Can day trading really be profitable? If so, what does it take to make money like this?

Swing Trading is the way to go.

l know it can be done in the Commodity market, but were you referring to the stock market?

Sure u can make money off of it. In 1998 when the market was excellent, l bought & sold quickly all the time. In fact, l earned a lot of money & won my first 9 trades. Then on the 10th trade l lost all my previous gains AND some more.

The thing with day trading is that a huge loss is waiting around the corner for you. Winning is great but when u lose, it really, really hurts.

l am sure that this question will have many responders who say they know how to look at charts & they r millionaires from day trading but they will get burnt sooner or later.

No, it is not.

In general, the more whoop-whoop u hear, the less real it is. Likewise, the bigger the promises, the less likely the results.

Here is the bottom line: if it were as simple as a formula or two or five or twenty, no one would be willing to sell u the formula for any price because the more people who know ''the secret'' the harder it is to profit from it. Once a profitable formula becomes public knowledge, it becomes worthless.

The commissions & trading fees make small trades (less than 100k at a crack) unprofitable in the long run.

Trading is not something you just decide to do. It is a skill. And it is not easy. Even the pros make mistakes.

I've been doing this for 19 years and you learn things all the time.

Also to do well trading you need capital reserves, and know when to get in and out. Unlike long term investing, when it comes to trading, timing is everything.

Yes it can, but, scalping out a profit is a hard way to make a living with a lot of downside risk. Most people who are successful at it, only do it as long as necessary to build enough capital to become independent investors.

What does it take? The ability to carry a knee high pile of cash out in your driveway, pour gas on it and set it on fire. Then sleep well that night.

If you can do that, the first hurdle is over come.