If I Was a Trader, I’d be the dumbest Trader on Earth

[KGTrader4]

Everyone has an opinion or a niche when it comes to trading. So here's mine: Trade volatility and don't attempt to compete with institutions. That leaves you with small companies jumping in the premarket hours on news. Trade patterns on the way up. Get out. Repeat the next morning. This is a full time income for me. Some people trade futures, SPY, large caps, etc. and I don't know how they do it. There is way too much smart money that you are competing with on that stuff.

Interesting thought. I’m thinking that I want to put due position trading rather than daytrading. Maybe swing trading. If there’s much of a difference but not daytrading. So not sure if that would work for me
I did think about it what I want to get out of this. And I think I’ve come up with a reasonable goal. I want to make enough money every year to pay the taxes due on my required minimum distributions which start this year. Taxes will be about 20k a year may be a little more

 

[SunTrader]

There is no money in the markets - smart or otherwise. It is all in account balances.

Buy something, someone else gets the funds. Sell something, the reverse.

Opinions are all that is in the markets.

 

[FreeGoldRush]

Interesting thought. I’m thinking that I want to put due position trading rather than daytrading. Maybe swing trading.

Most people fall into the category of a fundamentals trader or a quantitative trader. Make sure you know what camp you are in with each trade. I'm almost entirely a quantitative trader but will sometimes buy fundamentals, internet rumor, etc. as a swing trade. Most of the time I don't even care what the name of the company is. To me it's just a stock symbol and a very short term trading history.

 

[FreeGoldRush]

There is no money in the markets - smart or otherwise. It is all in account balances.

Buy something, someone else gets the funds. Sell something, the reverse.

Opinions are all that is in the markets.

My point is that there are smart traders, such as Ren Tech, and there are dumb traders, such as most retail speculators. Don't try and take money from Ren Tech. You will lose. Much easier to buy what the retail herd is just starting to jump into and then getting out when they are at max feeding frenzy.

 

[SunTrader]

My point is that there are smart traders, such as Ren Tech, and there are dumb traders, such as most retail speculators. Don't try and take money from Ren Tech. You will lose. Much easier to buy what the retail herd is just starting to jump into and then getting out when they are at max feeding frenzy.

I watch price, not what others are doing.

 

[mikeriley]

Some people trade futures, SPY, large caps, etc. and I don't know how they do it. There is way too much smart money that you are competing with on that stuff.

Just speaking for myself, but the patterns are easier to identify
for Futures (NQ, YM, Gold) than any stocks I've traded. I use
to trade a basket of stocks just to compete with one Futures
instrument.

When NQ and the YM are trending, they will move hundreds of
dollars before a reversal. And many times the reversal will be
a text book V pattern, or another pattern I called a Tower pattern.

I think many get scared off from Futures because of the chaotic
rubber-band like back & forth price action.

I really think people need to stop assuming all retail
traders are dumb.

 

[FreeGoldRush]

I really think people need to stop assuming all retail traders are dumb.

That is a bad assumption. But in the big picture money flows from retail to institutional and not the other way around. There's tons of opportunity for a retail trader to be consistently profitable, however.

 

[KGTrader4]

Agree with this. I see the opportunity in front of me. I consider myself a retail trader. The variable is how many retail traders will put in the work to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

[FreeGoldRush]

When NQ and the YM are trending, they will move hundreds of
dollars before a reversal. And many times the reversal will be
a text book V pattern, or another pattern I called a Tower pattern.

What sort of time frames are you looking at before they reverse? We've been in quite a bull market for the past two years so during that time your statement is statistically true over pretty much any sized window.

 

[mikeriley]

What sort of time frames are you looking at before they reverse? We've been in quite a bull market for the past two years so during that time your statement is statistically true over pretty much any sized window.

I use 30 minute charts.