Lasting for a long haul daytrading apparently is harder than being a pro athelete.. Articles
on the research findings by Dr. Brett Steenbarger.

TraderFeed: What Proportion of Daytraders Actually Makes Money?

other:

TraderFeed: How Common Is Elite Talent Among Day Traders?
TraderFeed: Can Day Traders Be Successful?

Not surprised...this stuff is really hard and money doesn't grow on trees!
When you're out, you're out. An athlete can expand his skill over several
years with minimal monetary loss (gear, travel, etc.).

Dr. Brett Steenbarger has done some interesting work over the years regarding psychology.

This was a while ago, but wasn't his research the one where he found that if you were good at your work/sport/hobby that you were pathologically obsessed and addicted to it?

If memory serves he also did some brain scanning with drug addicts and people who were "obsessed" with their jobs, and found no difference in brain chemical changes. This basically meant that if you were good at doing your job, you had the same chemical reactions in the brain as a person firing up a crack pipe.

He's done some interesting work for sure; thanks for posting this!

Krav69 

Dr. Brett Steenbarger has done some interesting work over the years regarding psychology. This was a while ago, but wasn't his research the one where he found that if you were good at your work/sport/hobby that you were pathologically obsessed and addicted to it? If memory serves he also did some brain scanning with drug addicts and people who were "obsessed" with their jobs, and found no difference in brain chemical changes. This basically meant that if you were good at doing your job, you had the same chemical reactions in the brain as a person firing up a crack pipe. He's done some interesting work for sure; thanks for posting this!

I can see that. You have to totally immerse yourself in whatever you are doing to be one of the best.

It is also interesting why people are so drawn to the shortest time frames possible.
Surely, it is intimately linked with being under capitalized. If you hold trades for weeks/months it is much more obvious that you are not going to be able to live of the compounding of a 100k account let alone less than that after transaction cost and the tax man gets his vigorish.

That is not even touching on how people love to pull the lever on the slot machine.

NoiseTrader716 

It is also interesting why people are so drawn to the shortest time frames possible. Surely, it is intimately linked with being under capitalized. If you hold trades for weeks/months it is much more obvious that you are not going to be able to live of the compounding of a 100k account let alone less than that after transaction cost and the tax man gets his vigorish. That is not even touching on how people love to pull the lever on the slot machine.

Ya, in the majority of cases it is due to being under-capitalized. They simply have a much larger time opportunity cost and can't park their money. Some other reasons are:

1. They're lazy and don't want to do any top down analysis.
2. They're too scared to hold overnight.

Krav69 

Dr. Brett Steenbarger has done some interesting work over the years regarding psychology. This was a while ago, but wasn't his research the one where he found that if you were good at your work/sport/hobby that you were pathologically obsessed and addicted to it? If memory serves he also did some brain scanning with drug addicts and people who were "obsessed" with their jobs, and found no difference in brain chemical changes. This basically meant that if you were good at doing your job, you had the same chemical reactions in the brain as a person firing up a crack pipe. He's done some interesting work for sure; thanks for posting this!

I would agree with this. Traders are getting the same chemical buzz as a gambler, adrenaline, endorphines ect, the real issue as always is how you train yourself to manage the downside of this. Most people are simply not aware of what is happenning to them.

Cheers John

NoiseTrader716 

It is also interesting why people are so drawn to the shortest time frames possible. Surely, it is intimately linked with being under capitalized. If you hold trades for weeks/months it is much more obvious that you are not going to be able to live of the compounding of a 100k account let alone less than that after transaction cost and the tax man gets his vigorish. That is not even touching on how people love to pull the lever on the slot machine.

Obviously you are talking about shares. Futures and Options you can, but you better be extremely good at risk management or no amount will be enough.
Cheers John

Johno1 

I would agree with this. Traders are getting the same chemical buzz as a gambler, adrenaline, endorphines ect, the real issue as always is how you train yourself to manage the downside of this. Most people are simply not aware of what is happenning to them. Cheers John

Although sticking with a strategy at all times is probably easier said than done, would that not fix a lot of problems. Find the strategies that work and stick to them.