Practicing day trading just for fun

Hi everyone. I'm currently a sophomore in college that is very interested in fast paced trading environments. I'm wanting to start practicing day trading with some of these free software just for the sake of learning. My question is, for those of you who started day trading, how long did it take you to somewhat get the hang of it? Essentially, it is me trying to learn something that I will hopefully be good at and could help me with future career possibilities.

Also, what software is best for someone who is just starting? Is there anything specific that I should start out day trading? For example, forex, stocks, etc.

Thanks!

 

Your chances are slim to none. Discretionary intraday timeframe trading at a consistently profitable level in an institutional environment is already unbelievably difficult today, you're just one guy on a retail platform with no contacts, no models, no experience, etc. You have no shot at making this work for you.

Instead of wasting your time with that, invest that time into reading trading/investing books, learn how to perform an in-depth research on a particular company, understand how to decipher the Ks and Qs, etc. These are all transferable things you can actually apply in your near future, unlike trying to squeeze a penny in intraday trading (which no one will care about).

 

Thanks for the comment! I understand that I will never make real money, it is just something that I am very curious about and would like to attempt. In all seriousness, I think I would enjoy the thrill of making split second decisions, even if it is with fake money. Is it not even worth it just to experience it?

 
Best Response

I'll start out with a personal anecdote, when I was a sophomore in college I had the exact same idea that you have and began trading all manner commodities futures on a paper platform including ags, energy, metals, etc. Eventually I became consistently profitable on the paper platform to the tune of $750/day and opened a highly leveraged futures brokerage account with $5,000. Within a few hours of trading I went from $5,000 to $250 as my strategy was destroyed by the lack of liquidity I had.

The lesson learned here is that even if you find a strategy that works on a paper platform it likely won't transfer to real life as a profitable strategy for a number of reasons:

1) Your liquidity will be garbage on an e-trade account because a $5,000 account does not get priority for order routing and liquidity is EVERYTHING when trading intraday

2) You will have no access to market making desks which can provide said liquidity and offer better pricing

3) As a one man show you have absolutely zero edge and by the time you receive any material news someone else has likely already acted upon it closing the arbitrage window, -- if somehow you were able to act on something extremely quick the piss poor execution of your retail platform will delay you to the point that your reaction time didn't matter -- this is particularly true in the only products you'll be forced to trade... namely highly liquid securities, given the prominence of HFT algos operating in these markets. (Think of it as if you're driving a semi truck hauling steel and your counter party is riding a 1000cc sport bike... suddenly you both need to fill gas... the sport bike speeds ahead to the next few gas stations and accumulates all of the gasoline available -- when you finally arrive to the first gas station the bike rider offers to sell you the gasoline but at a deep premium)

4) You likely have little background in statistics and programming which is what exploiting intraday market movements is entirely based on... trading based upon "head under armpit with mountains on top" chart patterns will likely cause you to wind up broke within a couple weeks if not within days

The points above should be reason enough to stay very far away from intraday trading as a small retail guy -- you'll get paved. Instead, spend that time networking for relevant internships and learning more about the business it'll pay off in the long run.

"Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman." -- George Soros
 

1) Bet money that you are more than willing to lose.

2) Pick some stocks that are in your price range, research them, always keep up with the news to see any thing that will make it go up (patent, acquisitions, contracts, etc) and bet accordingly.

3) Learn how to short but also when to use it properly.

4) Stick to the fundamentals, that's how IBM and Hilton were built. Sometimes, good things take time.

Good luck

 

The only way to learn how to trade is to do it. Something that works for one person may not work for another. Develop a few strategies and paper trade first. Discipline is crucial when it comes to trading. I have had strategies that worked for different scenarios but would burn when I didn't hold my exit points. You tube has some ideas out there, but keep in mind 99% are trying to sell a course.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 

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