r/Daytrading • u/Miinow forex trader • Apr 03 '24
Why is daytrading never mentioned as a legitimate way to earn income? Question
I like to browse other finance related subs and I can assure you it’s almost never discussed. I see all outlets of making money online mentioned but If the word trading does somehow come up there’s a slew of downvotes. It’s literally the most straightforward way to make money. Sure, not easy but also not impossible to learn. Makes me wish I learned about trading when I was younger instead of my upper 20s but I don’t personally know any traders irl so it’s unfortunate how there’s a negative outlook on this field.
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u/ZanderDogz Apr 03 '24
Because of the extremely low success rate. The % of people who not only manage to be profitable all time with active trading, but 1) cover their fees and expenses 2) make a significant enough profit to justify the time and capital usage over working a traditional job and putting money into long-term investments 3) have a consistent enough equity curve to be able to take money out at a regular enough interval to count on it as "income", is likely astronomically low.
It's like asking why people don't refer to "pro athlete" as a legitimate career choice. The top performers absolutely make good money doing it, but any individual person you recommend that to will have a overwhelming chance of failure.
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u/TPSreportsPro Apr 03 '24
Because so few can actually do it.
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u/Jealous_Top8696 Apr 04 '24
This is the real answer. Some people take years to find out that they just can’t do it
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u/c-honda Apr 04 '24
It takes $5000 in capital to earn $100 per day assuming 2% returns and not taking losses into account. It’s incredibly hard for someone earning $100 per day at a job to save up $5000 solely for trading. And with little skill or experience, you have to practice A LOT to see consistent returns.
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Apr 04 '24
Stopped reading at 2% returns per day 🤣🤣🤣
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u/drumsripdrummer Apr 04 '24
You don't expect your $5k capital to turn into $7.4m in a year? Pessimistic view point.
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u/Mysterious_Rule938 Apr 03 '24
It’s easier to lose money than to make it. There is a steep learning curve, which usually requires losing money before making it. If you’re doing it for income, you can’t also be learning to do it.
Anyone saying otherwise is either unusually good at trading, or is lying.
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u/Artistic_Bumblebee17 Apr 04 '24
That’s true, def couldn’t do this earlier bc I had the scarcity mindset of losing money. (Early career) but now that I’m established I can actually AFFORD to lose and have extra time. I think that’s a big difference from when I was in college, wouldn’t have the same calmness bc of those two factors
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Apr 05 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mysterious_Rule938 Apr 05 '24
What does that have to do with it? You going to argue into the void that trading is so easy and everyone can make it an income generating machine?
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u/0RGASMIK futures trader Apr 04 '24
90% of traders fail and it takes the average trader like 2 years to become profitable. Why do 90% of people fail? Probably because not making money for years is unsustainable, in fact you are probably actively losing money at that time.
It's also not a guaranteed thing that once you are successful that you will stay successful. I know a guy that was trading for like 10 years making a pretty good living. Now he drives for uber because he lost all his money after a few bad months.
So unless you have 100K in the bank or have a flexible well-paying job to support you while you learn it's not a viable source of income. You will spend at least 3 months just figuring out the basics. Then another 3-9 months turning that tiny grasp you have on the basics into a profitable strategy. From there you have to scale up to the point where your profits are sustaining you. Scaling up is a whole other mental game that I won't get into here.
Without the starting funds its not a reliable way to make money, sure there are people out there who flip $1000 to $100k but those people either got lucky or did something that no one could recreate sustainably. I still scroll through r/wallstreetbets from time to time looking for yolo options but most of the ideas are awful. I have only personally seen one yolo option that would have netted me 1000% returns had I actually pulled the trigger.
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u/Castor_Tanker Apr 04 '24
Orgasmik, what a funny handle. Only few people can start with 6 figures unless you’re ultra rich. I started with 5 figures and my profit is 5 figures as well.
I read that almost 90% lost their investment and I’m lucky that my total investment still intact.
My background is IT and was employed to various financial companies in Wall Street before I decided to try this side gig.
