A case for "day"-trading (i.e. casual/lifestyle trading or investing)
I created this thread on reddit yesterday and figured I'll post it here too since I frequent RFD so much. I have posted the OP here but have also interacted with other people in the comments. Feel free to give me your thoughts, thanks.
A case for "day"-trading (i.e. casual/lifestyle trading or investing)
I've seen people get a lot of crap for day-trading, especially if they are newbies. Maybe it is because this is /r/investing and not /r/daytrading where majority of us are passive investors where the money is put in some ETF/MF/Vanguard/others/etc and left there to grow over time and contribution is made periodically to help compound the growth.
I'd like to make a case for casual trading where you do trade more frequently than a buy & forget investor, including equities and derivatives, but not nearly as frequently as a day-trader that makes several trades a day every trading day.
I've been casually trading for 10 years where I went through the euphoria and the recession, made and lost a ton of money. When I started, I was discouraged like many others here but I kept at it, trying everything from commodities to f/x to ETFs to stocks. Took me about 8 years to finally lay the foundations of the ground rules that I follow for more successful results. You can see how I've fared in the last 2.5 years when I started tracking the results. Unless otherwise mentioned, there were NO additional deposits made to the portfolio during this period.
The point I'm trying to make is simply this - all the rules/adages of wall street and the market notwithstanding, casual trading IS a viable way of making money, but like all many other ventures, it has a high failure rate (considering the higher risk/reward ratio), requires a huge learning curve and discipline.
What I like about casual trading/investing is that you don't need a lot of capital start off with. However, like with any activity, you need to start at some point and get your feet wet. Success may not be guaranteed since one can't see the future, but there is no other way to learn and improve. Yes, that means taking some losses too but I believe the potential is worth it. This isn't a humble-brag to show how I'm beating the market, but just to show it is possible and can be learned.
About me: 30 year old with a finance/math background. I only deal with stocks and options of particular companies (i.e. no ETFs/commodities/funds/etc). I trade and invest somewhat infrequently with short to long-term outlook. I like this approach because I don't need to sit in front of the computer all the time and only check in from time to time. This isn't conventional day-trading nor is it long-term investing. I don't have a proper term for but I suppose you can call it casual or lifestyle trading. I have developed my investment ground-rules/philosophy/style that I use to invest and trade, and if you guys are interested then I can elaborate further.
tl;dr - "day"-trading (or casual trading) is a viable way to make money, it takes time and experience but it can be learned.
PS: While this isn't for everyone, if people are interested in learning my trading methodology/style, then I would like to create something (short ebooks/excel tools/blog with articles/youtube videos/podcast). Feel free to advise or give me any input as to what would work best.
A case for "day"-trading (i.e. casual/lifestyle trading or investing)
I've seen people get a lot of crap for day-trading, especially if they are newbies. Maybe it is because this is /r/investing and not /r/daytrading where majority of us are passive investors where the money is put in some ETF/MF/Vanguard/others/etc and left there to grow over time and contribution is made periodically to help compound the growth.
I'd like to make a case for casual trading where you do trade more frequently than a buy & forget investor, including equities and derivatives, but not nearly as frequently as a day-trader that makes several trades a day every trading day.
I've been casually trading for 10 years where I went through the euphoria and the recession, made and lost a ton of money. When I started, I was discouraged like many others here but I kept at it, trying everything from commodities to f/x to ETFs to stocks. Took me about 8 years to finally lay the foundations of the ground rules that I follow for more successful results. You can see how I've fared in the last 2.5 years when I started tracking the results. Unless otherwise mentioned, there were NO additional deposits made to the portfolio during this period.
The point I'm trying to make is simply this - all the rules/adages of wall street and the market notwithstanding, casual trading IS a viable way of making money, but like all many other ventures, it has a high failure rate (considering the higher risk/reward ratio), requires a huge learning curve and discipline.
What I like about casual trading/investing is that you don't need a lot of capital start off with. However, like with any activity, you need to start at some point and get your feet wet. Success may not be guaranteed since one can't see the future, but there is no other way to learn and improve. Yes, that means taking some losses too but I believe the potential is worth it. This isn't a humble-brag to show how I'm beating the market, but just to show it is possible and can be learned.
About me: 30 year old with a finance/math background. I only deal with stocks and options of particular companies (i.e. no ETFs/commodities/funds/etc). I trade and invest somewhat infrequently with short to long-term outlook. I like this approach because I don't need to sit in front of the computer all the time and only check in from time to time. This isn't conventional day-trading nor is it long-term investing. I don't have a proper term for but I suppose you can call it casual or lifestyle trading. I have developed my investment ground-rules/philosophy/style that I use to invest and trade, and if you guys are interested then I can elaborate further.
tl;dr - "day"-trading (or casual trading) is a viable way to make money, it takes time and experience but it can be learned.
PS: While this isn't for everyone, if people are interested in learning my trading methodology/style, then I would like to create something (short ebooks/excel tools/blog with articles/youtube videos/podcast). Feel free to advise or give me any input as to what would work best.
CPA. Investor. Realtor @ Royal LePage Ignite Realty
