why do people laugh when I mention day trading?

wee man · Oct 6, 2009

Quote from Alexis:

very strange thread. None of us here at the office (we're not hundreds) ever got laughed at.

I'm laughing at you right now, looking at your picture on the bedside table as your woman strokes my balls.

slapshot · Oct 6, 2009

Quote from vhehn:

for most people day trading is fools gold. the most common number is 80-90% fail. i know. you are sure you will be in the 10% that make money.
even for many of those that make money, if you understand oppertunity cost, you will not come out ahead. if you have the ability to make 50k a year at a job plus benifits it means you must make > 1000 per weekdaytrading to just break even. for most people it will be more profitable to keep your day job and do your trading in a longer term timeframes.

Your math is wrong here. If a person makes avg. $1,000 per weekday as a trader, they make about $170k per year, as there are about 170 tradeable days per year. Even with 20 days time off, it is $150k.

And if a person can steadily make $1,000 per day, then it is just a function of size to make $2,000 - or $5,000 per day.

However, A person really only needs to make $300 per day to replace that $50k + benefits job you speak of.

The trick is being patient and disciplined enough to steadily make $300 per day for 6 months or a year - that's the real bitch for most folks. It takes a lot of "training" and drill, drill, drill but it is doable. Once this happens, then you get to join the minority.

risktaker · Oct 6, 2009

your father is right, you're a dummy.

Quote from Lethn:

My own father calls me a naive fool for wanting to go into trading..... Boy I'm going to make him eat those words >_<

zdreg · Oct 6, 2009

they look at the handles of the people who post and burst out laughing.

Lethn · Oct 6, 2009

Quote from risktaker:

your father is right, you're a dummy.

There has been no logic yet that has shown I am so technically folks like you are the dummies for trying to predict the future and making assumptions

ambienCR · Oct 6, 2009

The blame solidly falls to the E*TrADE BABY.

This is how the public views YOU thanks to the friends at e*trade

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Anaconda · Oct 6, 2009

Quote from slapshot:

Your math is wrong here. If a person makes avg. $1,000 per weekday as a trader, they make about $170k per year, as there are about 170 tradeable days per year. Even with 20 days time off, it is $150k.

And if a person can steadily make $1,000 per day, then it is just a function of size to make $2,000 - or $5,000 per day.

However, A person really only needs to make $300 per day to replace that $50k + benefits job you speak of.

The trick is being patient and disciplined enough to steadily make $300 per day for 6 months or a year - that's the real bitch for most folks. It takes a lot of "training" and drill, drill, drill but it is doable. Once this happens, then you get to join the minority.

I'm sorry, but you cracked me up.

He obviously said $1000 a week daytrading, not $1000 per day. So your post is mostly redundant.

And I may be mistaken, but there are 252 tradable days a year, at least in stocks.

maxpi · Oct 6, 2009

Etrade is such a hole.. you try to cancel your thing with them for years.. they keep sending you statements about how you have $3 in the account, which they won't send you, then hackers get past their firewall and steal your info...

DHOHHI · Oct 6, 2009

Quote from maxpi:

Etrade is such a hole.. you try to cancel your thing with them for years.. they keep sending you statements about how you have $3 in the account, which they won't send you, then hackers get past their firewall and steal your info...

I don't have my trading account there but do have 2 other accounts with them.

As far as being hacked --- virtually impossible. They've had the security key that generate a new random number every minute that is appended to your password to login. Thus, a hacker has no chance to get into my accounts.

slapshot · Oct 6, 2009

Quote from Anaconda:

I'm sorry, but you cracked me up.

He obviously said $1000 a week daytrading, not $1000 per day. So your post is mostly redundant.

And I may be mistaken, but there are 252 tradable days a year, at least in stocks.

Well, since he ran it all together, I guess I read it wrong. My bad. Glad you got a good laugh.

Still doesn't invalidate my other points. I'd rather make $300 per day at home trading than corporate America for $50k per year.

And a trader can change that by trading bigger, just add a zero to trade size. Try doing that with a salary job.

Whether or not 252 days are really tradeable is open for debate.

Technically the market may be open, but at least 80 of those days are pre-holiday, Fed, low volume, random, tight-range, no breakout, witching or just plain crappy trading days that should be avoided or traded very small, IMO. Unless a person likes to lose money.

Between that fact and taking time off for a life, that is why I used the 170 figure.

PS Are you sure you know what "redundant" means?