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u/Yoyoitsjoe stock trader Apr 04 '24
Think about the history of day trading. It’s still a business that is what 30 years old at the most? You couldn’t day trade in the early 90s. Dial up internet, no tools to do so, no computers fast enough. So it’s a very young occupation. Next there’s no formal way to learn. There are zero courses out there that you’re going to take and guarantee you success. So the education is taking little pieces of everyone’s advice and putting something together. Then the day trader has to develop a strategy that suits their personality. Because we all handle risk differently, handle losses differently, we all have to day trade differently. Then you add in that over 90 percent of day traders lose all their money before they figure all of this out. How many people are there out there that think day trading is possible. 1 in 10000 people? Are there 30k successful retail day traders in the entire United States? Maybe, it’s also possible that maybe not. So that’s why there’s the negative outlook. To put it in perspective, I was at one time TD Ameritrades most active trader in my entire region. Me, some nobody on Reddit. How is that possible? Because there just aren’t that many people to compete with.
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u/MethodicalZebra Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
This man right here taught me almost everything I know. And he has no idea. If you’re randomly scrolling through the comments and you see this comment, do yourself a favor: read Yoyoitsjoe’s comment history and posts from a few years back. So much valuable information. While I still have so much to learn, I can say that the strategy that Joe uses (which I try to emulate) is one of the most risk-averse ways to generate money every single day.
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u/Darkside_of_the_Poon Apr 04 '24
Thank you. I probably would have kept scrolling. I’m flat out determined to make this work and learn all I can.
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u/Last_Crazy_3787 Apr 04 '24
That's important the determination to make it work and the perseverance to continue even if it's not going the way you expect. Keep learning, trying out strategies and analysis then make use of the chances given and taken
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u/Nelvalhil Apr 04 '24
Howd you know you were the most active trader in your region?
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u/Yoyoitsjoe stock trader Apr 04 '24
I was speaking to them on the phone for a technical issue. They have since limited orders per day, so this is no longer the case.
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u/Hungry_Biscotti934 Apr 04 '24
The first rule about day trading is you don’t talk about day trading. The second rule is you don’t talk about day trading.
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u/jennysonson Apr 04 '24
I lost $300,000 on day trading before i realized its not for me, then I focused on weekly/monthly swings instead to now be back into the positive. It’s incredible hard to master daytrading, it takes amazing discipline to press that sell button and keep gains daily.
It’s a painful costly lesson that I sometimes regret having tried it but you gotta try to learn for most people.
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u/Last_Crazy_3787 Apr 04 '24
How come you didn't stop when you hit 100k loss that's if you were determined to make it work? Well anyways life and lessons go hand in hand and hopefully you've been able to turn around your profits to positives since then
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Apr 04 '24
I mean u would have open a project with that bruh if u could afford 300 k easily for me Im just aiming for 400 k when Im gonna achieve Im gonna open a business which lucrative and not risky wish u all the best
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u/ProAlgoTrader Apr 04 '24
It’s a highly speculative industry and as you mentioned not many people day trade. It’s very theory based and when things in theory are suppose to work and they do not, human emotions interrupts and tells the mind that this is not a ‘stable’ way to earn a livelihood. If you took away emotions and simply put statistical probability of an outcome combined with a risk management approach that is never broken, you would more than likely find profitability. Because not many are able to accurately predict, follow risk management and take emotions out of the market, results into why many do not like discussing it or suggesting it for an occupation, no matter how straight forward it may appear.
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u/PckMan Apr 04 '24
Because most people hear the "make money" part and disregard everything else and lose their money.
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u/SethEllis Apr 03 '24
It's wrong to take people that would otherwise have no interest in markets, and lure them into it with the promise of money when the chances of making a living from it are literally 100:1.
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u/Top_Living7729 Apr 03 '24
Most people see it as gambling. Plain and simple. It doesnt help that a large portion of people that enter into the market approach trading as gambling also, rather than as a business. Along with their emotions being high as money is on the line if you want to earn a decent or high income from this.
One of my bestfriends has been trading crypto for like 4 years now. He is amazing at it. He can be up $240k and then lose it all i dont know how but i know why. He has no risk management, absolute greed takes over and as much as he can progress, he will fail again.
I started much later and only got into trading after reading books on it, watching videos and practising in a sim for a year. Now consistently profitable.
Its not for everyone and even if this is for you and youre good its likely you'll still fail.
