Is day trading worth it?

Laissez Faire said:
I have close to a year of experience day trading the ES and a lot more backtesting, so I'm not completely green. But I find that it's easier to be motivated if there's real money on the line.

It's the same with my swing trade. I've followed the market, but it's not until I took on this real trade with real money that I got sucked back in.
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Unless there is a chance of real profits, i can't see the point in wasting my time, very little demo time in my trading career, me live test new system ofcourse, it might work after all :)


You'll do better than 95% around here i'm sure, better that 99% is required though.
 
Turveyd said:
You'll do better than 95% around here i'm sure, better that 99% is required though.
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I think so, too. I'm pretty brilliant with the ES. It's just that I was in a desperate position the last time I was day trading it.

What are you trading?
 
Laissez Faire said:
I think so, too. I'm pretty brilliant with the ES. It's just that I was in a desperate position the last time I was day trading it.

What are you trading?
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I was trading DAX, but it's been kicking my ass recently, not enough noise, pick a direction and keep going for me, so dumped that. ( can't run tight enough SL's )

Trading GBPAUD, GPBUSD, EURUSD, EURJPY suiting me much better, since yesterday. up $800 area since the switch, which is nice.

I run my Lot size ( Spot account ) at a level where I literally CAN'T try to average myself out of loss, couldn't do that with DAX, 200:1 margin, 100:1 on Forex, broker won't change it :(
 
I think I encountered this one too. I just don't get the reason behind it though.
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I day trade forex and gold and know a few others that day trade too, it does take quite a while to work things out but it is possible and definitely worth it once it clicks, I concentrated on p a, volume, flow and found a method that suited me, gl
 
Turveyd said:
No, you have to accept risk, demo trades are never the same as live real money trades.
I jumped in, did the same and its paying off nicely for me, despite all the worry no balls people.
Upside 100k downside 2k no brainer lol
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Indeed demo trades are not real. But they can approach real trades very closely. I take extra slippage and costs in my demos. So for me real trading results are always better than demo. And at least you have an idea what to expect. I don’t like cowboy style like: just go for it!
But demo trades can be a dangerous basis to rely on too. I have mathematically fixed rules. So it is very clear when to do what. Mathematically 1+1 is always 2 and it is always clear that it is 2.
People analyzing tick tapes, drawing lines , reading volumes…. can more easily cheat because they have to interprete. Because they work with hindsight the reliabilty of their demo trades depends of how much they cheat with their hindsight. They can first watch the chart and then make a (subjective) analysis. This kind of demos are to me absolutely unreliable.
When you write: “Upside 100k downside 2k no brainer lol” it sounds to me not professional.
It sounds more macho. But being macho and daring to take risks is no guarantee for succes. You will have balls, but maybe lose all your money. Reality will probably be more like:”Theoretically 100k upside , but in reality probably 2k down”
Trading is not easy, so you should at least make an effort to do your homework first.
 
i am nobody said:
Indeed demo trades are not real. But they can approach real trades very closely. I take extra slippage and costs in my demos. So for me real trading results are always better than demo. And at least you have an idea what to expect. I don’t like cowboy style like: just go for it!
But demo trades can be a dangerous basis to rely on too. I have mathematically fixed rules. So it is very clear when to do what. Mathematically 1+1 is always 2 and it is always clear that it is 2.
People analyzing tick tapes, drawing lines , reading volumes…. can more easily cheat because they have to interprete. Because they work with hindsight the reliabilty of their demo trades depends of how much they cheat with their hindsight. They can first watch the chart and then make a (subjective) analysis. This kind of demos are to me absolutely unreliable.
When you write: “Upside 100k downside 2k no brainer lol” it sounds to me not professional.
It sounds more macho. But being macho and daring to take risks is no guarantee for succes. You will have balls, but maybe lose all your money. Reality will probably be more like:”Theoretically 100k upside , but in reality probably 2k down”
Trading is not easy, so you should at least make an effort to do your homework first.
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I like cowboy style, it works for me, time also has a cost and time wasted on demo to me, is a cost I can't afford, better to lose some money than waste time IMHO.

I have no fixed math's based rules, for me it's more about reading the taping and accepting the risk / reward nature, demo there is no risk / reward it makes it too easy to not care then do well. Don't get me wrong, even I do a few pretend trades just to check it'll be worth the risk before jumping on it live, or after a few days of down time.

It's 2K, you beat day trading and it's worth risking/losing 2K a few times, better odds cracking day trading if you have a brain than playing the lottery.

And I'm approx 6K in profit, on my 10year Forex trading career, 2-3months wages in only 10years LOL but I'm starting to hit $300 - $500 per day which I expect to increase quickly at this stage, so worth the 10years ( 2Years taking out down time, estimated ), down approx 3K at my lows, pulled back 9K last 18months ).

So if my NSX in 2years time ( 1 year old by then ), is a nice to drive as it looks, then yes totally worth it, if not, might aswell of stayed poor and with the Accord LOL
 
With regards to the topic we're discussing...

My swing trade account peaked today:

73.25% return so far on my first trade. This is with leverage. 15% return without leverage.

I'm expecting to close it on a price level that should give me roughly a 130% return. Ideally within a month or so.

Time spent on pre-analysis: A few hours.

Time spent waiting for my entry: A few weeks.

Time spent entering my order: Less than five minutes.

Time spent managing my trade: Not much.

Duration for the trade: Roughly two months by now. Maybe three months by the time I close it.

The problem is of course that it's not easy to replicate this type of trade every month. Oil had dropped too far and a solid oil stock was on sale, so I simply saw an opportunity I had to take. Don't see anything else on the horizon right now, to be honest, but I will start looking.

This is what I like with swinging. You only enter when you perceive a great opportunity and may spend weeks on the sidelines just waiting and stalking. It can get boring though.
 
Scaleout.Scalper said:
If all you do is trading, and you swing trader, of course it can get boring.

Swing trading is the perfect companion with those with a 9-5 job or hitting the books in college or if you are wealthy, golf, gym, beach, pick your vice.
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I have a busy life. It's still boring. I know my stock will trade up around 10% from here, but it may take weeks. It's boring. :D
 
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