. I only have about 1000 to work with. Can you guys advice me on the best site to use. I heard Robin hood was free. And any other advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.

This below was accurate for me.

Laissez Faire said:
My best and honest advice is to forget about is since like everyone else I think you have no conception of how difficult what you're trying to achieve is. Forget about all the stories you hear about guys making a shitload of money off daytrading. They're either very lucky, very experienced/professional or a little bit of both.

If you're serious about this - except at least 5 years of trial and error before maybe getting somewhere. The failure rate is very high in day trading and it's really a very marginal business as there's not much room for error and you're pretty much successful or not.

You'd be much better of trying to focus on swing trading stocks, IMO, while maintaining some other job or enterprise which gives you income.

I read many, many books on concepts, strategy, and price action and blew through all but $1,000 of my $15,000 (which I took on a loan from my 401k which was half of my 401k at the time years ago, the max I was allowed to withdraw). I spent years learning and studying and saving and blowing my account repeatedly until finally I wasn't. I literally invested 1000's of hours studying and researching while losing 10's of thousands because I loved the SKILL of trading stocks. The money was just a measurement of success. It became an obsession because I wanted to be the best at it. Since then I have made back everything I lost and more.

You sound as though you have never performed a trade before. So are you dreaming about the money you could make as every millennial seems to be doing as of late? It's hard to imagine you are dreaming of the tedious complexity of the skill considering you have never really done it, if you've done it at all considering you don't have any idea of what broker to use. In my experience money is not a great motivator to be successful at anything. You will be blown around like the wind anytime things seem they will never transpire, and in the success rate of day trading that is probably about a 97% failure rate, if not more.

Think about a brain surgeon. Which one do you think becomes successful in their field, one motivated by money or one motivated by being the best no matter how much he fails? The one who is motivated by being the best no matter how much they fail will not let anything get in their way. They will fail and fail and fail. They will not care if financial ruin threatens them. If they end up dying a pauper they will be the best.

That's what you have to be willing to endure. It's easy to sit there and say you are willing to endure it. It's quite another to actually do it. I remember telling myself I didn't care if I died a broke penniless old man. I would not die with any regrets because I put my entire being into doing what I enjoyed, not because of the money, but because I wanted to be the best, In my opinion it takes that attitude. Wanting mo' money and financial freedom to make your own hours, as crazy as it may sound, just is not what will get you there.

TheFoot · Jun 20, 2020

Bugsy said:
This below was accurate for me.

I read many, many books on concepts, strategy, and price action and blew through all but $1,000 of my $15,000 (which I took on a loan from my 401k which was half at the time years ago). I spent years learning and studying and saving and blowing my account repeatedly until finally I wasn't. I literally invested 1000's of hours studying and researching while losing 10's of thousands because I loved the SKILL of trading stocks. The money was just a measurement of success. It became an obsession because I wanted to be the best at it. Since then I have made back everything I lost and more.

You sound as though you have never performed a trade before. So are you dreaming about the money you could make as every millennial seems to be doing as of late? It's hard to imagine you are dreaming of the tedious complexity of the skill considering you have never really done it, if you've done it at all considering you don't have any idea of what broker to use. In my experience money is not a great motivator to be successful at anything. You will be blown around like the wind anytime things seem they will never transpire, and in the success rate of day trading that is probably about a 97% failure rate, if not more.

Think about a brain surgeon. Which one do you think becomes more successful in their field, one motivated by money or one motivated by being the best no matter how much he fails? The one who is motivated by being the best no matter how much they fail will not let anything get in their way. They will fail and fail and fail. They will not care if financial ruin threatens them. If they end up dying a pauper they will be the best.

That's what you have to be willing to endure. It's easy to sit there and say you are willing to endure it. It's quite another to actually do it. I remember telling myself I didn't care if I died a broke penniless old man. I would not die with any regrets because I put my entire being into doing what I enjoyed, not because of the money, but because I wanted to be the best, In my opinion it takes that attitude. Wanting mo' money and financial freedom to make your own hours, as crazy as it may sound, just is not what will get you there.

Very well said. I think to answer your question, yes money is a part of it but I'm also very competitive. I also want to be the best at everything I do. I HATE losing. I love feeling like I can do stuff others cant but I also know that I am just a meaningless spec if dust on the huge planet and even more enormous galaxy. But I love to compete. It's what drives me to put countless hours into my fantasy football research. Which I am know feeling is a waste of time since there may very well not be any football.

I know I want to try this. I think I am a long shot and I get that how strongly everyone seems to feel about it but honestly that is only intriguing me more. I appreciate your words and even though I am sure you mean well as does everyone else in discouraging me trying to protect me but the fact that you made it all back( that's awesome by the way) only encourages me to want to work hard at. Although the fact that you guys are all against it does scare me and that's good. It will make be even more cautious. I'm liking the idea to just do a simulation with out real mo ey to see how I do first. But again any advice you may be able to give me would be greatly appreciated and you'll be gaining a live long friend in doing so lol.