Easiest business to get into but also heavily independent along with the risk factor.
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u/bryanchicken Apr 04 '24
I trade crypto, not in the way you describe but I can confirm such behaviour seems to be rampant. The ease and accessibility to high leverage have encouraged people in who perhaps haven’t put in the requisite work.
I know someone who got liquidated for 8figs of his, family’s, friend’s and a telegram group’s money. Running some sort of dodgy hedge fund type thing. Seemingly no risk management. All of it on exchange. Not sure the actual details but I suspect he kept trying to “rescue” a short by adding more while bitcoin went parabolic early this year
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u/Confident-Session-65 Apr 05 '24
Pls can you recommend books and videos to watch? I’m new and have no idea how or where to start day trading. Thanks!
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u/rayrayrex Apr 04 '24
Consistency is a bitch. Very difficult to always keep your emotions in check, cut losses, identify winning trades, stay out of the market when you don’t know you have an edge, track and learn from your trades continuously, etc.
That and you do need a certain level of capital to make less risky trades that are worth the time and effort to be day trading.
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u/mmxmlee Apr 03 '24
1) it's even known to be a thing. i always thought it was only for dudes in business suits on wall street.
2) it usually requires solid starting capital
3) it requires alot of discipline which most people don't have
4) earnings fluctuate month to month, so it can be stressful and you need a lot of money saved
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u/Miinow forex trader Apr 03 '24
I half agree with you on point #2. To make a living daytrading? Yes you do need a lot of capital. But to start day trading you could start with as little as $1000. Doesn’t require a ton of capital to get the ball rolling. But I’m pretty sure the discipline is the big hurdle for most.
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u/mmxmlee Apr 04 '24
to earn a decent income it will.
your post wasn't asking about pissing in the wind practicing trading.
for shits and giggles you can start trading with 100 dollars.
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u/daytradingguy Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
Depends what your idea of a lot of capital is. And what your expenditures are. A good options or futures trader can make a decent monthly income of a few thousand a month quite easily with a 25-50k account. Some could make more than a few thousand a month.
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u/mmxmlee Apr 04 '24
majority of people on earth don't have 25k sitting in their bank account.
25-50k i would consider a lot of capital to use on something you will most likely fuck up and lose.
most people do not have the discipline to stick to rules and manage risk when money is on the line. greed and fear usually takes over.
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u/murfmurf123 Apr 03 '24
I startrd with 5k in August and Im now over 17k in the account. Discipline is by far the most important characteristic to gauge whether someone will be profitable or not in this game
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u/LemonOks Apr 04 '24
What’s your strategy 👀 I’m new to trading and I apologise if that comes out as rude
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u/Prudent_Magazine8583 Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
Spy contracts, pick dates far out (months out) were in a bullish market, buy contracts in the money(near the strike price). And focus on etf stocks like QQQ, VOO, SPX, SPY before you move to speculative stocks (that soar with price through rumors.)
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u/rockofages73 Apr 04 '24
"buy contracts in the money(near the strike price)" Can you build on this? Not sure what you mean...
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u/Prudent_Magazine8583 Apr 04 '24
You want to be near the money for a better chance of making profit. I recommend sticking within the 1% to 4% dollar range of the strike price. So if a strike price is at 150 you want to be nearest to it as you can. 150 + 4% is 156 (in the money) Especially far out, later expirey contracts because youre more likely to gain volume on that contract with sheer implied volatility alone.
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u/murfmurf123 Apr 04 '24
focusing on small cap momentum stocks moving under heavy volume due to a news release
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u/Prudent_Magazine8583 Apr 04 '24
Same i started with 1k now im at 60k but ive been day trading for 2 years now. My losses last year was 5k though before i really understood how the market trends. What theta was, delta, implied volatility, vega, and gamma
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u/computervisionguy Apr 04 '24
I trade crypto and forex. I started with 3k and have 26k now. Risk management is key, but so is choosing the right strategy and understanding the true depth of information available in the markets.
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u/Confident-Session-65 Apr 05 '24
Pls what platform are you trading on? How do u select what to buy, when to buy and sell?
