Serious question: What makes a successful daytrader? Is it consistent daily wins, or more wins?

Successful day traders only make a few day trades successfully. Other strategies are used to earn real profits. Day trading is invented by brokers and analysis hawksters to separate the trader from their trading capital. Don't believe the hype! Not 1 strategy works best in all markets.
 
lylec305 said:
Successful day traders only make a few day trades successfully. Other strategies are used to earn real profits. Day trading is invented by brokers and analysis hawksters to separate the trader from their trading capital. Don't believe the hype! Not 1 strategy works best in all markets.
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Lylec, what 1% gain of capital daily average through day trading is not good enough for you? That's what I make and I still leave a lot on the plate so there is space for improvement...
 
Steven W said:
What makes a successful daytrader? Is it consistent daily wins, or more wins than losses at the end of the month? When is it time to call it quits?
I was up 11k this week, only to lose it all and then some shorting today. My year to date profit chart looks like a heart rate chart, some days I'll be up 2k, then lose it the next day. It is rarely consistent wins (I'll say I will be green 50% of the days, coin flip really), but usually, I'll end the month up, but only by like $300 or so. Then there are days like today, where I was up 11k this week by winning 4 days in a row, only to lose all my profits and my own cash today. It's been like this for 2 years, haven't blown up my account yet, but it feels stagnant like I cannot control my outcome. What is frustrating for me is not losing money, but the realization that my dream career may be out of my grasp. That is what hit me the hardest.
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In my past, I never broken down the stats deep enough in my youth, basically never knew what I had to break down. But like in day trading ES, I know through day trading what I can expect every 30 minutes by signals would produce, I know what signals can be used every 30 minute segment on the mean ave, What 3 hours/fifteen segment produce the best, what days of the week best, does the mutual fund study done long ago of being long last four and first two days of any month hold true, reward to risk each day, just go crazy on diving into what you have been doing. Many many do horrible on Friday trading, half my friends simple don't trade at all on Friday cause of it, gives them a day of back testing. Is it possible for you to be profitable 18 of 20 days? Do you notice after 1-2 hours you are up on day and slide into losing remainder of day? "Mean" is my favorite word, wanting to find the "Mean" of profits which I make as Goal then cut back size, "Mean" of loss just before losing my rear end on the day, this has two edge sword of missing out on recovery back to small better than breakeven on the day. Another point, if you find yourself negative on a day, have your stats on getting back to breakeven then walk away or do you keep trading then lose on the day. What happens on winning days that is not happening on huge losing days?

95% of needed information, I learn from winning days, losing days I learn little as I am not trying to reproduce them more often.
 
For you the first step is to decide if you are in it for the action or the money. Be brutally honest with yourself in this assessment. My guess is you are in it for the action and, if I am correct, I have two words for you:

VEGAS BABY!!​
 
Steven W said:
I do have a strategy that is mostly technical related. On some days, I can call the top and bottom perfectly and feels like I am in sync with the stock. On some days I am off due to fake signals, but I win more often than not. It's just that commissions take away all my profits. For the year, I am break-even. A note to this is that I spent 12k on commission this year already. So my system works, just not well enough after getting shafted on commission
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Your edge is not good enough to overcome frictional cost, simple as that.
 
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