Day vs Position Trading

Quote from Donkell:
................. but it was nice to see that the often name calling here at Elite wasn't started...........
[/B]
More...

The name calling, flaming, really degrades what goes on here. It really pisses me off.

This site has given insights at times that I would not normally see..Then the flamers show up and ruin the thread. Then I leave this website, pissed, for days at a time. I am sure I am not the only one that stops coming here when the flamers show up. I wonder if the Baron realizes that.


p.s. how well you deal with the cards that you are dealt is the name of the game!
 
Trading Stocks (equities), I go to cash at the end of the day 90% of the time.

I hold trades (short or long) over night in key situations when I see the opportunity.

The reason I go to cash at the end of the day is simple.

The strategic release of payed for analysis or news, with the intent of moving a stock or the markets in a direction a particular group wants, has become SOP. This has always happened on Wall Street, but lately it has been extremely bad and more obvious. I also trade high volatility stocks that trade in wide ranges daily, they can gap up or down drastically over night.

I consistantly make money each month doing this. I used to hold more trades over night or longer, when I stopped doing this I now make 6 figure money on average monthly instead of 5.

Each trader will have different methods that work for them. Do what works for you.

I trade 1000 to 5000 share lots intra-day based on Technical buy/sell or short/cover points. I do not try to pick the exact points, I use a range. I use reserve orders almost exclusively except when i want to be the MM.

I wish you success in whatever you do.

PS: I want to add that trading is not gambling. I see a few references to this in some of the posts here. If you have the mental outlook of a gambler and you gamble in the markets they will eat you alive. Trading is a skill, as you see above I did not wish you luck, i wished you success, because luck has nothing to do with trading.
 
Currencies have an added element of frustration as a 24-hr market for position traders; nothing like waking up to see a market trading two big figures away since you've gone to bed.
 
In my view, the new trader should first learn to be a good position trader and then gradually move to shorter time frames. Newer traders generally will hang on to positions or have their stops too close and both of these will kill your account. The numerous whipsaws that a person can get into in day trading is not generally good for the new trader. That being said, for the most part, I started and have stayed a position trader. It has much less intensity to it and I can have a life as well. Being a position trader though has one issue with it--you may need to set your stop outside the max loss stop for your account. The best way to overcome this is to trade markets that you trade a smaller position in . For example , even with a lot less liquidity, I used to trade the mini Soybean contract. Not very exciting, but I was able to stay in the game. As I increased the grubstake, I was able to expand to 2 minis etc and then finally the full contract and then on up. With currencies, I started with the mini Euro etc and moved up from there.

Day trading will work for some , but not for most new traders.
 
Quote from Ripley:

Just like a child learning to run by taking baby steps, so too must be a trader.. progressing from being a scalper to a longer term position trader.. to finally buy and hold.
More...


This may have worked for Rip, but it's not the preferred method. A new trader is not nimble enough to scalp nd usually gets their head handed to them. One must be in the markets for quite a while to get divorced from their positions enough to be able to buy and sell quickly like that. No offense intended to you Rip
 
I think daytrading has become more difficult. In the last year, stocks don't seem to trend intraday very well. I think it has something to do with the algorithms the MM's are using. I think NYSE issues may see more of it this year, but the NAZ is crazy. I'm going to be switching back to Swing trading.
 
buy1sell1,

Your idea is faulty, ripleys method of learning is more correct

When you can intraday profitly with ideas, you can use the same ideas and apply it to ALL Time frames.

When you try to learn from position trading

each position takes up days, how many days / mistakes will you require to learn what NOT to do?

In intraday trading, What you have position traded in 2 months, I have learned within 2 days of constant trading.

Because the same ideas/ patterns repeats itself

on ALL timeframes.

You do not want to learn driving on a hummer on a big road
when you can learn driving on a bumper car bumping around 500 times.
 
As I had indicated it may be ok for some , but not for most new traders. You guys are profitable for that very simple fact-- that's great! However most new traders don't understand how to be nimble. It worked for you and Rip , but you are in the minority. Just as in chess, you need to play longer time frames first and engrain the ideas in your head and then move to the quick decision making blitz games. Time to reflect is as much a part of learning as is the number of lessons. What you have said is right for you, however it is not right for most--
 
My experience in trading has been that I have made more money by holding a position for a while rather than day trading, but the drawdowns can be more severe in swingtrading.

The problem with it is that you are basically using the buy and hold method that every first-timer tends to migrate to, which will work if you know how to pick stocks, but unfortunately most people don't know how-- it worked before the crash, but it is not the same now.

With that said, most daytraders do not succeed because they never really develop a trading system which they can write down; and if they do, they don't adhere to it. To daytrade you have to be like a MACHINE, which most humans are in direct contrast to. Daytraders become long-term investors because a position goes against them and instead of going clean and green at the end of the day, they suddenly become long-term investors.

My conclusion is that most daytraders will eventually become swingtraders anyway just for that reason. That is why I advocate becoming a daytrader first. It just makes more sense to learn how to bunt before you try to hit the homerun. At least, if you clean out your positions at the end of the day, you are not subjective to the extreme volatility present in the market today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top