From Rags to Riches: A Day Trader's Tale of Fortunes and Foresight (2024)

FAQs

Who is the most profitable day trader ever? ›

Steve Cohen is arguably the most profitable hedge fund trader ever. His SAC Capital returned 30% annually for more than 20 years since its inception in 1992, making Cohen a billionaire.

Jesse Livermore (1877-1940) was an American trader who over his long and renowned career traded both bull and bear markets including the panic of 1907 and crash of 1929. He is most famous today for being the object of the best-selling Reminiscences of a Stock Operator written by Edwin Lefevre in 1923.

Legend has it Takashi Kotegawa started with the equivalent of $13,600. He benefited from some luck and a lot of skill to rack up $153 million in about eight years. Sometimes he made millions per trade. While primarily a stock trader, Takashi has been known to trade in a variety of financial instruments.

Key Takeaway: Day Trading Statistics

Low Success Rate: Only 13% of day traders maintain consistent profitability over six months, and a mere 1% succeed over five years. Financial Losses Predominate: 72% of day traders ended the year with financial losses, according to FINRA.

With a $10,000 account, a good day might bring in a five percent gain, which is $500. However, day traders also need to consider fixed costs such as commissions charged by brokers. These commissions can eat into profits, and day traders need to earn enough to overcome these fees [2].

Takashi Kotegawa's tales fall under day traders who made millions from Japan. He started with a capital of $13,600, which would later grow to give him $ 153 million in eight years. It said that Kotegawa used a swing trading approach. He paid attention to short-term rebound trends in stocks that were down.

Soros emphasizes strategic risk-taking with highly leveraged bets grounded in a global macroeconomic analysis, and he maintains the flexibility to adapt investment decisions based on changing market information.

George Soros

He is one of the most popular and famous traders worldwide. In England, Soros worked as a waiter or railway porter before he graduated from the London School of Economics. This finally led him to the banking world when he became a merchant banker at Singer and Friedlander.

Benjamin Graham was a well-known and recognized figure in the stock market industry. Many refer to Benjamin Graham as the ‘father of value investing,’ for he was the one who introduced the concept to the world.

One of Jack Kellogg's main indicators is the volume-weighted average price (VWAP). This shows the average price paid for shares and helps him gauge sentiment. He only uses indicators as a rough guide but never trades solely on them, he noted.

Did Warren Buffett do day trading? ›

A classic Buffett quote indicates that he is no fan of day trading: “If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years, don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes.” This emphasis on holding a position for the long term means a very low level of trading activity.

Of course, George Soros is one of the top Forex traders. Perhaps, he is the best Forex trader in the world, and, for sure, he is the best day trader in the world. Soros was born in 1930 in Hungary. A Jew by nationality, the name given to him at birth was Gyorgy Schwartz.

Jesse Lauriston Livermore (July 26, 1877 – November 28, 1940) was an American stock trader. He is considered a pioneer of day trading and was the basis for the main character of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, a best-selling book by Edwin Lefèvre.