Why do we do this?

[mofo]

oh dear, that didn't take long, i do me old mate. See my first post

 

[LevII]

FC,

I agree. Since I settled down with longer term strategies:-
1. I continue to make a good living;
2. Most important, I no longer have to spend hours glued to a screen. A bit of work each evening when I have updated my Sharescope and TC2500 and I'm done.
3. Gaps are not really a worry - they do happen in both directions.
4. What I need now is a decent spreadbet firm where I can trade the S&P 500 & FT350 components, the indices themselves and a few other odds & sods so I can avoid the tax. That however is another story.

LII

 

[Salty Gibbon]

oh dear, that didn't take long, i do me old mate. See my first post

Your first post is history me old mate.

History is bunk just like this thread me old mate.

Yawn.

 

[mofo]

Are you a swinger Lev ?

 

[mofo]

having a bad day SG ? go and have a lie down if you're tired

 

[Roberto]

badoing - £45 on the office sweepstake on the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Now that's what I call daytrading.

I suspect the main reason you're not daytrading has nothing to do with "suitability" at all, FC. The fact that you are involved in an office sweepstake suggests that you have full-time salaried employment (well, in fact, I know you do!). It wouldn't take you long to be making a living if the circumstances were different/right, I think.

 

[LevII]

Are you a swinger Lev ?

The oldest in town!

 

[DaveJB]

People are different.
Some need time to decide stuff, some make better decisions if forced to do so quickly and/or under pressure. Commonsense (the most overrated guide, admittedly, to 'things that are useful in trading') suggests that different characters will suit different timescales - I think where many of us suffer is that we're disinclined to chuck up well paid jobs etc to try trading for a living (poverty being a bit of a change from reasonable affluence) and we tend to 'force' ourselves to trade when we can, rather than when we are best suited to.

Perhaps perversely my EoD analysis seems to be improving as a result of my very patchy daytrading efforts... oddly that doesn't surprise me.... at least I'll be able to swap to weekly and monthly charts and probably do okay, should intraday beat me in the end.

My impression of SB (forgive me for not sticking $25k down to see if I can trade intraday when I can blow £100's via SB and learn similar lessons) so far is that like every other thing I've trided so far - the middle man extracts a percentage that looks quite small until you try it... it's compound interest at work - every time your money gets recycled another slice comes out of it, so yes - the broker/SB companies do tend to be the people consistently making money.... their trading plan is better than ours sadly, and they get to make the rules up. (Get revenge, buy property and rent it out to brokers, breed rats.)

 

[mofo]

The oldest in town!

LOL. Anyone who makes a good living from position trading gets utmost respect in my book. I just find it far too hard to be confident to put on any decent trade size because of the larger wiggle room you need to give it in the first place as far as stop placement is concerned. And i'm too impatient to tolerate the retracements, so always tended to get out too quickly. Still live in hope that FC will crack it with one off the cinos production line

 

[jmreeve]

The good thing about the wide stops with position trading is that you don't have to worry about every news announcement as unless it is a real shocker it is unlikely to do much to your position.

I make a fair chunk of my trading profit from taking positions but it is always best to diversify and trade in different timeframes. Position trading does require fortitude.

 

[the blades]

frankly, this has returned approximately 1,800 big SP points since the mid 90s. (18,000 tradeable points)

about 150 a month since volatility picked up in 1995-ish, with a max drawdown in the region of 1500 points, which for a long term strat is pretty tidy.
FC

Hi FC,

Scratching my head again here - I really should be in the pub - but I can see aropund 700 points gained in the last 5 years - so a return of 60% ish - surely not that great. What am I doing wrong? (other than posting on message boards on a Friday evening.... )

Agree with the general sentiment, though in my case it's because I wouldn't have the energy, let alone skill, to day trade.

UTB

 

[Splitlink]

I think that it is a shame to close out a day trade when the possibilities of being in a profitable run are good.

There are trades when the profits look too good to be sustainable and I close out the same day but, maybe, as these are giving a profit, they should be the ones to hold overnight?

I try to be a day trader on all losers so, perhaps I am more of a daytrader than an overnight one!!

Dave persuaded me that overnight risk was too great to take and I converted to getting out the same day.
But that only last a few days until I got my nerve back again.

