\
  The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
BackRefresh Options Favorite

Can someone explain what makes daytrading difficult?

From what I know, it doesn't seem as difficult as many make ...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
If you have to ask this question you shouldn't be day tradin...
Carnelian institution
  01/19/18
Why does one need to rely on advanced math for this?
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
unless "advanced math" is a euphemism for "in...
ebony sanctuary party of the first part
  01/19/18
Who even needs inside information? How hard is following a t...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
"advanced math" won't cut it
ebony sanctuary party of the first part
  01/19/18
JFC
violent irradiated trailer park multi-billionaire
  01/19/18
Is it really that hard to follow a trend?
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
It’s easy as fuck. Go for it
adulterous domesticated kitchen
  01/19/18
...
galvanic house
  01/19/18
cr. also best to work with large amounts. so go all in.
Vivacious shrine
  01/19/18
...
laughsome native
  01/19/18
Don't forget to mortgage your house first.
Clear electric milk
  01/19/18
buy low sell high this is not rocket science
impertinent umber cumskin
  01/19/18
If you're just starting out, I recommend trading FX or crypt...
galvanic house
  01/19/18
Better to just download the crypto app on windows. Give your...
Spectacular Abnormal Rehab
  01/19/18
it's not hard to earn a tidy profit. just look at the chart...
lavender temple private investor
  01/19/18
one weird trick!
odious office trump supporter
  01/19/18
cr cr
Vivacious shrine
  01/19/18
...
stimulating avocado stead
  01/19/18
It's not hard if you're doing crypto. It is sort of hard if ...
twisted jet macaca
  01/19/18
I don't see what's so hard about following a trend.
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzDYgRc6eic insert day trad...
Supple cordovan death wish den
  01/19/18
what makes you so certain you can consistently pick out tren...
Godawful crawly main people liquid oxygen
  01/19/18
Even if others have seen them, there's so many shares outsta...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
wtf did I just read. incredible flame
Carnelian institution
  01/19/18
I fail to understand what the issue is. I could go buy 1000 ...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
it's not about being totally unable to buy or sell, it's abo...
Godawful crawly main people liquid oxygen
  01/19/18
Isn't that what level 2 is for?
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
it's not difficult. you've got a 1/1024 shot of nailing ...
Carmine garrison ceo
  01/19/18
Day trading is difficult because the odds are stacked agains...
exhilarant high-end principal's office
  01/19/18
They have trading platforms that only charge $4.95 a trade (...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
True, but those costs add up. What I' saying is that it ...
exhilarant high-end principal's office
  01/19/18
If that's the case, why not do that full time and make $5-10...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
See that is what makes it difficult - you won't know what th...
exhilarant high-end principal's office
  01/19/18
First, you need a lot of money. Any consistent and successfu...
Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station
  01/19/18
$25k is a lot of money?
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
$110k minimum needed for a portfolio margin account with Int...
Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station
  01/19/18
Who needs a margin account? For example, with $25k, you coul...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
Or you can see the price go down $0.80 in a day. You can't p...
Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station
  01/19/18
Ever heard of a stop loss? If it doesn't go your way almost ...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
With the strategy you described you will end up hitting the ...
House-broken cruise ship pozpig
  01/19/18
That's fine...it ensures very minimal losses while making ni...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
Commissions and stupidity will ensure consistent losses with...
Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station
  01/19/18
Unlikely. If you're barely losing anything on each trade, yo...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
If you can successfully make your trade within 4 cents of th...
twisted jet macaca
  01/19/18
It's easy. People who make less than $250k/year should daytr...
Insanely Creepy Base
  01/19/18
...
obsidian fragrant goyim pocket flask
  01/19/18
trading fees nullify gains if you aren't dealing with enough...
exciting home personal credit line
  01/19/18
You can't afford $4.95 a trade?
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
I tried 'day-trading' once, when i first opened an internet ...
pungent karate
  01/19/18
ever try doing the opposite?
Abusive philosopher-king
  01/19/18
(George from Seinfeld)
pungent karate
  01/19/18
...
Vivacious shrine
  01/19/18
don't underestimate how much trading fees will eat into your...
Multi-colored hideous point
  01/19/18
10 trades a day sounds ridiculous. It shouldn't be more than...
ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead
  01/19/18
OK. $3900/year then. After 5 years ($19,500), what does that...
Multi-colored hideous point
  01/19/18


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:15 AM
Author: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Carnelian institution

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: ebony sanctuary party of the first part

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: ebony sanctuary party of the first part

"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: violent irradiated trailer park multi-billionaire

JFC

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



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:21 AM
Author: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: adulterous domesticated kitchen

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: galvanic house



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



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:14 AM
Author: Vivacious shrine

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: laughsome native



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



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:20 AM
Author: Clear electric milk

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: impertinent umber cumskin

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: galvanic house

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: Spectacular Abnormal Rehab

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: lavender temple private investor

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: odious office trump supporter

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: Vivacious shrine

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: stimulating avocado stead



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



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 10:25 AM
Author: twisted jet 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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Supple cordovan death wish den

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: Godawful crawly main people liquid oxygen

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Carnelian institution

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Godawful crawly main people liquid oxygen

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Carmine garrison ceo

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: exhilarant high-end principal's office

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: exhilarant high-end principal's office

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: exhilarant high-end principal's office

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: Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

$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: Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station

$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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: House-broken cruise ship pozpig

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Trip shimmering hairy legs gas station

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: twisted jet 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: Insanely Creepy Base

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: obsidian fragrant goyim pocket flask



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



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:30 AM
Author: exciting home personal credit line

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: pungent karate

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: Abusive philosopher-king

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: pungent karate

(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: Vivacious shrine



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



Reply Favorite

Date: January 19th, 2018 11:39 AM
Author: Multi-colored hideous point

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: ruddy aromatic stag film circlehead

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: Multi-colored hideous point

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)