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Can someone explain what makes daytrading difficult?

From what I know, it doesn't seem as difficult as many make ...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
If you have to ask this question you shouldn't be day tradin...
Racy Gay French Chef Locus
  01/19/18
Why does one need to rely on advanced math for this?
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
unless "advanced math" is a euphemism for "in...
rebellious deranged main people factory reset button
  01/19/18
Who even needs inside information? How hard is following a t...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
"advanced math" won't cut it
rebellious deranged main people factory reset button
  01/19/18
JFC
Beady-eyed blood rage base
  01/19/18
Is it really that hard to follow a trend?
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
It’s easy as fuck. Go for it
Contagious Black Woman
  01/19/18
...
fishy domesticated set
  01/19/18
cr. also best to work with large amounts. so go all in.
puce immigrant
  01/19/18
...
Crystalline cerebral address
  01/19/18
Don't forget to mortgage your house first.
Trip green messiness university
  01/19/18
buy low sell high this is not rocket science
lascivious casino
  01/19/18
If you're just starting out, I recommend trading FX or crypt...
fishy domesticated set
  01/19/18
Better to just download the crypto app on windows. Give your...
bronze plaza elastic band
  01/19/18
it's not hard to earn a tidy profit. just look at the chart...
Medicated heady preventive strike
  01/19/18
one weird trick!
Lake sticky pit
  01/19/18
cr cr
puce immigrant
  01/19/18
...
Mischievous twisted tank
  01/19/18
It's not hard if you're doing crypto. It is sort of hard if ...
Copper macaca
  01/19/18
I don't see what's so hard about following a trend.
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzDYgRc6eic insert day trad...
topaz duck-like wagecucks resort
  01/19/18
what makes you so certain you can consistently pick out tren...
cruel-hearted theatre
  01/19/18
Even if others have seen them, there's so many shares outsta...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
wtf did I just read. incredible flame
Racy Gay French Chef Locus
  01/19/18
I fail to understand what the issue is. I could go buy 1000 ...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
it's not about being totally unable to buy or sell, it's abo...
cruel-hearted theatre
  01/19/18
Isn't that what level 2 is for?
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
it's not difficult. you've got a 1/1024 shot of nailing ...
lilac antidepressant drug
  01/19/18
Day trading is difficult because the odds are stacked agains...
white quadroon corn cake
  01/19/18
They have trading platforms that only charge $4.95 a trade (...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
True, but those costs add up. What I' saying is that it ...
white quadroon corn cake
  01/19/18
If that's the case, why not do that full time and make $5-10...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
See that is what makes it difficult - you won't know what th...
white quadroon corn cake
  01/19/18
First, you need a lot of money. Any consistent and successfu...
azure glittery space
  01/19/18
$25k is a lot of money?
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
$110k minimum needed for a portfolio margin account with Int...
azure glittery space
  01/19/18
Who needs a margin account? For example, with $25k, you coul...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
Or you can see the price go down $0.80 in a day. You can't p...
azure glittery space
  01/19/18
Ever heard of a stop loss? If it doesn't go your way almost ...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
With the strategy you described you will end up hitting the ...
Chest-beating motley background story piazza
  01/19/18
That's fine...it ensures very minimal losses while making ni...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
Commissions and stupidity will ensure consistent losses with...
azure glittery space
  01/19/18
Unlikely. If you're barely losing anything on each trade, yo...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
If you can successfully make your trade within 4 cents of th...
Copper macaca
  01/19/18
It's easy. People who make less than $250k/year should daytr...
odious native party of the first part
  01/19/18
...
aphrodisiac brass persian
  01/19/18
trading fees nullify gains if you aren't dealing with enough...
nudist point idiot
  01/19/18
You can't afford $4.95 a trade?
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
I tried 'day-trading' once, when i first opened an internet ...
Soul-stirring station
  01/19/18
ever try doing the opposite?
Bearded meetinghouse associate
  01/19/18
(George from Seinfeld)
Soul-stirring station
  01/19/18
...
puce immigrant
  01/19/18
don't underestimate how much trading fees will eat into your...
Twinkling prole mad cow disease
  01/19/18
10 trades a day sounds ridiculous. It shouldn't be more than...
Cracking sound barrier house
  01/19/18
OK. $3900/year then. After 5 years ($19,500), what does that...
Twinkling prole mad cow disease
  01/19/18


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:15 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

From what I know, it doesn't seem as difficult as many make it out to be. What am I missing?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188443)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:16 AM
Author: Racy Gay French Chef Locus

If you have to ask this question you shouldn't be day trading. Even the most successful ones realize how difficult it is and mainly rely on advanced math and shit and intercepting trades.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188448)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:20 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Why does one need to rely on advanced math for this?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188463)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:21 AM
Author: rebellious deranged main people factory reset button

unless "advanced math" is a euphemism for "insider information," one doesn't

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188472)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:23 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Who even needs inside information? How hard is following a trend?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188487)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:20 AM
Author: rebellious deranged main people factory reset button