The upshot of this is that there can be some good profits in the first hour of trading, after a good run the previous day and it is almost impossible to open a favourable trade, then. It is true that there can also be a gap against you but it hasn't happened to me yet.

When it does, no doubt, I'll come whining to you guys for sympathy!

Split

 

[RUDEBOY]

Hi FC, i agree with twalker, in that successful daytrading requires a top notch setup, probably some people don't have this and day trade alright, i don't know? You seem a bit dissheartened, maybe not, it's good to re-evaluate, like they say a fool never changes his/her mind? IMHO, whichever time frame a person decides to trade they have got to keep an open mind. I enjoy reading the posts on "Where is the Dow...", this is arguably the best thread on this site, it's interesting to see though how some folks can't let go of a direction, they seem to get stuck in a rut . This is no way meant to be of detriment to anybody just an observation. Good trading, matey!

 

[Splitlink]

Hi FC, i agree with twalker, in that successful daytrading requires a top notch setup!

My successful day trades have almost always been openings which I intended as possible overnight trades. Trading with the intention of getting out that day does not seem to work for me.
This does not worry me as long as I can show a profit, somehow.

Maybe thinking longer term but being opportunistic enough to take a profit when it seems worth while is not a bad idea.

However, being like Helen and popping the kids down to school quick, before something moves on the screen is a horrible way to make a living, in my opinion..

I haven't heard from her for some time so I make that remark in the hopes of getting some reaction!

Split

 

[RUDEBOY]

Splitlink, you've lost me?

 

[RUDEBOY]

Sorry, it's the 'Fosters'?

 

[Salty Gibbon]

It is not that you do not have what it takes, it is just that you have not discovered the methodology. You are up against a lot of competition and unless you have the tools and spot on execution I think you have had it. I spend £1700 per month for my setup, I would not spend that if I thought I could get away with paying less.

I pay about US$ 25 pm for my live charts and IB pays me interest on my balance which far outways any charges that might come my way.

I have a PC, a monitor and a couple of pretty useful speakers, all paid for, so it costs nothing except depreciation if you count that dubious cost ( and I am a Chartered Accountant ).

I pay GBP 24.99 per month for a very fast internet service ( 2.2 Mbps whatever that means ) and very few further costs.

Obviously I get commissions but these are outweighed by my profits which currently are averaging about US$ 400 per day ( net ) which is fine by me because I have only been in this business for a little less than 2 years.

So what is all the fuss about and why do people pay such high fees for WHAT ?

Of course, I am more intelligent than most people so I guess that helps ( Ist Class Honours + Phd + lots of whatever is required ).

So basically I am asking what is the real problem with you guys.

It really is not that very difficult to make money day trading once you conquer yourself.

And there lies the clue guys and gals

 

[SOCRATES]

Salty, please, you are asking a lot. Can't you see plainly that you do not use pitchfiorks if there is kit out there that nearly makes the tea for you and will even tell you rour horoscope if you ask it nicely, but you have to have the right methodology, Salty please, don't be a boat rocker like me.
You must not misdirect people off the Holy Grail. Twalker obviously has Cape Carnaveral and you and I have not.

 

[Salty Gibbon]

You have indeed humbled me dear Socrates.

I will write a cheque for £ 10,000 and send it to the Grail Company immediately.

Do you think that will be enough to include the horoscope add-on ?

Do you happen perchance to have their address ?

 

[peterpr]

I pay about US$ 25 pm for my live charts and IB pays me interest on my balance which far outways any charges that might come my way. .......

Interesting thread.

Having gone round the Wrekin myself for 2 years, I finally settled on applying real discipline to day-trading and haven't looked back.

Interested in how you manage to keep cost so low though. What about Xchange fees?

I trade mainly the DAX, FTSE and DOW index futures. For reasons I won't bore you with I'm currently paying three sets of Exchange fees TWICE ! - so that I can have RT info on both IB's TWS and ESignal. I know that is daft but even paying them once amounts to more than double your $25 + all the other bits and bobs I don't get much change out of $350 per month in recurring s/w and Xchange fees alone.

I still maintain a separate SB account but rarely use it anymore - certainly not for bread and butter intra-day stuff where their quotes are always 5-10 pips (and more) ahead of the game - making it an excercise in futility IMHO.