Bugsy · Jun 20, 2020

TheFoot said:
Very well said. I think to answer your question, yes money is a part of it but I'm also very competitive. I also want to be the best at everything I do. I HATE losing. I love feeling like I can do stuff others cant but I also know that I am just a meaningless spec if dust on the huge planet and even more enormous galaxy. But I love to compete. It's what drives me to put countless hours into my fantasy football research. Which I am know feeling is a waste of time since there may very well not be any football.

I know I want to try this. I think I am a long shot and I get that how strongly everyone seems to feel about it but honestly that is only intriguing me more. I appreciate your words and even though I am sure you mean well as does everyone else in discouraging me trying to protect me but the fact that you made it all back( that's awesome by the way) only encourages me to want to work hard at. Although the fact that you guys are all against it does scare me and that's good. It will make be even more cautious. I'm liking the idea to just do a simulation with out real mo ey to see how I do first. But again any advice you may be able to give me would be greatly appreciated and you'll be gaining a live long friend in doing so lol.

There's an old proverb "When the student is ready to learn, the teacher shall appear." One may think that means you to us, you the student and we the teacher. In actuality that means you will find the answers no matter what it takes. I didn't learn my way here on ET. When I did ask questions on here they were very specific about some specific aspect of trading. I learned by reading every book I could get my hands on. The funny part is many of those books you buy will not only be useless, but may even be detrimental. The teacher will be every resource imaginable. It will take you years because there are so many aspects, both fundamental and technical, that go into what makes the market move, from seconds to years, it takes thousands of hours learning how they all move in tandem with one another. That's why I said it is important to enjoy it for the skill of knowing it, and not the money. Good luck.

deaddog · Jun 20, 2020

TheFoot said:
I absolutely understand what you guys are saying. And I'm sure you know what your talking about. I dont doubt that for a second but I would really like to try it. I ain't doing nothing else right now with my time except watching marathons in my pajamas and its something I have always been wanting to do. Kind of like bungie jumping or sky diving maybe those are less risky endeavors at that but I want to try it none the less. So help me. Lol

Then try it on a demo or sim platform. Trade $1000 not the 100K or a million that they allow you. If you can make money on sim then possibly you have a chance with real time, but be aware that sim fills won't reflect what will happen when you go live.

Or you could donate the grand to your favourite charity or perform a random act of kindness by handing out 50 dollar bills to homeless persons. That way you will feel much better about losing your stake.

TheFoot · Jun 20, 2020

Bugsy said:
There's an old proverb "When the student is ready to learn, the teacher shall appear." One may think that means you to us, you the student and we the teacher. In actuality that means you will find the answers no matter what it takes. I didn't learn my way here on ET. When I did ask questions on here they were very specific about some specific aspect of trading. I learned by reading every book I could get my hands on. The funny part is many of those books you buy will not only be useless, but may even be detrimental. The teacher will be every resource imaginable. It will take you years because there are so many aspects, both fundamental and technical, that go into what makes the market move, from seconds to years, it takes thousands of hours learning how they all move in tandem with one another. That's why I said it is important to enjoy it for the skill of knowing it, and not the money. Good luck.

Thank you so much for the advice. You touched on something and it's the reason I'm on here now. You said some of the books you read were detrimental to you and thats exactly what I am trying to avoid. I have found though my fantasy football forum I'm on how valuable it is to have live people like yourselves to bounce like minded ideas of off. I'm so happy to have found you guys. You all seem very friendly and knowledgeable and hope you guys can put up with my stupid questions. I'm absolutely going to take yours and a few other who said to do the fake money trial first. Thanks to you and everyone for all the awesome responses. Any thing else you can think of to advice me please hit me up as I'm sure it will be helpful and I will definitely appreciate it.

fan27 · Jun 20, 2020

TheFoot said:
As lame as it sounds I'd like to make a living at it. I have read that some of the traits that a secsessful day trader possesses I seem to have. I play fantasy football in competitive leagues and I know this might sound dumb but I win a lot because I love to anyalize and trade players. I have always fantasized about working from home trading stocks but never had the time to learn it. I'm determined to at least learn it now that i have time due to covid. Thanks for your advice

So, you have had some luck with fantasy football and you have $1000 and now you want to be a day trader. Yes, it sounds incredibly dumb. Focus your efforts on earning and saving money...then come back trading if you are so inclined.

TheFoot · Jun 20, 2020

fan27 said:
So, you have had some luck with fantasy football and you have $1000 and now you want to be a day trader. Yes, it sounds incredibly dumb. Focus your efforts on earning and saving money...then come back trading if you are so inclined.

I appreciate your advice.

easymon1 · Jun 20, 2020

TheFoot said:
Not sure what Equities, Forex or other derivatives are exactly

get used to looking terms up in a search engine.
https://yippy.com/search?query=Equities,+Forex+or+other+derivatives

ironchef · Jun 20, 2020

Bugsy said:
I literally invested 1000's of hours studying and researching while losing 10's of thousands because I loved the SKILL of trading stocks. The money was just a measurement of success. It became an obsession because I wanted to be the best at it.

I don't care to be the best. I just love the feeling when, after working hard to find a winning trade, it goes right.