Author Topic: Swing trading  (Read 4848 times)

DocCyane

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 389
  • Location: USA
  • Keep going. You're doing just fine.
Swing trading
« on: July 12, 2013, 09:50:14 PM »
Has anyone tried swing trading? Have you found success in it or do the trading fees eat up any gains?

arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Swing trading
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2013, 10:20:13 PM »
Heretic!

;)

(Most here believe an individual can't beat the market.  There are others here who disagree, such as smedleyb and FreeYourChains2.  See all prior threads on market timing, EMH, etc.)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Khan

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 614
Re: Swing trading
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2013, 10:56:07 PM »
Heretic!

;)

(Most here believe an individual can't beat the market.  There are others here who disagree, such as smedleyb and FreeYourChains2.  See all prior threads on market timing, EMH, etc.)

Swing trading is(possibly) a useable active strategy in commodities markets, as noted in The Turtle Trader amongst others.

Anyways Doc, too much work, I don't like the idea of technical analysis in most cases as it's free to interpret, and I'd rather go for more passive investment strategies. Swing trading, as noted in the title: "Trading", is a very active thing, like having a second job.

Nords

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3421
  • Age: 63
  • Location: Oahu
    • Military Retirement & Financial Independence blog
Re: Swing trading
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2013, 11:04:27 PM »
Has anyone tried swing trading?
Yep.

Have you found success in it...
Yep.  The harder I worked at it, the better I got.

... or do the trading fees eat up any gains?
Yep, and taxes too.  There didn't seem to be any reason to work 4x as hard for 100% of market return if I could exert 1x the effort to invest passively for 70% of market return and spend the other 3x surfing.

Swing trading sucks quite a bit during a recession, when it seems as if every swing is further down.

DocCyane

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 389
  • Location: USA
  • Keep going. You're doing just fine.
Re: Swing trading
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2013, 06:50:20 AM »
Yeah, it did seem like a lot of fuss for not a lot of return. I'm just trying to increase my income and, as an introvert, I'm rather adverse to the usual side hustle suggestions because they involve communication with humans.

I guess I'll reconsider that eBay store.

arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Swing trading
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2013, 09:59:41 AM »
I guess I'll reconsider that eBay store.

They're a little oversaturated, but in the past it was a good way to make some easy money.  You can still do it, but it'll be hard work.

/speaking from experience of making six figures+ in 6 months, not just from what I've heard
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

MitchMiller

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Swing trading
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2013, 11:17:34 PM »
Why not try trading biotech?  It's a lot like swing trading, but with a longer horizon, from one to nine months.  I try to take a position with a relatively good risk profile (I have about ten or twelve criteria I use and I do mean "relatively" because biotech is anything but safe) and trade the run-up to study results.  It's essential to be rigorous on picking "safe" plays, and get out fast if anything doesn't play out as expected.  I concentrate on stocks under $5 that the pro's cannot invest in.  When something looks good, I will go in with from $25K to $150K bet.  Don't be hesitant to take a loss when you need to.

A whole lot of people are playing this game, so you can't be greedy.  However, you should be able to see consistent gains of at least 50% annual return on what you've invested.  Note, I say "what" you've invested.  I try to never be more than 50% invested in biotech at any one time.  Hold 50% in bonds or cash and the other 50% use for active trading.  So if you have a $1M portfolio, you should be able to generate $250K/year from it.

Last year I made over $250K and this year I'm up about $280K, mostly from MNKD.