Day trading requires the most trading proficiency and skill of any type of trading simply because it’s so fast paced, and therefore you must analyze the market and make decisions quickly. Day trading is definitely not for everyone; it’s difficult, and most day traders lose money.
Also, for those who have a job during market hours (which is most people), day trading is impossible simply because their schedule doesn’t allow it.
Following are some additional disadvantages (or at least challenges) of day trading:
Day trading requires split-second timing. It doesn’t accommodate itself well to people who are slow in making decisions and commitments. To be a successful day trader, you must be able to analyze the market quickly, and when a high-probability trade presents itself, you must execute your trade with speed and confidence.
You must also be able to manage your trade, maintain impeccable discipline, and manage risk and reward quickly.
Day trading can be more emotional than other types of trading. When you see your profit and loss statement moving up or down quickly, and you have the pressure of the time limitations, it can be very nerve wracking.
Day trading can be very boring! Sure, when the market is moving fast, you have the challenge of making quick decisions and dealing with the emotions of fear and greed. Most of their time is spent sitting and just watching the market doing nothing meaningful. The majority of the time, the market will move randomly without providing a high-probability trading scenario for you.
The biggest problem with this is that the boredom makes it hard to concentrate for long periods of time. That leads to distraction in which traders start checking their e-mails, making phone calls, paying bills, and so forth so that when the high-probability trade finally arrives, they miss it because they weren’t paying attention.