4 ms·

I feel like it's a lot easier to just get a job or start a business that makes at least double the average successful day trader

speedplane 8y ago
The way traders personally make money isn't by making good bets, it's by taking fees. If they make good bets, they get huge rewards, if they make bad bets, they get fired, but otherwise lose very little. So once you start betting with other people's money, you can do pretty well, it's just a matter of how long.
moate 8y ago
Sure, it might be easier, but it's not always about "easy". Some of it is adrenaline junkies, or ego, or a love of gambling.
- jliptzin 8y ago
  What he describes isn't gambling though, it's a very detailed and tedious list of tasks that are apparently necessary to succeed.
  - moate 8y ago
    >What he describes isn't gambling though... That's like saying that having a very complex system for playing blackjack to have an advantage over the house isn't gambling. My definition of gambling is "any event in which money is bet on the outcome of an event in which the user does not have 100% perfect knowledge". If you're an insider trader, you're not gambling. If you're Joe-average day trader, you're a gambler. Being a good gambler is a skill that can be developed. If your game of choice is the stock market, then those things he's talking about are part of how he pushes the odds in his favor.
    - jliptzin 8y ago
      Well you framed it in the context of an adrenaline junky. If someone has a specific system they're tediously following, expecting a certain regular profit at regular time intervals, I don't think that's an adrenaline pumping endeavor, that's more like a job.
      - moate 8y ago
        I framed it as 3 different, possibly unrelated causes that could be contributing. We'll just chalk this up to "communicating on the internet can be hard" and say it was a misunderstanding.
    - oldandtired 8y ago
      By your definition then every business, every primary producer, even every government are gambling, including insider traders. None of us, no matter how much we may think otherwise, has perfect knowledge. Every activity has a certain level of risk that means failure. What I think you need to add to your definition is an addendum that says that what you bet is significant enough that you will suffer significant harm from losing. So if you cannot afford to lose that $5 you put down on some race, then that is significant. if putting down $1,000,000 on some event and losing means nothing to you, then are you still gambling or having entertainment. My father's advice to me from a very young age, was to treat all "bets" as a loss anda form of entertainment. So only use what you could afford to lose. if you cannot afford to lose anything, then you don't lay down resources on the expectation of "winning", that is the mug's game. So as far as day trading is concerned, follow the rules that I set out above, which are the same rules that I received from others who have actually been successful in day trading. Interestingly enough, I have had the same advice from those who were unsuccessful and they admit they broke the rules as laid out.

speedplane 8y ago

The way traders personally make money isn't by making good bets, it's by taking fees. If they make good bets, they get huge rewards, if they make bad bets, they get fired, but otherwise lose very little. So once you start betting with other people's money, you can do pretty well, it's just a matter of how long.

moate 8y ago

Sure, it might be easier, but it's not always about "easy". Some of it is adrenaline junkies, or ego, or a love of gambling.

jliptzin 8y ago
What he describes isn't gambling though, it's a very detailed and tedious list of tasks that are apparently necessary to succeed.
- moate 8y ago
  >What he describes isn't gambling though... That's like saying that having a very complex system for playing blackjack to have an advantage over the house isn't gambling. My definition of gambling is "any event in which money is bet on the outcome of an event in which the user does not have 100% perfect knowledge". If you're an insider trader, you're not gambling. If you're Joe-average day trader, you're a gambler. Being a good gambler is a skill that can be developed. If your game of choice is the stock market, then those things he's talking about are part of how he pushes the odds in his favor.
  - jliptzin 8y ago
    Well you framed it in the context of an adrenaline junky. If someone has a specific system they're tediously following, expecting a certain regular profit at regular time intervals, I don't think that's an adrenaline pumping endeavor, that's more like a job.
    - moate 8y ago
      I framed it as 3 different, possibly unrelated causes that could be contributing. We'll just chalk this up to "communicating on the internet can be hard" and say it was a misunderstanding.
  - oldandtired 8y ago
    By your definition then every business, every primary producer, even every government are gambling, including insider traders. None of us, no matter how much we may think otherwise, has perfect knowledge. Every activity has a certain level of risk that means failure. What I think you need to add to your definition is an addendum that says that what you bet is significant enough that you will suffer significant harm from losing. So if you cannot afford to lose that $5 you put down on some race, then that is significant. if putting down $1,000,000 on some event and losing means nothing to you, then are you still gambling or having entertainment. My father's advice to me from a very young age, was to treat all "bets" as a loss anda form of entertainment. So only use what you could afford to lose. if you cannot afford to lose anything, then you don't lay down resources on the expectation of "winning", that is the mug's game. So as far as day trading is concerned, follow the rules that I set out above, which are the same rules that I received from others who have actually been successful in day trading. Interestingly enough, I have had the same advice from those who were unsuccessful and they admit they broke the rules as laid out.