Day Trading For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 20

Ten Common Day Trading Mistakes

IN THIS CHAPTER

Avoiding other people’s trading mistakes

Steering clear of psychological and preparation mistakes

Day trading is tough. Many popular markets are zero-sum games, meaning that for every winner, there’s a loser. Other markets, such as the stock market, are positive-sum games, meaning they have a tendency to increase in value over time, but you may rarely see big moves in any one day. And the whole point of day trading is to close your positions each night. Most day traders lose money, in part because they make obvious, avoidable mistakes.

This list of ten mistakes can help you avoid the most serious ones. Avoiding these mistakes is no guarantee that you’ll make money trading, but it can certainly reduce your risk and improve your odds. And that’s half the battle.

Starting with Unrealistic Expectations

Most day traders lose money. Some research shows that 80 percent of day traders wash out in the first year. Brokerage firms that deal with day traders are constantly figuring out ways to attract new customers, because it is so hard to retain the ones they have for the long term.

Yes, some traders make money. A few make a lot of money. But they are the exception. Making money day trading is tough, making enough money to cover ...