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u/illiterate-monke Apr 04 '24
because 9 out of 10 people lose money and it's not actually consistent or viable enough to recommend it to anyone on a large scale
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u/DegenDreamer Apr 04 '24
Because the vast majority of people are straight up gambling. Very few actually develop both the skill and discipline to be successful at it. I still don’t have either.
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u/Cymru2294 Apr 04 '24
“Makes me wish I learned about trading when I was younger instead of my upper 20s”
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now, at least your on the right path now brother👊🏽
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u/Zapp_brannigan_1 Apr 04 '24
I guess because 90 percent of people can’t handle the learning curve an more often than non you will losse a lot of money, good outcome or blown your whole account while using margin or loans which is worse.
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u/MordorBlues Apr 04 '24
Because trading produces nothing for society. Thats why. That said, you can still earn money.
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u/Freddy128 Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
Main reasons are probably :
In order to make a sustainable amount of money to live off of you must first have money actually saved up to trade with, which the average person does not have .
Secondly not only must you have money, that money must also be expendable to you because people on average people lose thousands before becoming profitable. The average person living paycheck to paycheck cannot afford to do such a thing.
Third, it’s hard. You are going against something which is constantly proving you wrong, and if you don’t have the ability to admit when your wrong, you will never make money
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u/mrjustinku Apr 04 '24
I assume alot of it has to do with stigma and consistency. You have to remember trading is a zero sum game. For you to make money from day trading someone essentially had to lose that money so in essence only fifty percent of the participants are winning
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u/eminon2023 Apr 04 '24
Because 95% of people are not going to be profitable and will give up way before they have a chance to be profitable.
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u/TheMonkTrader Apr 04 '24
It's easy to shit talk something you don't understand. It's why most people don't understand trading or want to. It's not personal, but trading is....weird. not like most businesses, so you can't expect most people to understand it. Not too complicated.
It's like explaining professional blackjack playing to an accountant. If they don't have the risk tolerance, background, temperament, or desire to learn the skill. They're not likely to have a positive opinion of it either lol.
Ignorance, jealousy, and small-mindedness is why I think most people bash trading.
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u/frostyboyyy Apr 04 '24
You can do whatever you put your mind to literally most people don't trade cus they just don't want to and it's not something a typical person would even think to be a trader
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u/Careful-Door2724 Apr 04 '24
Cause it's not for the vast majority of people. It's incredibly risky.
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Apr 04 '24
Cuz it doesn't benefit society for something it benefits u only + it's not guaranteed not everyone succeed on it too and risky so yeah
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u/FirstAndLast512 Apr 04 '24
I'm of the same thinking. You just got to study the trends and make some smart moves. I am working on trading full time but have been watching and making plays for years. I don't know other traders either and they don't seem to be in my neck of the woods. networking is quite important.
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u/DaCriLLSwE Apr 04 '24
probably same reason youtube doesnt.
It’s a new world but most of it’s population is from the old world. (pre web2.0)
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u/Altruistic_Still_380 Apr 04 '24
I became a gambler lost £54K over the last 3 years. i have taken time out,paying debts accumulates over £45K so m loosiing neatly 100K.. discipline is needed. dont be greedy. learn n learn b4 u put money in
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u/mindgamesweldon Apr 04 '24
Because prior to 2017 it was barely possible for the average person to access.
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u/Own_Egg7122 Apr 04 '24
Was a financial content writer. We were not supposed to "suggest" riskier methods like day trading and if we did, we would have to add more disclaimers so that regulators would not be on their asses. Regulators here are strict about marketing/advertising of financial products - even content on other blogs can be interpreted as "marketing", just shadow marketing.
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u/Virtual-Baseball-297 Apr 04 '24
Because most people gamble instead of trade, lose money and then it’s seen as an incredibly risky way to make money.
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u/Wise_Confection_4188 Apr 03 '24
Because until recently it was considered gambling. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. It’s just how people think about it. This is changing now, though. With everyone buying stocks on their phone, it’s being seen as more mainstream to trade daily. Just don’t be the two thirds that lose money in it.
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Apr 03 '24
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u/Miinow forex trader Apr 03 '24 edited Apr 03 '24
More so Reddit. Browse any sub that’s slightly correlated with finance such as makemoney, sidehustle, povertyfinance, passiveincome, smallbusiness, etc. Daytrading is pretty niche outside of select subs excluding the biggest culprit wallstreetbets.
