The S&P ATM!

[Jeff Caplan <jeffwcbs@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again...

I think every single newbie on the list benefited from all the responses to
the daytrading questions.  If they didn't .. the market has some rude
lessons coming their way.

My deepest thanks for the public -and private- posts about making money.  A
few of you who *never* appear on this list took a quite a bit of time and
put a lot of thought into your responses.  Each one is appreciated, and was
saved for reference.  I'm sure I'll re-read a lot of those notes after big
drawdowns.

And to those frequent posters, who also answered- thank you for taking the
time to explain how you do what you do - and how successful you've been at
doing it. It helps me understand where you're coming from when you post on
other topics. (Except whether Bill Cruz should be drawn and quartered)

Each of you is running a business, and the moment you took to step back and
go "big picture" for me, and for other rookies on this list, gave us a
chance to see what we're up against.

There are a few common threads to what I've read, and one area of sharp
disagreement.

You all seem to disagree:
   *You can make a living daytrading
   *You can't make a living daytrading.

The common threads through almost all the posts from successful daytraders..
   *There's a helluva lot of stress in daytrading.
   *The learning curve is steep and long, with no guarantee of success.
   *You couldn't teach me to duplicate your methodology even if you wanted to.
       It would be worthless to me.
   *You have to have an incurable bug for trading to put in the time and
devotion
       needed for success
   *There is no holy grail.
   *Discretion + metholodology = profits (though a scant few live by
systems alone)
   *You need significant resources to calmly take the drawdowns that come
while you
       ride that learning curve.
   *Even when you do, the psychological toll can be great.

So if I can float another question....

The list heard from a few "position traders" who insist they have an easier
time of things, letting trades ride overnight.  Really, I think these
people are swing traders, staying in anywhere from an hour to 3 days.

-> Is anyone earning a consistent living swing trading?  
-> Does it take *that* much less of a psychological toll?
-> How do you deal with a period like the past couple months with markets
gapping every
        day, in either direction...

and a key question... one that's not covered in many books, because the
topic is rather
new to the markets....

-> How has overnight trading affected the way you play the game?

Thanks again, and I hope no one is seething about all these questions.  If
I'm overstepping my bounds, forgive me for trying to bleed you dry of your
experiences. It's a tremendous help.  

Jeff
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   |X|	          Jeff Caplan           WCBS Newsradio 88, New York 
   |X|                http://www.newsradio88.com/behindmic/jeffpat.html