"advanced math" won't cut it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188465)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:16 AM
Author: Beady-eyed blood rage base

JFC

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188450)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:21 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Is it really that hard to follow a trend?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188470)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:17 AM
Author: Contagious Black Woman

It’s easy as fuck. Go for it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188451)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:19 AM
Author: fishy domesticated set



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188460)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:14 AM
Author: puce immigrant

cr. also best to work with large amounts. so go all in.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188773)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 4:12 PM
Author: Crystalline cerebral address



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35191096)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:20 AM
Author: Trip green messiness university

Don't forget to mortgage your house first.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188467)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:21 AM
Author: lascivious casino

buy low sell high this is not rocket science

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188471)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:22 AM
Author: fishy domesticated set

If you're just starting out, I recommend trading FX or crypto. Remember, "follow the technicals."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188479)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:27 AM
Author: bronze plaza elastic band

Better to just download the crypto app on windows. Give yourself 10 ETH divy it up and see how you do over the month.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188500)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:23 AM
Author: Medicated heady preventive strike

it's not hard to earn a tidy profit. just look at the charts, buy stuff that's about to go up, then sell it before it goes down. rinse and repeat

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188488)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:24 AM
Author: Lake sticky pit

one weird trick!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188489)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:14 AM
Author: puce immigrant

cr cr

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188776)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:42 AM
Author: Mischievous twisted tank



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188967)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:25 AM
Author: Copper macaca

It's not hard if you're doing crypto. It is sort of hard if you're doing stocks.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188491)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:26 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

I don't see what's so hard about following a trend.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188497)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:27 AM
Author: topaz duck-like wagecucks resort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzDYgRc6eic

insert day trading instead of 1st base

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188499)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:27 AM
Author: cruel-hearted theatre

what makes you so certain you can consistently pick out trends that other people haven't seen?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188502)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:29 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Even if others have seen them, there's so many shares outstanding that there's always shares to buy and sell. I've never bought a stock and had issues getting in or getting out.

I could go buy pretty much any stock trading over 1mm shares a day and have no problem buying and selling within the next 10 minutes.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188504)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:31 AM
Author: Racy Gay French Chef Locus

wtf did I just read.

incredible flame

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188519)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:33 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

I fail to understand what the issue is. I could go buy 1000 shares of Amzn now and sell them all 5 minutes later so what's the problem? Sure, if you're trying to trade like 500k shares at once I can see the problem, but even 5-10k shares shouldn't cause a problem.

You really think you're going to be left out in the cold with no one willing to accept your 2000 shares on a ticker that trades 1mm+ shares a day on average?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188526)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:45 AM
Author: cruel-hearted theatre

it's not about being totally unable to buy or sell, it's about other people noticing the trend and trading on it causing the price to move in the direction which closes the gap between the current price and the one predicted by the trend

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188589)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:47 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Isn't that what level 2 is for?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188602)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:29 AM
Author: lilac antidepressant drug

it's not difficult.

you've got a 1/1024 shot of nailing your first 10 YUGE coin flip plays. if you're the .1 percent then you'll be rolling.



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188511)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:31 AM
Author: white quadroon corn cake

Day trading is difficult because the odds are stacked against your favor through transaction costs, data latency (if your not plugged into a big and expensive data feed system like Bloomberg or something similar you are getting stale info), short v. long term taxes, HFT and psychology.



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188515)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:32 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

They have trading platforms that only charge $4.95 a trade (Schwab). To me, that's not breaking the bank if you're trading with at least a $15k account.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188521)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:40 AM
Author: white quadroon corn cake

True, but those costs add up.

What I' saying is that it is a million little things that add up to make day trading difficult for most people to do effectively.

You stand a MUCH better chance when it comes to making short term dollars if you have a deep knowledge of the stock market and investing and can swing trade in a group of 2-300 stocks.

For example, two weeks ago a company I was following loosely over a 3 year period had a major news announcement that I knew would attract daytraders/speculative activity - so I bought a few hundred shares, held overnight and sold in the morning - made around 4k in a 24 hour period. That kind of stuff is really where you can make good money - but the thing is you have to be able to always spot that kind of shit - that means being constantly doing your work and reading reading reading about every aspect and facet of the market.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188554)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:43 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

If that's the case, why not do that full time and make $5-10k a week or whatever?

If you can make that kind of money in your underwear, I say go for it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188571)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:29 AM
Author: white quadroon corn cake

See that is what makes it difficult - you won't know what the opportunity is until it surfaces and when it does you will have as little as 30 seconds to execute on it before the risk/return configuration goes out of your favor due to price action. The "right conditions" to do short term stuff do not exist for very long.

