Last Updated on February 10, 2024 by Håkan Samuelsson

Abstract

We show that it is virtually impossible for an individual 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 index futures market, the third in terms of volume in the world, and persisted for at least 300 trading days: 97% of them lost money and the individual who earned the most earned US$ 310 per day on average with a standard deviation of US$ 2,552. Moreover, we find no evidence of learning by day trading.
SSRN-id3423101 – Daytrading for a living

Day Trading for a Living?

17 Pages Posted: 22 Jul 2019 Last revised: 16 Aug 2019

Date Written: August 14, 2019