Day Trading for a Living?
9 Pages Posted: 22 Jul 2019 Last revised: 15 Jun 2020
Date Written: June 11, 2020
Abstract
We show that it is virtually impossible for individuals to day trade for a living, contrary to what course providers claim. We observe all individuals who began to day trade between 2013 and 2015 in the Brazilian equity futures market, the third in terms of volume in the world. We find that 97% of all individuals who persisted for more than 300 days lost money. Only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage and only 0.5% earned more than the initial salary of a bank teller — all with great risk.
Keywords: day trade, day trading for a living, retail investors, HFT, course providers, futures market
JEL Classification: D14; G02
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation