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Why 98% Of All Day-traders Fail

  • #41
  • Mar 24, 2025 2:48am Mar 24, 2025 2:48am
Trading setups work because they exploit recurring market behaviors and trader psychology. Success hinges not only on identifying these patterns but also on maintaining strict risk management and discipline over time and behavior change.
Striving for excellence in every endeavor.
  • #42
  • Mar 25, 2025 12:52am Mar 25, 2025 12:52am
Keeping up with the markets requires more than just watching price movements—it’s about understanding trends, anticipating shifts, and making informed decisions. With accurate trade recommendations, timely updates, and in-depth market insights, staying ahead becomes easier.
Whether you're refining your strategy or just getting started, having access to reliable analysis can make a difference. While there’s plenty to learn and discuss, those looking for more structured guidance can explore additional resources designed to enhance decision-making and improve consistency.
  • #43
  • Mar 26, 2025 12:22pm Mar 26, 2025 12:22pm
If you accept the widely-quoted and widely-believed figure that something like 90-95% of all traders fail, then it surely isn't too surprising if 98% of all day-traders fail, because there's such a high proportion of day-traders among the newest, least experienced, least "educated" traders, isn't there?

I'm not suggesting that there's necessarily a direct proportionality between the length of time for which people have been trading and their average trade durations, but it seems true enough that a lot of people who started recently are trading from fast charts, while a lot of more experience traders are using something more like daily charts, don't you think?
Amelia
  • #44
  • Mar 27, 2025 8:38am Mar 27, 2025 8:38am
have you noticed that this discussion strated in 2021?, and i clicked on it bc i think as the majority of the retail traders i want to succeed at it and we want a piece of information that prove us to be right or guide us if we are wrong, honestly, it´s a bit like a spirituality, position good, act consistently and just have faith. good luck fellas
  • #45
  • Mar 27, 2025 9:14am Mar 27, 2025 9:14am
Quoting ravingant
have you noticed that this discussion strated in 2021?

Not sure whom you're asking, but I did.

I decided to reply anyway, because the post before mine was only 2 days ago, and it's such a timeless subject that it isn't a surprise to find several similar threads in all the trading forums on the web.
Amelia
  • #46
  • Apr 2, 2025 5:15am Apr 2, 2025 5:15am
Hi al
if 98% fail then some one hs to gain 98%
becase foex is a sum zero trading
so if you whant to sell then someone else has to buy
and if you whant to buy someone has to sell
and the 2% is the spread/commisions
the 98% loss is the banks and insitutions proffits
  • #47
  • Apr 2, 2025 10:19am Apr 2, 2025 10:19am
Quoting prohexa
the 2% is the spread/commisions
the 98% loss is the banks and insitutions proffits

The banks and institutions are not trading in the same market as the retail traders of whom 95+% are apparently losers.

The retail traders aren't really "trading" in a market at all. No currencies are changing hands when we "trade". We're simply betting on the price movements of a counterparty's own products, which are CFD's, not financial instruments in their own right.

It isn't the banks and institutions who are ending up with our money. It's our "brokers" (as they like us to think of them, though they're not actually "brokers" at all, in any realistic sense of the word").

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it. But let's do it understanding what's going on, and if we make losses, where that money ends up.
Amelia
  • #48
  • Apr 3, 2025 1:05pm Apr 3, 2025 1:05pm
Quoting toncuz
"As soon as I jump on a trend...it moves in the opposite direction".
So true.
Return To Disorder
  • #49
  • Apr 5, 2025 4:20am Apr 5, 2025 4:20am
Quoting Amelia-A
{quote} The banks and institutions are not trading in the same market as the retail traders of whom 95+% are apparently losers. The retail traders aren't really "trading" in a market at all. No currencies are changing hands when we "trade". We're simply betting on the price movements of a counterparty's own products, which are CFD's, not financial instruments in their own right. It isn't the banks and institutions who are ending up with our money. It's our "brokers" (as they like us to think of them, though they're not actually "brokers" at all,...

Thanks for the clarification
  • #50
  • Apr 11, 2025 7:47am Apr 11, 2025 7:47am
Think of it like this.

There are two teams. NY and LA.

Two people start with $500

John bets on NY and Mary bets on LA. Both wager $110

NY wins and John receives $100. Mary loses $110.

Next game, LA wins. Mary receives $100.

John's account now has $490 and Mary's account now has $490.

