To settle an arguement-Can anyone out there give me an example (name could remain confidential)of a 'successful' trader ie anyone who has made his/her fortune out of tradeing the stocks on a regular basis. I have been told that this is a VERY rare breed only to be found in fiction novels!
I'm in the running, but a wee while to go yet !!
Thanks-Jim

I keep very quiet about my share dealing. To my family it's my 'hobby' but I regard it much more seriously, after all it pays my bills and for holidays. I went over to doing it full time when because of work commitments I missed out on some potential big profits and also found that I was making more from shares than from working.

Molatov Kid you are still going to need somewhere to live. Work out how much you are going to need to pay all your bills and living expenses (food, entertainment etc) for a year and take that out of your 'pot' and put it in a separate account to give you a cushion. Keep extremely good records and a running profit/loss total because if successful unless spreadbetting you'll have to face the IR capital gains form. Don't be emotional, be disciplined. Be prepared for the fact that you will lose money on some trades but as long as you don't fall into the trap of either being too paralized to trade or increase the size of your trades in the hope of recovering your losses too quickly and risk being wiped out totally. Remember, discipline, discipline, discipline and good luck.

KAndrews,for an account of Omnitrader Real Time speak to Chris Byars who will tell you what it will cost to go live etc, then you can compare to Zarifs latest buy. His number is at the foot of post 22 above. You guys interested in the best way to go abt day trading shd chat with Dave (crocodile) at snappy trader.com he can point you in the right direction and is very experienced I think. P.

pericles

Thanks for that have been in contact and ordered acopy + silver data feed, I think a good place to start and I like the platform. Can still spend extra to change if I do not like and within the 60 day return if not happy. rgds KA

I think japris hit the nail on the head when he stated that successful daytraders are a very rare breed. It's probably not uncommon for daytraders to make a 'fortune', but extremely common for them to lose it plus a lot more. I was a daytrader for 3 years, and without question the most demanding & frustrating task I have ever undertaken! How can anyone (other than the brokers & data providers) win overall in a short term random environment? Unless you are exceptionally skilled then imo you are entering very deep waters...

edit:
....much more relaxed to just trade the swings for more points over longer timeframes - just widen your stops and reduce your position size!

Traders magazine comes out every other month and has some useful articles. For a free copy go to www.traders-mag.com.

Crocodile runs courses for small groups at his home.

PS I have no connection whatever with the above mag or contributers to it. Got sent a free copy and found it interesting.

Hi everyone, it is good to hear different views. Day trading is easy with covered warrants if you want to try buying both calls and puts, comdirect is offering 1.00 per trade until the 30th of June. BUT please read a good book on OPTIONS before diving in Covered warrants, because they are both cousins. I do both daytrading and long term trading, dont want to but the market forces me to do both.
It is bloody uncertain and to figure out what will happen next is impossible. I buy both call and put at the sametime, sell my winning position and average my losing position until I come out of loss and you know what, it works. At least working for me for the last 6 months.