Risk and Reward

Although the stock market collapse of 2000 ended the careers of many day traders, the profession is still alive and well. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is produced by the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 320,000 securities, commodities and financial services agents in 2006. This number includes day traders, but it also includes stockbrokers, floor brokers, investment bankers and financial service advisors. We can't tell for certain how many day traders are included in the grand total, but we can make some assumptions for the sake of an example. If we assume for a moment that full-time day traders only represent five to 10 percent of this population, that amounts to 16,000 to 32,000 individuals who call themselves day traders. Amateurs and part-timers may number in the millions.

rewards of day trading
©iStockphoto/EricHood
A big risk could mean big reward -- or it could be your loss.­

A few of these individuals actually make a lot of money. But can you? Before you decide, let's review some important facts about day trading covered in this article:

  • Day traders typically suffer severe financial losses in the first few months of trading.
  • Day trading is extremely stressful.
  • Day trading is expensive.
  • Day traders must be savvy enough to differentiate legitimate information from "hot tips" and "expert advice."

If you're not intimidated by these warnings, then day trading might be right you. If you are wary, it might be best to stick with more traditional investing strategies, which offer more balanced risks and rewards.

For more information about trading and the stock market, follow the links on the next page.

This is your brain. This is your brain on money.
Research is now showing that there may be a biological aspect to day trading. Brian Knuston, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Stanford University, has helped to pioneer neurofinance or neuroeconomics, an emerging field that combines psychology, neuroscience and economics. In his work, Knutson images the brains of volunteers as they make trades. He's discovered that excessive activation of certain neural circuits can lead to risk-seeking and risk-aversion investing mistakes. In other words, the more a person thinks he can gain from a risk, the more he takes the risk. In another study, the brain activity of people about to make another trade was identical to the brain activity of drug addicts about to take another hit. Day trading appears similar to chemical addiction, where the high of successful trades makes it difficult to let go.