Intraday v Swing Trading

[osho67]

Hello,

I would like to know people's opinion of which trading method is more profitable, intraday or swing trading, I've read that 80% of people fail at intraday trading, what is it like for the swing traders, do 80% of swing traders succeed?

Many thanks


Osho

 

[osho67]

Only 2 votes after 37 views ?

 

[neil]

yep

 

[osho67]

Hi Neil

Yes, hoping for more votes

I read that 80% of intraday traders fail, does that figure hold for swing traders or are 80% of them successful?

 

[roguetrader]

That figure is very widely quoted almost everwhere to such an extent that I don't think anyone knows anymore who originally compiled it, how it was compiled and exactly what group of people it refers to. I suspect it refes to all short term traders. Given that trading is a zero sum game day or swing, it is probably mathmatically impossible for any large % to be successful

 

[osho67]

Not many votes, hoping for more !

Basically, I was thinking of switching away from intraday trading to swing trading, it seems swing traders are more successful because trendlines, indicators, channels etc work better in this timeframe ?

I really want to be an intraday trader though, there some advantages.

Still, those of you who are swing traders, do you feel it is easier to be consistently profitable on a longer timeframe?

 

[garethb]

You may well find it easier to succeed at longer term trades than intra day but it is no panacea. I personally found my results started to move from negative to positive when I switched from pure intra day and aimed for 3-7 day holding period. However when learning to trade I think you need to balance the need to find a style which suits you (requiring experimentation with trading timeframe etc.) and the need to focus and work at learning your craft without flitting from one thing to another. If you can honestly say to yourself that you have really worked at intra day and it is not succeeding then maybe try swing trading but I would recommend you focus one rough holding period, trading vehicle (ie don't jump around from stocks to futures to currencies to options etc.) and set of chart timeframes that match. Concentrate on finding your edge. At first your edge will be this wide (picture me holding my thumb and forefinger close together) not this wide (picture me standing like the fisherman describing the one that got away)

A book that helped me was Alan Farley - Master Swing Trader but maybe try to borrow it from a library first as I know some people hate his writing style

By the way, I believe the answer to your poll is that the shorter the holding period the higher the potential profits but the harder it is to be profitable at all.


Gareth

 

[Tuffty]

A good page on whether intraday traders make money is here...

www.investorhome.com/daytrade/profits.htm

I'd think the main advantage to swing trading is that you should have larger moves to cover your fixed costs (ie transaction costs) - but I voted for whatever suits you personally.