How long did it take for you to be profitable in daytrading?

[sdtrader]

Quote from Thunderdog:

Just curious. Why not "sweep" less frequently and make more? I can appreciate the value of playing a conservative game by "sweeping," but with the kind of performance you are talking about, I would think that there is ample room to maneuver.

And if I may, I'd like to ask the usual questions of someone with your kind of stated performance. What do you trade, win/loss ratio and average $win/$loss?

(Damn! Am I the only one here who isn't tripling his account every month? )

Why not sweep? I have all the buying power I need with professional leverage.

I can't speak about trading. I don't know my win/loss ratio or average win. I am just a monkey who trades news/stories stocks. I am a self admitted idiot that just bangs away reading the tape/specialist.

 

[murray t turtle]

Quote from profitplay:

How long did it take for you to be profitable in daytrading?

===============
More accurately measured in years,
sure some [say 20%] are profitable in 6 months;
but thats barely enough time for a major trend change,
so they may or may not even be profitable in 7 months.

If you told your bank or mortgage co you are profitable because you did it 6 months; see what they say.
Hint, it takes more time than 6 mo.

One et poster said why wont people give me a straight answer;
some say months to be profitable ,some say 10 years???????

Told him you got a straight answer, both are /could be correct;
it just wasnt the answer you were looking for

Daytrading is harder, thats why most money isnt made daytrading;
because takes time for trends to be friend, put on a king size position,
takes time for overnite gaps.

 

[porgie]

i make a million dollars a day.....now all run and say i know guy who makes a million dollars a day daytrading..........wow.....then there is th eguy who says i make 200/day datrading....wow.....see how easily money is made on the forums.........don't do it and u r better off unless u have proven to be one who dares to be different......... 5 years is average learning curve for normal guys.....smart guys take 10 .........

 

[porgie]

a real daytrade r shoul dtrae eminis about 15/day on YM
1 0 to 15 if he is milking the market

 

[Rearden Metal]

i tel you something and go write it on your wall.

There is no such thing as getting laid with chicks you just met.
It just doesn't exist. No 'player' is ever successful. The only way you'll ever have sex with an actual female, is to put a ring on her finger, and make a life long commitment. Otherwise, forget it.

Now, I may be a high school freshman who's never even gotten to first base, but I KNOW it can't be done....

Quote from Batman28:

i tel you something and go write it on your wall.

there is no such a thing as a successful 'day trader'. don't waste your time. it don't exist. and don't waste your life.

no day trader is ever successful. maybe just for the day. if u want to trade ask yourself for how long do u want to be a winner.

day trading = losing. it's like gambling. and those that think they're making money they're addicted and drunk. in the long run they don't have a cent. people here who vote they are, have a perception.

and yes, ofcourse if u put 100 monkey in a room 1 might call ur name. but thats how arnold is a US senator. shit happens. call it luck. but it don't necessarily mean success. and don't live ur life on the hope of such a rare event that doesnt even last.

the only successful day traders i know r market makers. but that's a whole different thing.

ooo. day trade. make easy money. sounds good to ur ear huh?

trust me on this, for once, don't believe u can success at day trading. ye believe u can become rich trading. but not at day trading. sometimes it's very important u recognise something that cannot be done.

write it on the wall.

 

[porgie]

WOW........tell me more.......the wisdom is overflowing........5 years is good time frame for becoming successful day trader in eminis////

 

[Adobian]

Quote from rateesquad:

My personal opinion is that you can make 1% a day by scalping.
so its lets say $250 a day due to initial $25,000 start, $1250 a week, thats around $65000 a year. I mean its not but if you live somewhere in OHIO or north Dakota, but if you live in NYC like me or LA, SF, etc. good luck with that one. $65000 is not bad though, if you would think that average family of four in US earns around $75000, and you would make 10000 just for yourself, not that bad, but if you are a mexican mother with 12 kids, well then you have to get second and third job. Good luck with this one, best of luck in trading.

Many who aims for 1% consistent rate a day usually hold on to their losses and lose 10% easily, with capital tied up until they are forced to sell to cut loss.

 

[Adobian]

Quote from coolweb:

If you actually traded before,

you will understand of course there is money in intra-day trading.
Movements happen all the same no matter if its on a monthly frame or a tick frame, All of them move in the same way, just difference of frequency and $.

Each entry into a swing trade, you can see there is money to be made instantly if timed right, some people just wait for the wide gains, while other people wait for the short gains.
There is no better or worse in the $$$ values, except wide gains tend to not materialize while short gains tend to materialize more often (less time for external selling/buying to buoy the prices)

The better or worse would be in the quality of life.


You have to be a complete idiot/non trader to think there isn't.

Movement of stocks are both up and down .

Plenty of movements everyday. Are you sure you can be in the right direction of the move more than 50% of the time ? you can be right 90% of the time with a gain of 1 percent each time, but the other 10% wrong, if you don't get out on time, you probably wipe out all your gain plus some on the negative side. That's how people lose money.

 

[pcflow]

Quote from Rearden Metal:

i tel you something and go write it on your wall.

There is no such thing as getting laid with chicks you just met.
It just doesn't exist. No 'player' is ever successful. The only way you'll ever have sex with an actual female, is to put a ring on her finger, and make a life long commitment. Otherwise, forget it.

Now, I may be a high school freshman who's never even gotten to first base, but I KNOW it can't be done....

roflmao

 

[Adobian]

Quote from Mike805:

How is the point you've just made any different from someone running a failing restaurant buisness? Or a guy in job about to be outsourced, etc...

I have heard numerous stories of failing entrepenuers in every buisness arena. I also personally know of many who dropped out of school, got fired becuase of incompetency, got laid off from a corporate job, etc.

There are winners and losers in every aspect of life. Trading is no different. While an argument could be made that perhaps trading is slightly more competitive due to the low entry barriers, but, somehow I think people who believe this argument are not taking the steps necessary to REMAIN competitive.

Since someone mentioned this link:
http://www.trading-naked.com/paul_rotter.htm

I'll take an excerpt out:

"he had to work hard to make it. he blew up in the beginning of his career, which was painful but also educational - he learned his lesson and with lots of research, seeking improvement all the time, he became the man."

Someone else mentioned it's like going to a Private university paying $35K a year for your education.

Me personally, it takes me 7 years to learn to be calm, cool, collected.

Those who start should have a back up plan to replenish once the fund runs out.

Sometimes, I ponder, if everybody is a winner in this life, everybody would be on a beach 6 months out of a year. Who'd be working ?