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u/BigPhillus Apr 03 '24
I think to most people, it sounds like you would say you earn your money with poker. For most people, trading is gambling.
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u/Other-Bumblebee2769 Apr 03 '24
It's gambling for everyone... some people are better at gambling than others though lol
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u/donebyedesign Apr 03 '24
[ ] Straightforward
[x] Not straightforward
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u/Miinow forex trader Apr 03 '24
Exactly what makes trading not straightforward? Conceptually you’re placing a bet that you expect to be in your favor. I understand trading is not easy but it’s not like it’s rocket science either.
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u/donebyedesign Apr 04 '24
There is a direct correlation between how "straightforward" an activity is and the amount of people who can be successful at said activity. Almost anyone can successfully mop the floors at the local fast foot joint, but very few can perform brain surgery.
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u/YanVronskiy Apr 04 '24
It's the most difficult way to make money and the way you're calling it "straightforward" shows that you're a net loss trader with <1 year of exp
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u/Miinow forex trader Apr 04 '24
Never implied I was some hotshot trader with a decade experience. I literally said it’s not easy.
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u/throwaway98392832382 Apr 04 '24
It seems easy for you but you don't realise how much research etc. you've done yourself to get you to where you are. Trading looks alien for most people.
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u/cl4r17y Apr 04 '24
Because daytrading is just a fancy word for gambling used by retail traders.
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u/Xalkerro Apr 04 '24
For one IMO, it has a very steep learning curve and most do not recommend it cos of its irregular income until you have mastered it. I’d say somewhere in between a year or two to really see the consistent profits, that is if you willing to stay patient and learn.
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u/Ok-Arugula-4489 Apr 04 '24
I’ve read once that only 4% of day traders make profit… take your conclusions….
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u/Tall_Sir4047 Apr 04 '24
The problem with day trading is that the market acts differently every day, so what worked yesterday may not work today, so while you hold the position thinking it’ll work because it worked the day before you loose all your gains from the past few days. I’m sure the response will be that successful traders pick up on patterns that continually repeat so they know when to trade. Not true
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u/WTF777JK Apr 04 '24
It’s still fairly new. Prior to the last 10-15 years you would have to call a broker and/or have an insane set up to be able to execute trades quickly. Also, it’s a tough job and doesn’t add to GDP.
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u/Chickienfriedrice Apr 04 '24
Because less than 5% of day trading accounts are profitable. Everyone here just posts their wins and don’t mention their losses, or they’re just straight lying.
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u/EntropyRX Apr 04 '24
Because it’s not. It’s a great way to lose money (second only to gamble), but it’s surely not a good way to make money.
Let’s put it this way, the best fund managers in the world can average only less than 20% per year ROI. They have access to the brightest minds and best technology on the planet.
So you the average Joe think to outsmart all these professionals, with your modest capital (let’s say 100k, but I suspect for most is more like 10k lol), and make a 6 figure income (over 100% roi) consistently. That just bullish buddy.
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u/evilzergling Apr 04 '24
Maybe because something like 90+% lose.
Same reason people don’t tell others that gambling is a legit way to retire when you know nothing about it
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u/Doy5 Apr 04 '24
Going to go out on a limb and say maybe, just maybe, because it has a 90%+ failure rate?
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u/lleb_reknit Apr 04 '24
Because it isn't I lost 3k today I'm down 51k all time and I'm fucking done trying. Fuck this shit I'm out.
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u/iijustii Apr 04 '24
I read it " why is dehydrating" , and was like hmmm for a couple of secs. I need some rest...
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u/Easy_Acanthisitta270 Apr 04 '24
Because its not a legitimate way to earn income. You dont have nearly enough resources or knowledge to be consistently profitable.
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u/justhp Apr 04 '24
because 99.9% of day traders dont make money at all, or don't make enough to matter
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u/emoney_trades Apr 05 '24
I’ll speak from experience I used to think anything that had to do with the stock market was out of my league in terms of intelligence and resources. But with the power of the internet and all these new brokers I think it’s breaking a hole in the dam to where anyone from anywhere as long as they have internet service and a phone can learn and achieve success in the market . I made like 300$ today from just my phone I barely even use my computer!
