Thursday, June 18, 2020

Day Trading For Profit?

In our opinion, a negative financial outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is the rise of day trading. Dave Portnoy, the CEO of Barstool Sports, has named himself "Davey Day Trader" and helped popularize day trading. And although not all are day trading accounts, Robinhood added 3 million accounts during the first quarter of 2020. One new investor, a 20-year old from Nebraska, tragically committed suicide after his account balance showed a loss of over $700,000. In fact, his account balance may have only been temporary until trades settled. It is important to note that short-term investors tend to do worse than longer term investors, and for day traders, the success rate is less than 10 percent, with only 1 percent or so who really make money. We do believe that investing is worthwhile, but do your research, diversify, and make longer term decisions.