Who won? The bookie. The broker.
  • #51
  • May 6, 2025 2:52pm May 6, 2025 2:52pm
Most traders fail because they treat it like gambling, not like a business. Took me a while to realize consistency beats excitement every time...
  • #52
  • Jul 24, 2025 2:49am Jul 24, 2025 2:49am
Quoting toncuz
Think of it like this. There are two teams. NY and LA. Two people start with $500 John bets on NY and Mary bets on LA. Both wager $110 NY wins and John receives $100. Mary loses $110. Next game, LA wins. Mary receives $100. John's account now has $490 and Mary's account now has $490. Who won? The bookie. The broker.
Yeah because money comes from thin air hahahahahha
  • #53
  • Aug 21, 2025 1:32am Aug 21, 2025 1:32am
Gurus don’t show real results because they don’t have them. They make money selling courses, not from trading. Most people lose chasing quick profits.
  • #54
  • Sep 16, 2025 2:48am Sep 16, 2025 2:48am
Most day traders don’t lose to the market — they lose to themselves. It’s a constant me vs. me battle.
On demo, you follow rules. On live, fear makes you close early or skip setups. You promise yourself to be patient, but greed pushes you to overtrade. You plan to take one clean trade, but ego wants to “win back” a loss.
The truth is, the market doesn’t beat 98% of traders — their own emotions do. Fear, greed, ego, and lack of discipline quietly drain accounts faster than bad strategies ever could.
That’s why trading success is less about finding the “perfect setup” and more about mastering yourself. Until you win the battle with your own mind, the market will keep winning.
  • #55
  • Sep 18, 2025 12:00pm Sep 18, 2025 12:00pm
Quoting Amelia-A
The banks and institutions are not trading in the same market as the retail traders of whom 95+% are apparently losers. The retail traders aren't really "trading" in a market at all. No currencies are changing hands when we "trade". We're simply betting on the price movements of a counterparty's own products, which are CFD's, not financial instruments in their own right.

Many people trading CFDs like to imagine something very different, though. Perhaps to believe that brokers calling themselves "ECN" or "STP" aren't their counterparty at all, and are making their livings from their spreads, rather than from their customers' losses.

Anyone who's ever worked anywhere near the industry will tell them what a mistaken belief-set that is, I know - but most of them don't know anyone fitting that description and are more comfortable believing what they read on various commercial websites where a lot of people want them to continue to believe that.

No disrespect at all, to anyone, but you can't educate people who don't want to be educated. And you can't educate people who are unable to distinguish between education and marketing, either. In a sense, it can be argued that the entire CFD industry (or at least many parts of it) is set up in order to try to mislead people. And - it must be said - some are actually happy to be misled. (Maybe because they're "trading on hope" and it's really unkind to take their hope away? I don't know).
  • #56
  • Sep 26, 2025 5:34am Sep 26, 2025 5:34am
Debating the exact percentage misses the point: over-leverage, costs, and a lack of hard risk limits create a negative edge. Tight position sizing, predefined exits, and fewer, higher-quality trades fix more than any ‘holy grail’ setup
  • #57
  • Sep 30, 2025 2:08am Sep 30, 2025 2:08am
Yes, I agree, most people should not daytrade. I have made my system of daytrading, but it uses way complex methods. You have to go inside the candle with level two data, bookmap, heatmap etc.

The classical approach with MACD and other oscilators rarely work.
  • #58
  • Oct 3, 2025 7:31am Oct 3, 2025 7:31am
Quoting Varkeer
{quote} As a price action trader myself, having the patience to NOT trade is very important.
Agree. Avoiding poor entries and limiting loss after making a poor entry are essential habits.
  • #59
  • Oct 28, 2025 11:30pm Oct 28, 2025 11:30pm
The reason most fail is:

  1. They aren't patient enough to wait for a good opportunities and want to be in the market at all times.
  2. They don't have an exit system or don't follow it.
  3. No risk management.

The last point is by far the biggest problem I think.
"Cut your profits short, and let your losses run" is what the 98% live by.

If their position is winning they close it because "profit is profit".
But when the position is in the red, they don't close it because soon it will be a winner. But it turns out to be a big loser.

Gambling too much on a single trade is another account killer.
Let's say you have really great system that makes $5 on every $ invested, 50% of the time.
50% winners does not mean you can't have several account depleting losers in a row!
Do a coin flip. 50% chance to get tails. But still it's not unusual to get 3x heads in a row.

  • #60
  • Nov 14, 2025 7:34pm Nov 14, 2025 7:34pm
OP your initial post is a little scary considering the amount of time and effort I have put into trading so far! I remind myself that my learning and experience so far tells me there is a way of beating the market, and that is through having a good strategy that I stick to no matter what (its easy/tempting to deviate but I keep reminding myself), using risk management, and trade management once trades are live. My demo trading results in Forex have improved with more profits and less losses, I have done this by improving and refining my system and through learning, surely the results cannot be by chance? I don't believe they are, otherwise my strategy is getting worse and my luck is on a roll! Finally, it also helps having a system that is set up in a way such that dampens the play with my emotions because emotions will always be involved, and that is down to my mindset which I need to manage myself.
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