Sorry, I'm not here to debate about trading. We just have a difference of opinion...no biggie. wrbtrader
Isn't that the same thing? I thought everyone did it for money. You would have to be a complete nut job to be staring at charts because you are fasinated by the colors and patterns they produce without thinking about money
It really depends how much you start off with. Sorry, but yougnsters are not carefully managing and growing by a few percentages if I have 10-15k in the bank while also working a job and slowly adding in savings. That is the minority. Most are probably going to aggressively daytrade it, lose it, learn about how to do it properly, then give it another go in a while.
Not denying the profit part. But the money is just a measure of the game, from a certain POV. A big part of why I started to trade is because it is hard -- many try, few succeed. An inner journey... Could I do it? Prove it. Self knowledge, a test of one's limits, stretching one's limits. For some, eventually dealing with boredom can be one of the limits! So I guess at that time it might just be for the money? Maybe not. Battle scarred... there is a satisfaction in it. A kind of meditation. Looking that that big list of traders ...I'm an information oriented technical trader
You'd trade differently having a $1,000,000 or having $25,000. Of course, it is for the money but what are your expectations in terms of return per year? That is the differentiation of a day trader and the "other trader". Day traders starting at 25K have crazy expectations, risk a lot, and often self-destruct. A larger trader who does not need a monthly income from trading can blow out as well, but his chances of hedging and smarter(safer) trading are bigger. In the '90s I was prop trading in NYC and was getting unemployment for a while. My expense was $1500/month. What do you think happened?
There is #3, I started trading in 1978 as a challenge, money way to keep score. 99% of my time trading in retirement accounts, just couple times traded for living. It not me against the markets, it is me against me. I never had expectations and still don't, but have done very well. Wasn't easy to do in commodities, made money in stocks only to lose in soybeans or whatever. But you only fail if you quit. Too much stress to expect.