Most people can't live like that: Waiting, waiting, waiting for something they can't describe as an opportunity until they see it - and then they have a brief instant to act on it before it vanishes.

Imagine being a hunter who is away from his family for months, hunting something he needs to feed his family for a year but he dosen't know what the animal looks like. He sees new animals every day but most of them have poison meat, and he has precious little time to slay the right beast and make a kill.

It is a psychologically tough situation - just like in the movie Rounders with Damon's character and Knish - Knish is a dude who knows what it is like to bust out so he grinds it out at the table and put his winnings into other businesses (I think he had a distribution business) so it makes his daily grind less and less tough over time until he gets to independence from the grind.

Most of my money in the market is made from long term holding.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188886)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:56 AM
Author: azure glittery space

First, you need a lot of money. Any consistent and successful strategy will be based on volatility and is almost always direction neutral. The more aggressive you are, the more likely you are to get wiped out.

Reliable strategy for the clueless: If the VIX high, buy S&P puts. Otherwise, short the VIX.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188655)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:25 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

$25k is a lot of money?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188866)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:52 AM
Author: azure glittery space

$110k minimum needed for a portfolio margin account with Interactive Brokers

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189036)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:56 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Who needs a margin account? For example, with $25k, you could buy over 1700 shares of a stock like Snapchat, see the price go up $0.80 in a day, and sell all of it while making roughly $1400 in the process.

Rinse and repeat.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189062)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 12:07 PM
Author: azure glittery space

Or you can see the price go down $0.80 in a day. You can't predict this shit. A direction neutral strategy (i.e., not really giving a shit if it goes up or down) is really the only thing that works consistently (+15-50%/year) for a retail trader. Margin accounts are needed for some of these strategies.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189146)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 12:34 PM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Ever heard of a stop loss? If it doesn't go your way almost immediately, exit the trade. For example, if I buy SNAP at $14, I'd let it drop to maybe $13.96 before completely closing out the position. Sure, you eat the transaction cost and 4 cents a share, but what's $10-20 total? Your account would pretty much still remain the same.

How's that difficult? I honestly don't see why people make trading so difficult....exit the damn trade if it doesn't go your way almost immediately.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189388)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 12:41 PM
Author: Chest-beating motley background story piazza

With the strategy you described you will end up hitting the stop loss on almost all of your trades.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189435)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 12:45 PM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

That's fine...it ensures very minimal losses while making nice gains when the trade actually does go my way. It's the safest way to play.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189462)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 1:07 PM
Author: azure glittery space

Commissions and stupidity will ensure consistent losses with your strategy

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189644)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 1:09 PM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

Unlikely. If you're barely losing anything on each trade, you can be wrong 50% of the time and still be profitable.

Even a string of being wrong 8 times in a row would still result in losses of less than $300 and the 2 trades you're right would wipe out those losses.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189652)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 4:41 PM
Author: Copper macaca

If you can successfully make your trade within 4 cents of the bottom 20% of the time, you'll do great. More likely is that you'd be stopped out 10/10 times with a stop loss that tight.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35191320)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:28 AM
Author: odious native party of the first part

It's easy. People who make less than $250k/year should daytrade crypto or stocks or both. No excuse for being poor.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188882)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 4:45 PM
Author: aphrodisiac brass persian



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35191360)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:30 AM
Author: nudist point idiot

trading fees nullify gains if you aren't dealing with enough money twerp

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188895)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:37 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

You can't afford $4.95 a trade?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188939)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:32 AM
Author: Soul-stirring station

I tried 'day-trading' once, when i first opened an internet brokerage account. I couldn't resist the temptation.

I got up early in the morning on my first day of 'day-trading,' watched CNBC, read a few financial blogs, and bought the stocks that everyone was saying were HOT BUYS that morning.

I lost everything. Never tried it again.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188904)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:41 AM
Author: Bearded meetinghouse associate

ever try doing the opposite?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188964)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:42 AM
Author: Soul-stirring station

(George from Seinfeld)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188970)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 3:57 PM
Author: puce immigrant



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35190998)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:39 AM
Author: Twinkling prole mad cow disease

don't underestimate how much trading fees will eat into your gains. If you do just 10 buy/sells a day at $5/trade, that equates to $13,000/year in trading fees based on a 5-day work week.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35188950)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:56 AM
Author: Cracking sound barrier house

10 trades a day sounds ridiculous. It shouldn't be more than 2-3.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35189058)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 4:43 PM
Author: Twinkling prole mad cow disease

OK. $3900/year then. After 5 years ($19,500), what does that equate to as a percentage of the $ you have invested?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3864405&forum_id=2#35191345)