With the amount of press that day traders get you might be tempted to think that they perform well, but the evidence tells a different story. Two of the most well known trading researchers, Brad Barber and Terrance Odean, whom we have cited before in previous articles, state, “While about 20% of day traders earn profits net of fees in the typical year, the results of our analysis suggest that less than 1% of day traders (4,000 out of 450,000) are able to outperform consistently.” Furthermore, the longer you are in the day trading game, the worse it gets.
Of the long-term day traders, only 1 percent made more than minimum wage. Less than half of that group of people made more than $54 a day.
It seems that words of Mark Twain are worth repeating.
“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