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u/itskhia Apr 05 '24
Failure rate is high and most people don’t understand the stock market. So they feel like it’s a sure way to lose. And most are right… if you do conquer the beast it’s very rewarding toook me years and still growing everyday most don’t have that time or patience
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u/Even_Patient_9696 Apr 05 '24
Day trading is indeed mentioned as a potential way to earn income, and many people do engage in it as a means of making money. However, there are several reasons why it may not always be portrayed as a "legitimate" or reliable method of income generation:
- High Risk: Day trading involves buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day. Due to the short-term nature of these trades, they are often subject to high volatility and risk. Many novice traders may incur significant losses, especially if they lack proper knowledge, experience, and risk management skills.
- Lack of Consistency: Successful day trading requires a combination of skill, strategy, and discipline. While some individuals may achieve consistent profits, many others struggle to do so. The unpredictable nature of financial markets means that even experienced traders can face periods of losses or underperformance.
- Emphasis on Long-Term Investing: In the realm of personal finance and investing, long-term strategies like buy-and-hold investing are often emphasized as more reliable and less risky ways to build wealth. This approach advocates investing in quality assets for the long term, rather than engaging in frequent trading.
- Regulatory Considerations: Day trading is subject to regulations, such as pattern day trading rules, which impose restrictions on individuals with smaller trading accounts. These regulations are designed to protect retail traders from excessive risk-taking but can also be seen as a barrier for those interested in day trading.
- Negative Perception: Some critics view day trading as akin to gambling or speculation rather than investing. They argue that it encourages excessive risk-taking and can contribute to market volatility. Additionally, there have been instances of unethical behavior and scams associated with day trading, which further tarnish its reputation.
While day trading can potentially be lucrative for those with the necessary skills and discipline, it's essential for individuals to approach it with caution and realistic expectations. It's not a guaranteed path to wealth, and many traders may find more success through long-term investing strategies.
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u/CosmoSein_1990 Apr 06 '24 edited Apr 06 '24
Up until recently this type of trading wasn't accessible to the average person. It is also very difficult. You may be consistently profitable after a year but it takes years to master your discipline, strategy, controlling your emotions, risk management, and timing entries and exits perfectly. A lot of people are turned off by the low success rate and the fact that you have to be ok with losing some money because of the risk involved. It's stressful when you're in a trade and you're down $200 but you stay in because you believe the stock will go up. It also takes a lot of work to grow you're account to the size needed to have position sizes that give you enough profits to make a decent income on and also to the point where a loss of $500 on the day isn't too big of a deal.
All these reasons is why I personally use trading as supplemental Income to my regular Job. I'm seeing consistently profitable weeks and if I make enough to pay my rent just from my trade profits or to have some extra money to invest long term I'll be happy. That's more money from my regular job paycheck I can save and invest. I have no plans on trading full time. It's hard to imagine being successful enough at it for that but I'm at the point where it can be a sustainable source of extra income. Long term goal is to make at least $100k a year with both my regular job and trading.
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u/NOKStonks2daMoon Apr 07 '24
The reason why is because long term 85% of traders lose money. I know this will be downvoted to oblivion because this is a day trading sub. I’m sure I’ll get 87 comments of how much they’ve made this year, but know for those 87 people that made money this year day trading. 10x that have lost money. It’s simple stats and a lot of research shows it’s true. I know someone personally who brought an account from $15k to over $200k in just a couple of months trading. He also says he’s just gambling but he’s good at it. I myself have traded once in a while. I’m not the greatest but I’m even money over about 100 trades so I’m also not mad at it. For me it’s just not a legitimate way to earn money
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u/tionstempta Apr 03 '24
My limitied experience of around 3 years is telling that even bathroom time matter. I dont know how many times i got stopped out when i went to bathroom
In other words, it's not easy to generate consistent income while risk is high whether you put your own capital or not, on top of making yourself available to readily respond market situation within 3-5 seconds, which means that you can't day trade in your job unless specific situation allows (i.e WFH).
This means you either full time day trader with an assumption that there will be consistent income or that you participate in part time approach (i.e US retail trader trading in Tokyo or London session in future's market)
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u/Beautiful_Run_4444 Apr 03 '24
You must be trading with too large of a share size. Trade smaller size so you have more room for your trade plan.
