Is trading easy?

Is trading easy?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Fuck off cunt.


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Some methods take longer than others. e.g. to be successful artistic trader is often said on this very venue to take ten years. Big fan of rules based trading meself, lol. Lotsa people give it lip service but when it comes down to it the 5 out of 100 figure stated by the old timer sounds about right to me. How bout you?
What is the 5 out of 100 figure rule? It sounds like a risk to reward ratio. ??
Scalping using my strategy, means closing the trade immediately if not in profit right away. If I have to lose 5 to 15 pennies on a trade that's gone wrong it's the only risk I take with the amount of shares I trade with right now. So perhaps my ratio could be 1 to 1, on a worse case scenario, (exception being an algo flush or anomaly). I think that there are so many ways to trade, I use a few strong stocks only and risk with 100 shares scalping doesn't accommodate the same r to r that other day traders or swing traders need to use. It is in and out for small profit each time.
 
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Instead of concentrating on increasing win rate, why not find ways to decrease losing percentages? Study what happened before signal on winning trades, to the left of signal on charts.

Study patterns at extremes then don't trade against them.

My first twenty years were not easy to trade, am a perfectionist, I got into trading as ultimate challenge, my businesses did well enough I retired at 43. All my life been workaholic, having Asperger's helped me see patterns of what's missing or wrong.

Instead of working on high percentage very long term commodity system of selling highs and buying lows, I went to making a horrible low winning percentage system, then learned hedging to make profits when I lost, so I have positive expectancy when trade is placed it will be losing trade on underlying but make overall profits. System seeks percentage nine year extremes, so when high/low entry is found, stays in for 75% of 9 year range and on pullbacks more entries done. Started it in 1991 and improved through the years.

Recently turned off scalping automated systems, all did 5% or less losing %, moved funds to areas that produce larger profits. Have one day trading system automated, runs 24 hours and automating last one, losses 4% and under. Protective stop is $1250, profits less.

Is trading easier after 44 years, absolutely, I understand what happens most of the time. I expect to be profitable everyday, losing days happen cause of averaging down but overall produces more overall.

Most people don't think outside the box, use too many indicators, don't study charting patterns.
One of better patterns is Reverse divergence, Google it.
Wedges with trend, triple bottoms with trend, Head and shoulders with or against trend. Anticipate triangles and get in early, risk less and those do trend line breakout gets your trade to break even stops. Whatever normal signals are, learn to get in early.

Getting older, rather go for larger profit systems, less trades. Scalping/day trading younger person way of life, age catches up.

Excellent points, your approach is based on lots of experience.

I've found my most profitable days are when I trade extreme charts, biggest % gainers/losers.

Particularly when I hedge/pair daytrade leveraged etf pairs like TQQQ/SQQQ BOIL/KOLD etc.

Range, volatility is critical. Also, trading a ladder, sequence of trades to scale in. And ultra-tight. 07-.15 stops really helps.
 
I'm just getting back into trading and found a way that suits me, and surprisingly I hardly ever have bad trades. I'm scalping with 100 shares using the index patterns I see in Medved platform and using heavy weighted tech stocks in the Nasdaq, like AMD...
"Make hay while it lasts". IMO it likely won't. Markets change.

I was down that road once believing in small, quick in and outs are the way to go. As well as many, many others that make it beyond the initial early hard years.
 
"Make hay while it lasts". IMO it likely won't. Markets change.

I was down that road once believing in small, quick in and outs are the way to go. As well as many, many others that make it beyond the initial early hard years.

I am of the opinion that you can trade any timeframe consistently, but once the volatility dies, you pretty much have to hold trades for many hours.
 
"Make hay while it lasts". IMO it likely won't. Markets change.

I was down that road once believing in small, quick in and outs are the way to go. As well as many, many others that make it beyond the initial early hard years.
And what made you decide it wasn't the way to go if you wanted to come out green everyday and use a low risk style? When commissions were 7.00 per trade, it was a bit more difficult than these days I think to employ this strategy with a result of a profitable day.
 
I am of the opinion that you can trade any timeframe consistently, but once the volatility dies, you pretty much have to hold trades for many hours.
Volatility dies - move to another market.

That is why I trade Gold and Crude besides Indexes. Sometimes on occasion Currency futures.
 
And what made you decide it wasn't the way to go if you wanted to come out green everyday and use a low risk style? When commissions were 7.00 per trade, it was a bit more difficult than these days I think to employ this strategy with a result of a profitable day.
Futures. I haven't traded stonks in 20 years.

Either way my hope is to be profitable weekly/monthly/yearly. Daily ups and downs far less important.
 
I am of the opinion that you can trade any timeframe consistently, but once the volatility dies, you pretty much have to hold trades for many hours.
For me, the key is to use high volume top tech stocks that are the top weights of the index. I think that will continue for the future. But XOM etc on a good day I don't rule out. When Google splits it's going to lots of fun :)
 
I think scalping and trend trading (what Ken described above) can both make money. Of course, market changes and it impacts scalping more severely.

In other words, trend/momentum trading is a more sustainable strategy. I have been down the road of scalping and for some time was quite successful with a win rate of 90%+ but it didn’t last long.

Now I am more of a big trend trading guy and feel it is more suitable for me based on my “edge”, which is the big picture view/sense. Again, everyone is different and there’s no surprise that some ppl are successful at scalping, etc.

It comes back to the saying that everyone needs to find one’s own style and gets what one wants from the market.
 
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