If you are a day trader with a persistent edge, are you a millionaire yet?

[Blaze]

Day trading is a fool's errand for most people (mere mortals like me). Countable people have the skill to profit from day trading net of fees. Show me a profitable day-trader who has done it for 5+ years and I will show you a genius. The problem is, most people including those on this thread would hate to admit that they are not smart enough to day-trade profitably.

Day trading is the riskiest form of trading and I can explain why. If you missed the best 20 days of the S & P between 1999 and 2018, you would have had a negative annualized return (-0.33%). If you missed the best 60 days, you'd have had an annualized return of (-7.41%). Think about that. What are the odds of missing those 60 days in 20 years if you are a day-trader?? Extremely high!! As you trade shorter time frames, the odds of missing the best days increase significantly. This is also the reason why very few traders can beat an index because the index doesn't miss any of the best days.

If you are serious about making money in this industry, leave day-trading to amateurs (most day traders) and the countable geniuses (which you are not). Swing or position trade to capture majority of the best days.

 

[NotKnown]

Semi-serious question

It is an interesting question. I have been day trading for longer than 5 years but I take breaks within that mix because too much screen time is not good for ones health. Of late I am back into it and trading the DAX as we speak/type (big night tonight). In my experience, most people are fixated on how much they can make. In my opinion, that is the wrong approach. For example, I only trade indices and do ok at it. If you are going to trade indices your focus is on how many points you can get consistently. If that is negative then you are not going to make money. That is most obvious. That goes for most things you try to trade. If you cannot capture positive movement, stop!! The second is you have to understand what you are trading and how it works. What makes it move? What forms do the movements take? How do we measure and take advantage of that move? Where is the opportunity? It takes dedication and time to figure these things out. Trading is not simple and you need the right tools, experience and mindset to be good at it. You cannot learn trading in a week nor a year but it can be learnt.

 

[deaddog]

Day trading is the riskiest form of trading and I can explain why. If you missed the best 20 days of the S & P between 1999 and 2018, you would have had a negative annualized return (-0.33%). If you missed the best 60 days, you'd have had an annualized return of (-7.41%).

You've been drinking the cool aid.

Take the time to research what happens when you miss the 20 or 60 worse days.

 

[wiesman02]

Day trading is a fool's errand for most people (mere mortals like me). Countable people have the skill to profit from day trading net of fees. Show me a profitable day-trader who has done it for 5+ years and I will show you a genius. The problem is, most people including those on this thread would hate to admit that they are not smart enough to day-trade profitably.

Day trading is the riskiest form of trading and I can explain why. If you missed the best 20 days of the S & P between 1999 and 2018, you would have had a negative annualized return (-0.33%). If you missed the best 60 days, you'd have had an annualized return of (-7.41%). Think about that. What are the odds of missing those 60 days in 20 years if you are a day-trader?? Extremely high!! As you trade shorter time frames, the odds of missing the best days increase significantly. This is also the reason why very few traders can beat an index because the index doesn't miss any of the best days.

If you are serious about making money in this industry, leave day-trading to amateurs (most day traders) and the countable geniuses (which you are not). Swing or position trade to capture majority of the best days.

This is such a stupid post I really dont know where to begin

 

[Blaze]

You've been drinking the cool aid.

Take the time to research what happens when you miss the 20 or 60 worse days.

This is such a stupid post I really dont know where to begin

I would bet that if you two are day-traders, you are net down since you started trading. I have met a lot of day-trading wannabes like you guys whose PNL tells a totally different story from what they preach. How well have you performed in the last 3 years?? I am certain that you haven't made any money day-trading.

 

[Tradex]

I have met a lot of day-trading wannabes like you guys whose PNL tells a totally different story from what they preach

This only proves that you hang out with losing day-traders.

 

[Blaze]

This only proves that you hang out with losing day-traders.

Are you a profitable day-trader?? If yes, I would like to see your PNL for the last 300 trades.

 

[Tradex]

Are you a profitable day-trader??

I posted a few live Forex trades here: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/tradex-forex-journal.345872/
(I somehow neglected that thread because I tend to lose focus when I trade and post at the same time.)

 

[wiesman02]

I would bet that if you two are day-traders, you are net down since you started trading. I have met a lot of day-trading wannabes like you guys whose PNL tells a totally different story from what they preach. How well have you performed in the last 3 years?? I am certain that you haven't made any money day-trading.

been doing this since 2007 when I joined this site. If I was down all those years, that would be a whole lot of lost time and money

 

[Blaze]

been doing this since 2007 when I joined this site. If I was down all those years, that would be a whole lot of lost time and money

Are you a multi-millionaire yet??