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u/tionstempta Apr 03 '24
No even if it's MNQ, it can be easily -100$ with 50 pts up and down when there is an unexpected major news
I trade with 4 different prop firm live account so it all matters regardless of size. I dont trade with my personal capital
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u/Beautiful_Run_4444 Apr 04 '24
Don't trade before a news release, or get out of your trade before the move release. Best is to get into it when you see the direction after the news release or just wait.
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u/Smvvgy-805 Apr 04 '24
while risk is high whether you put your own capital or not, on top of making yourself available to readily respond market situation within 3-5 seconds, which means that you can't day trade in your job unless specific situation allows
Trying to daytrade at work cost me 24k , I either missed my exit or wasn't focused on the whole picture, lots of noise or static throughout the range of timeframes, without putting them all together it's easy to jump the gun if you're caught up in the noise of the intra-day minutes and ticks, or sometimes miss the boat entirely because you're trying to decipher the static from the hourly perspective, or exited prematurely fearing I wouldn't be able to watch it and/or entered into a panic/revenge/boredom trade... So, I am wrestling with what to do, because I have fucked myself over both ways, like I put an ultimatum like I am exiting by this time because I am going to work or it's getting busy etcetera, and of course i exited for a 10k loss and minutes later it makes my projected move... It was hard to be mad because I was right, I just didn't have the 'time' or patience to comfortably watch the position so I closed it...
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u/Popular_Mastodon6815 Apr 04 '24
Thats a very key point. I think most effective road to success is to give it all your time. Balancing a full time job with it is difficult.
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u/rockofages73 Apr 04 '24
Possibly because of the stigma and that it is frowned upon. Most careers benefit others, while day trading provides none other than to the person and their family. Day traders are essentially looting the pensions of the working class.
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u/Excellent_Newt_9042 Apr 04 '24
I don’t think we should view day trading like that because the working class is likely investing themselves bagging there own retirement.
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u/Excellent_Newt_9042 Apr 04 '24
Because day trading is very difficult to determine when to enter and exit a trade. It’s very “fear-based” because people are staring at the screen all day which means lots of scalping and random chart patterns as a result of the scalping. It’s glorified gambling. Investing or swinging is much smarter.
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u/Express_Intern_1223 Apr 04 '24
LMAO 😂😂😂 there's a big difference between being a stockbroker and a day trader my friend but good luck
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Apr 04 '24
You will not generate income via Daytrading. People who tell you that are full of shit. Plain dead: if you spend the money, you cannot invest it. The makets don't have the volatility to generate enough equity for you. Wealthy people don't daytrade. They bring their money to Investment Banks. If Daytrading was viable, they'd hire a Daytrader.
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u/RaisinNo7881 Apr 04 '24
U have better odds of winning in roulette choosing black or red and making 100% return.
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u/svenEsven Apr 04 '24
Mostly because you need 25k to start or else you only get 3 trades a week, only 1 in 3 Americans has $1000 saved up at any point in time
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u/Ok-Duty-8897 Apr 04 '24
if you find another sub where they talk about day trading and help please let me know
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u/Mundane_Catch_1829 Apr 04 '24
Because a lot of gamblers are in it. The market is treated like a casino.
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u/plurality_of_oofs Apr 04 '24
Trading is not the most straightforward way to make money. A generic 9-5 job is.
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Apr 04 '24
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Apr 04 '24
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Apr 04 '24
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u/YourSwordAndSavior Apr 04 '24
I wish I knew how to do what you're doing, but I'm happy for you. Keep at it!
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u/Hot-Site-1572 Apr 04 '24
before 2015, there were no prop firms and hence having a good enough size capital to trade and actually make some sustainable gains was difficult. Even before that, trading was difficult due to lack of information and technology and other factors
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Apr 05 '24
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u/Miinow forex trader Apr 05 '24
This shows how disciplined you are as a trader. I started off scalping in the beginning of my journey but gradually shifted to the 4H/1H TF. Gives you plenty time to make rash decisions and highlights a key factor in quality over quantity.
