Does everyone win on a day like today??

plumlazy · May 28, 2003

Quote from stoploss:

How can everybody win? For every buyer there has to be a seller, so for every winner there has to be a loser. right?

True enough that for every buyer there is a seller. However, the seller isn't necessarily a loser if he bought 2 months ago, etc.

And even if the seller is a short seller, if the shortseller isn't a weak hand, that short seller may buy back two months from now at a nice profit.

Therefore, there doesn't have to be a loser for every winner.

candletrader · May 28, 2003

Quote from daytraderpete:

Not everyone has a business plan that is trend following. The market trends like this intra day maybe 3 or 4 times a month. I have traded with many guys who make a living scalping reversals, and that is all they do, so they don't make money on days like today. It's what they do all month and it makes them money consistently on chop days, so they sit on the sides or trade lite on days like today.
You might ask why don't they just swtich for that day....
The answer is simple - if you are a scalper for months at a time, you can't just turn on a switch and say "today I am a trend trader." It's not your business plan, plus mentally it is tough to look at your profit and loss objectives a completely different way.

On a day like yesterday(huge trend day up) the chartist made money, the scalpers were trading lite, on days most traders are complaining the market isn't moving - scalpers are cleaning up trading 10,000 shares back and forth all day for small gains.

There is nothing wrong or "right" about either style, but everyone does not make money on big trend days.

ps. I have been trading full time for 3 yrs and have tried to do both (scalp and intra day postion) to take advantage of both types of markets - MENTALLY IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to have diferent paradigms and plans day to day for profits and losses. I have settled on multiple time frame analysis mostly 5 minute charts. it suits my personality well.

You are assuming that it is impossible to switch between styles, contingent on a discretionary assessment of the trading environment and an identification of the style most amenable to that environment... I therefore disagree with you, since many of us are flexible enough to adapt, even on an intraday basis...

daytraderpete · May 28, 2003

Candle,

I didn't say it was impossible to switch styles day to day, in my experience it is just not a way to be CONSISTENTLY profitable.

If you can honestly say that some days you are a scalper and some days you are a trend trader..... then you are the best trader I know.

The best traders I know have a plan and then trade the plan when the set ups unfold. They don't have new plan everyday.

ElectricSavant · May 28, 2003

I do not claim to be the best, or the worst. I just trade for a living. During my day while waiting for signals....I search for set ups that can complement my current excursion. For example If I am position trading and need to be at the computer each half hour to check the position....then I could probably try scalping in between my signals.

Michael B.

candletrader · May 28, 2003

Quote from daytraderpete:

If you can honestly say that some days you are a scalper and some days you are a trend trader..... then you are the best trader I know.

Well, I am not the best trader who I personally know! hehe... there are loads of traders out there who are perfectly capable of trading multiple strategies, depending on how they are assessing the market on a given day... its called flexibility... but to do what I do, you gotta be pretty much of a discretionary trader, since it is outside the comfort zone of a systems trader whose raison d'etre is to follow a specific system rigidly...

murray t turtle · May 28, 2003

Quote from daytraderpete:

Candle,

I didn't say it was impossible to switch styles day to day, in my experience it is just not a way to be CONSISTENTLY profitable.

If you can honestly say that some days you are a scalper and some days you are a trend trader..... then you are the best trader I know.

The best traders I know have a plan and then trade the plan when the set ups unfold. They don't have new plan everyday.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Daytrader-pete is right in the sense probably very few switch.
However I dont see much difference in trend trading days,weeks and day trading moves on 30 minute candles, Both candletrades are in my plan.

Trends may pay better in a bull market which we are in now
;must be nice to be a scalper when the market trends sideways. Scalping may pay more then.

Tshin-01;

Art Cash [cashin in] said something like being in cash now is like driving BACKWARD on a toll road!

murray t turtle · May 29, 2003

Quote from tshin01:

Thanks~

Hope you guys made some cash today.... [/B]

========================================

With a name like Art Cashin [Cashin in ] I am sure Art Cashin is well read . Recently looked up cash in dictionary;included coins & checks.

DHOHHI · May 29, 2003

Quote from stoploss:

How can everybody win? For every buyer there has to be a seller, so for every winner there has to be a loser. right?

The market is not a zero sum game. More shares are held long than short and over time the market rises creating more "winners' (i.e. more wealth).