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tf/beginners
342
tf/beginners•Posted by u/newbie_investor•

Can someone explain day trading like I'm 5? I keep seeing it everywhere but don't actually understand it

I see tons of people on social media saying they make thousands day trading, but when I look it up I just get vague definitions. Can someone who actually does this break it down?

Like, do you literally sit at your computer all day buying and selling stocks? How is that different from just… investing? And do most people actually make money or is the success rate abysmal?

Not trying to jump in — I just want to understand what it actually involves before I even consider it.

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trader_mike·edited

Day trading means opening and closing all your positions within the same trading day. You never hold anything overnight. The idea is to profit from small intraday price movements — could be $0.50 on a stock, a few ticks on futures, whatever.

What it actually looks like: you wake up, study pre-market movers, wait for the open at 9:30 AM ET, trade the first 1-2 hours (that's when volatility is highest), and then either keep going or stop. Most serious day traders take 3-10 trades per day.

156
macro_man·edited

This is a great summary. I'd add that the PDT rule (Pattern Day Trader) means you need at least $25,000 in your account to day trade stocks in the US. That alone filters out a lot of beginners. Futures don't have that requirement though.

89
newbie_investorOP·edited

Wait, you need $25k just to start? That's insane. Is that per broker or per person?

45
chart_wizard·edited

Gonna be honest with you: the success rate is terrible. Studies show somewhere between 80-95% of day traders lose money over a 2-year period. The ones who succeed treat it like a real job — they have strategies, risk management, and most importantly they survived the learning curve without blowing up their accounts.

112
swing_king·edited

The difference from investing is the time horizon. An investor buys Apple because they believe in the company for the next 5-10 years. A day trader buys Apple at 10:02 AM because the 5-minute chart showed a breakout pattern and sells at 10:15 AM for a $200 profit. Completely different games.

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