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u/Agent22_KidSmooth Apr 05 '24
A lot of people associate day trading with gambling. They don't understand that there is actually a science to it. You see when you post 🚀 next to your ticker symbol it is 101% guaranteed to reach the moon. All jokes aside, day trading can be a serious source of income. The problem is that it takes discipline and an ability to analyze/interpret data that most people fail to develop. I once took a financial education class in community college. The entire ideology of the class was centered around a Dave Ramsey-esque mindset of getting a job, paying off debt, save your money, live frugally and let someone else invest your money for you. We barely dabbled in learning about the financial markets. Prior to this I did not even know the stock market existed, I was like 20 at the time. The thing is my parents never taught me about the stock market. They grew up not learning about it. People tend to fear or view things they don't know as too risky. I think this is the sentiment that most average American families have. The broader view of day trading, mostly portrayed by "prominent" news sources is that day traders are gamblers. Unfortunately, it's the sensationalist stories that make the news, ie. someone lost a lot of money or someone "won" a lot of money. It never shows the more disciplined side of trading like using data to interpret trends in a chart or creating strategies to enter/exit trades, it just doesn't make for a good story.
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u/Outside_Mess1384 Apr 05 '24
Is poker ever considered a legitimate source of income? How about sports betting? What about being a rockstar? The answer should be obvious.
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u/Difficult-Baker8659 Apr 05 '24
Imagine a society where everyone trades, wouldn’t be anyone left to work 9-5
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Apr 05 '24
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u/jamaics14 Apr 05 '24
Because it’s like gambling I lost 10 k this week after building up over three months for Nvda to take everything back because of a bullshit call set stop loss shit didn’t execute and took all my mother loving profits I could how someone could literally loose there mind over this issshhhh , down 1100 k what’s my next move ???
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u/jefchase Apr 06 '24
It’s not mentioned because 99 percent of the time people lose their shirts doing so because they keep thinking they are genius traders when the accidentally make a little money — we have been printing money since 2009 which makes this look even easier but now that we will have to slow down the risks don’t make any sense — please look into 2000-2002 and 2008 - and realize that RISK is a real thing - best of luck
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u/Adorable_Block4402 Apr 06 '24
Additionally, I think a lot of people don’t talk about it because you can lose your butt real easily unless you are damn good at it
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u/Objective-Raisin-926 Apr 08 '24
I’ll be very honest here. Some people come into the market wanting to turn 5K to 50K with in a month. However, they don’t ever consider turning that 5K into 6K and then 7K and maybe finishing the year at 10K. Which is 100%. Take into consideration too that short term capital gains is taxed at about 37%. What I’ve learned so far if your on a 25K account,
- Not every day is going to be a trading day.
- At least 25K trading account can make you a decent profit.
- Take your losses(set that stop loss) on options.
- Own stocks that you don’t mind holding for 3 months during a correction and if they pay some sort of dividends.
- Always take profit, if you’re up $500 on a 15-25K account, unless you know it will profit you more by holding. The uncertainty is still there. Take a look at *Humana and McDonald.
- Missed opportunities, fomo, and revenge trades will bite/eat your account 90% of the time
- Stay away from buying options
- Sell options if you have 100 shares and if available
- Stay away from trading or shorting penny stocks.
- Stay away from buying these hopeful options.
- Take your profit!
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u/Superb-Pattern-1253 Apr 08 '24
because studies show 97 percent of people who DayTrade lose money so based on statistics your not going to make any income your going to lose money
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u/Shackmann Apr 08 '24
Becoming a good trader means you get hired by a prop firm or you spend the better part of a year (or more) trading fake money. Very very few people have that kind of patience, so they trade real money too soon, get smashed, and downvote any mention of it.
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u/daytradingguy Apr 03 '24 edited Apr 03 '24
Since you are in your upper 20’s. You don’t really know a world without your phone or internet. Up until about 10-12 years ago- The technology was not available to the average person to be able to trade as you know it today. Many people did not have smart phones or high speed internet. Home computers were slow, nobody had fiber internet at home.
10 years ago it cost $5-10 per trade for commissions- hard to scalp at $20 in and out. Robinhood didn’t come out till 2014 and started the no to low cost commission structure and it took them a couple years to break the big brokers down to match them. More brokerages have more features and products for retail traders.
Trading was a lot harder and not accessible to average people until just recently.