Is Day Trading Addictive?

[Pound foolish]

We all know that gambling is addictive, and before everyone tells me, I KNOW dealing shares is NOT gambling, but investing based on informed decisions, and which over the long term you will get your money back like premium bonds but unlike horses!

However, recently when I noticed a share I had wanted for some time had dropped 50% and was at the bottom, I couldnt buy it quick enough. I only had a few hundered in my account and only got in on 190 of them. The rush I got during the trade and after as I watched it go up and up (now it stands up 50% in 14 days!) was immense. If I was day trading (instead of at work) I would have had a 1000 of them. My CEO's wife who is our head of our company's HR came to see me minutes after the trade and I had to explain why I was so hyper!

Whilst I am at work, I sometimes can't stop hitting that refresh button to check the latest prices.

If you Day Trade as a living is there a real chance it becomes obsessive, with tactics, prices and potential trades buzzing round your head 24/7 or am I in need of help?

 

[nine]

It is potentially addictive.

 

[donaldduke]

There are stories of coach loads of floor traders in chicago going straight from the floor to the dog track or to floating casinos inorder to keep the rush going..

The difference between the emotional highs (after big wins) and lows (big losses) is what makes it so addictive.

If you use conservative position sizing and only bet very small amounts of your equity on each trade it becomes less of a wild roller coaster ride and also less addictive.

 

[new_trader]

I am not at the stage where my heart rate doesn't change between being in a trade and being out. I will be "complete" when that happens with every trade. When all hopes, fears and concerns are replaced with dispassionate analysis and action. You will fail if you are addicted by the emotions.

 

[Xeno]

We all know that gambling is addictive,

To be rather pedantic, but also to make the point, gambling itself is not addictive - the feelings it can give you can be easily addictive. If trading gives you the same feelings, they can be easily addictive too. A gambler and trader who are both addicted are probably addicted to pretty much the same emotions.

That's just in case you were trying to convince yourself that because "trading isn't gambling" you can worry less about addiction. You can't. If you get the rush, it's the same, and a real problem.

 

[everyonerich]

scalpers in market dont just enter the market all the time. but many times they can enter and make money.. it is addictive in some way..

 

[Bolimomo]

.....
The rush I got during the trade and after as I watched it go up and up (now it stands up 50% in 14 days!) was immense. If I was day trading (instead of at work) I would have had a 1000 of them.
.....

What you have witnessed might be a once-in-a-long-time phenomenon. Many US financial stocks came back from the dead and bounced big. Because of their low price, their percentage moves became huge. e.g.

C 0.99 to 3.80 283%
WFC 7.90 to 17.00 115%
AIG 0.40 to 1.90 375%
... etc ...

The question is: would you see it continue to go up at this rate?

Don't we all feel this way: We won a jackpot at a casino by chance. Then we all tend to go back to it and play more, and more, and more, with the thought that we will win another jackpot again... soon?

 

[grimesd]

If you feeling so much of a buzz when placing a single trade, i would suggest that you are risking too much of your capital.

 

[Pound foolish]

If you feeling so much of a buzz when placing a single trade, i would suggest that you are risking too much of your capital.

I had the buzz, liked it, was not risking too much of my capital, just got everything right that day and wow what a buzz hence the post! Heart raced etc etc.

I could get used to that feeling. love winning hate losing. I must be hooked.

Now time to go to The Prory lol!

 

[Black Swan]

I had the buzz, liked it, was not risking too much of my capital, just got everything right that day and wow what a buzz hence the post! Heart raced etc etc.

I could get used to that feeling. love winning hate losing. I must be hooked.

Now time to go to The Prory lol!

I think you mean the Priory but you're hopefully a long way from needing a few nights in there TBH my daytrading I see as a job, I plan to make x amount of profit every day/week/month. From 7 in the morning 'til 9 in the evening 5 days a week I'll keep a weather eye on the markets, it's not addictve it's a job, the job I've evolved into.

The adrenaline still peaks for me at times throughout the day and the trade, similar to new trader I'm hoping to reach some 'Zen like' state whereby it's totally mechanical, IMHO this will take a lot more years. However, I don't trust my instincts/take punts, I only trade off/through the charts, if a trade goes 'wrong'/off plan I only ever lose twenty - twenty five pips. This makes the whole process less personal, if the plan/strategy has been followed and the entry didn't quite work then that goes with the territory, seven out of ten entries are spot on, then it's all about the exit.

In short trusting your trading plan, and all the indicators leading to a trade, over and above actually trusting yourself, helps prevent impulsive/addictive tendencies.

 

[Splitlink]

I think you mean the Priory but you're hopefully a long way from needing a few nights in there TBH my daytrading I see as a job, I plan to make x amount of profit every day/week/month. From 7 in the morning 'til 9 in the evening 5 days a week I'll keep a weather eye on the markets, it's not addictve it's a job, the job I've evolved into.

The adrenaline still peaks for me at times throughout the day and the trade, similar to new trader I'm hoping to reach some 'Zen like' state whereby it's totally mechanical, IMHO this will take a lot more years. However, I don't trust my instincts/take punts, I only trade off/through the charts, if a trade goes 'wrong'/off plan I only ever lose twenty - twenty five pips. This makes the whole process less personal, if the plan/strategy has been followed and the entry didn't quite work then that goes with the territory, seven out of ten entries are spot on, then it's all about the exit.

In short trusting your trading plan, and all the indicators leading to a trade, over and above actually trusting yourself, helps prevent impulsive/addictive tendencies.

I think that you are, probably, obsessed, but you are the first to deny it (most of us are). Being happy or contented with what you are doing is the main thing and, that, you have to be to be able to do it for 14 hours per day.

I do mine between 0800 and 1330 per day. I'm, probably, obsessed but have other obligations afterwards. That keeps me balanced.

 

[Trader1UK]

Addictive??? Man its like putting all the Class A drugs together and taking them in 1 shot... Trading in general is addictive, day trading probably more so.. Once youre in its very hard to get out.. But its all good fun too, make sure your blood pressure is in control

 

[Black Swan]

I think that you are, probably, obsessed, but you are the first to deny it (most of us are). Being happy or contented with what you are doing is the main thing and, that, you have to be to be able to do it for 14 hours per day.

I do mine between 0800 and 1330 per day. I'm, probably, obsessed but have other obligations afterwards. That keeps me balanced.

you've misunderstood, I stated from 7am-9pm, 5 days a week I keep a "weather eye on the markets", that's not obsessional, it's professionalism.

 

[Splitlink]

you've misunderstood, I stated from 7am-9pm, 5 days a week I keep a "weather eye on the markets", that's not obsessional, it's professionalism.

That's what they all say. You've had it, mate, the bug's bitten you. Even your username is apocalypsic.

 

[shadowninja]

Denial... first sign of guilt.