Day Trading vs Long Term Investing

Hey all, want to talk about this interesting subject of Day Trading vs Long Term Investing. Hoping some of you can share similar experiences in this.


Basically I've been short term/day trading for years now and have busted every account I've ever had. I've never managed my money properly which is clearly the cause. But in the end, I'm just not a day trader. It doesn't fit my personality well. The funny thing is in the midst of losing HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars (I'm not exaggerating, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars) day trading/ short term trading, I'd say 80%+ of long term investments I've liked have done really well. And I haven't participated in any of them because I was too busy losing my money day trading and going broke in the process.

It's a really crushing experience to go through. Losing the amounts of money I've lost day trading is honestly soul crushing. I don't think there's a worse feeling in the world. Like I said though, during this process most of my long term investment ideas have turned out to be very very profitable. So it's really obvious what I need to do. I clearly need to give up day trading/ short term trading and stick to long term investing.

I've been saying this for a while now, yet I continuously open up Metatrader and watch FX for hours on end, resulting in me making big losing trades and busting account after account. I'm really tired of it. Part of me does wonder if I'd be successful at short term trading if only I managed my money properly, I've literally never done it once, which is totally insane.

I'm a professional poker player, but I don't consider that gambling at all. Now, if I risked all or most of my capital on one hand or one session of poker in a day, then I would definitely consider it gambling. I avoid all casino games, sports betting, anything that I can't have an edge in. There's a degenerate inside of me for sure, but overall I usually know how to control it, know what to avoid, etc. But day trading is the one area where I've failed with that. And it's literally ruined my life. It's caused me to do bad things, hurt people, ruin relationships, essentially it has ruined my life.

I don't know if any of you can understand what I'm saying here. But this is no joke. The only way I can stop is probably to just force myself to not look at a chart at all, not watch the market at all. I'm going to try to stick with long term investing from here on out. Maybe look at the market for 30 minutes-1 hour a day maximum at the daily close or whatever. If i don't stop day trading now it'll be the end of me.

There's a ton of money to be made in long term investing, and it's time I do myself a favor and stick with my strength. Hope this helps someone out there. Going to try to stay away from forexfactory as well as I think it's a bad influence on me when trying to quit short term trading. Good luck guys. If I can say one last thing it's manage your money properly, nothing is more important. Peace.

It depends on what you are looking at in the charts. Finding liquidity spots is a skill. It's not just a matter of bull this, bear that and channel the other. If you don't know where these spots are, you are going to have issues. It's that simple. You need to do your homework before committing funds.

absolutely correct. Its called trading for a reason. Buy when its cheap, sell when its expensive. Those liquidity spots/levels help you know which is which. The rest is proper risk management. Without that, all the liquidity spots/levels in the world will do you no good!

I find it much easier to lose the money I made in forex. Busting an account means rebuilding it from $70 back up again. I don't face that soul crushing pain anymore. If I bust it totally I will only deposit a $20 and build it back up again. I'm no longer angry for days when busting an account, just a little upset for moments like when losing a video game.

Its not a case of finding the perfect entry but one of trading with the market. If you aren't with the market, you are at risk straight off which will never be managed with a happy outcome. In that case, you are better advised not to trade.

Anyways, thats my pennys worth.

Edit: A trade initiated at these levels will only reverse at these levels. There are finer nuances to this but that is the gist.

You can trade long term WHEN there is such catalyst which can keep long term trends.... but most of the days (~85%) are good for daytrading.

The issue is simply risk to reward... most daytraders have too tight a margin to allow for any uncertainty

And long term traders don't know when will the perception change to the opposite.

Long term INVESTOR , and your assumption is false.

your posts are erratic Yuir, you posted this with regards EU

"

1. Cut the BS and ride the trend. EUR is a buy now. Rates are equal anyway..

"

So you're a short term trader riding the trend that you don't know when the perception will change????

Every day is pretty much good for daytrading. I would suggest at least 4 years of maximum chart time (as in "little life beyond observing the charts" other than the necessities.) At least 4 hours a day, don't trade, demo or live, just observe and look for commonalities and then build on that. It is worth the effort. Jettison the stuff thats out there and start with a fresh mind. No indicators as well other than what you realise is essential.

So you're making consistent money day trading? I'm at about the 3 year point now.

It's just a phase you have to go through. You can't just be told "this doesn't work" and "that doesn't work" - you have to play around with various things yourself, blow a couple of accounts, get burned a few times and then think about WHY these things don't work - otherwise they will always be in the corner of your eye, tempting you and distracting you. I spent years playing with indicators and shit, studying price action, order flow, all the tools of short term trading before discarding them and settling on my current long term approach. It seems like a waste of several years and many hours, but if I didn't go through that slow process of elimination I don't think I could trade the way I do now - I would always be looking at the indicator tab at the top of the screen, wondering "what if".

You seem like a smart enough guy maybe you could trade profitably long term, if you focused yourself and put the effort in. Most have no hope, no matter how hard they try. Big long term moves generally coincide with monetary policy cycles, economic growth and shifts in large holdings as shown in COT reports, learn all you can about these things then it's just a question of timing. There are a few good folk in FF who can help you - maybe browse through a few of the less popular journals - but getting away from the madding crowds here isn't a bad idea.

Yeap.

Quality time is the name of this game. This is a pretty hard journey and you will know when you arrive.

Seems most would agree you are about half way there.
Also I agree with Numbnuts.

Have you considered just trading the opposite from what your considered opinion tempts you to trade....?