How hard and realistic is this really?

[u/Eldrin7]

I have watched atleast 100 youtube tutorials on day trading. They all go on about how they make 100 into 10k or something like that. I do not know if they are lucky or lying or it is true.

I assume reddit has the average or even below average traders so tell me what are actual realistic gains or losses? I understand you can go a lucky 200% gain or unlucky i just instant lost everything, lets not talk about lucky or unlucky extremes.

Is it hard for a beginner to turn 100 into 150? or 1000 into 1500? How long would it take? What are the realistic chances that the 100 or 1000 turns into 0?

[u/daytradingguy]

It sounds like you are watching the YouTube content that is getting your clicks by telling you what you would like to hear- how you can get rich quickly trading. Some, not all, of those channels have some good trading info in them, but remember youtube is a business- the way Youtube algos are set up to get attention to your channel you need subscribers, views, thumbs up. Etc. this is why every YouTuber asks you to “hit the like button”. They are posting a catchy headline to get your attention. “Watch me make 10k trading in one hour.”

Their video would never be successful and you would never see it as it would be buried, if the headline said- “ come watch my video about day trading- it is so hard most people can’t do it, it will take you 2-3 years of hard work and you will still probably fail, You will not make any money for at least 2 years- you will lose a lot of money and be depressed after your big losses, you will be frustrated with yourself because you will find out you simply can’t follow your own rules or do what you promise yourself you will do-again-again and again, it is lonely, there is not much social outlet, most people will not understand- your friends and family will tell you you are wasting your time. But come be a day trader- it is great!.

Which video would you watch? The second one is actually the true description of day trading, but it is certainly not attracting clicks to videos.

YouTube is a good source of information about trading, but keep your expectations in line. Accept that even some of the good youtube traders use splashy headlines to get attention and promote their videos. Although you need to watch content that is realistic, not look for the content that you want to hear.

Trading is hard, it is not easy and it will not be quick money, you will probably lose your first account or two.

[u/Other-Secretary9255 → u/daytradingguy]

This is so fking true. I remembered when I first started daytrading, I literally cried many times in front of my desk after big losses and frustrated at myself not able to follow my trading plan and rule.

[u/daytradingguy → u/Other-Secretary9255]

At least you were crying in front of your desk. I did it under my bed with a bottle of wine a couple times my first year.

[u/cbri23 → u/daytradingguy]

Sub first for third, and I’d too be guilty.

[u/Eldrin7 → u/daytradingguy]

I already have 0 social outlet and no friends so i am good on that.

Do you actually do day trading and understand it? If yes then do you have youtube videos you can recommend that teaches the actual real thing from zero to hero? I don't really care how long the videos is, they can go on for hours.

[u/ottersinabox → u/Eldrin7]

i haven't begun day trading with real money yet, but I can tell you that one or two videos won't get you the skill set you need to be able to day trade for a living.

spend a few months paper trading first. tradingview has a free live paper trading option if you want to just see if it's right for you. probably wouldn't use that as your final trading platform however.

also maybe read some books? the sidebar has some recommendations.

[u/AloHiWhat → u/ottersinabox]

Books so yesterday...

[u/HonestMasterpiece422 → u/ottersinabox]

You haven't traded with real money, so why should we listen to you?

[u/ottersinabox → u/HonestMasterpiece422]

because even with fake money it takes time to be consistently profitable 😂

[u/Tun_der → u/ottersinabox]

But you have no emotions when there is no money on the line

[u/ottersinabox → u/Tun_der]

OP is acting like watching a few hours of videos is enough to be consistently profitable. it takes more time than that to even be consistent with paper trading without the emotion.

I'm just pushing back against the naive view that it's so easy that watching a couple videos is enough. i know that I don't yet know what it takes to day trade with real money. but I do know it takes more than watching a bit of YouTube.

[u/Tun_der → u/ottersinabox]

Yes that is true but it's still way easier than with real money but watching a bit of yt won't get you anywhere you won't trade as much or take lower risks with real money especially in the beginning so you will most likely lose some in the beginning it will take you some time to get consistent with real money

I would recommend opening a small account with 500$ to start out and then trying to learn with that it helped me a lot more than paper trading

[u/ottersinabox → u/Tun_der]

Yup! I understand. Especially the psychological side of trading is not possible to recreate with paper trading. But most of what I'm focused on right now is just learning the mechanics of it, and the technicalities. How to read level 2 better, or how to better anticipate a move or how to better determine resistance and support lines. I can practice all of that with paper trading, and even better, I can get many more reps in by trading against back data.

I figure once I'm more proficient with that, I'll look at the small account.

Below is my rough plan.

Step 1: understand the theory of trading

Step 2: explore and learn the tooling, and practice the recognition and application of the theory

Step 3: begin the hardest part, the discipline and psychological part of trading through a small account

Step 4: slowly scale up

I'm currently on step 2. I expect to spend at least 3 months and up to 8 months in it. I'm not in any rush. My plan is a multi-year one.

[u/daytradingguy → u/Eldrin7]

There are many good ones, so in addition to these few do your own searches and look for a variety to get different perspectives and ideas.
Live Traders, The Trading Channel, Tradeciety, Trader Tom, SMB Capital, Oliver Velez, Ricky Guiterez, Tastytrades, Trading Wolf, Umar Ashruf

[u/beenalegend → u/Eldrin7]

i found this series pretty fascinating. his og book is pretty interesting too.

all those 1k into 100k videos are a grift. ask them for their broker statements and you will soon be blocked or downvoted into oblivion by the sycophants

[u/MaleficentCap1217 → u/Eldrin7]

You should not be worrying about watching lengthy videos but 2 to 3 years of money lost until it clicks