Is Trading really another word for Gambling?

Gambling is just betting for a stock to move up or down today whereas Intraday trading is about learning technical analysis, trends and different time frame charts and creating your own strategies.

                                

So basically in gambling, you are just putting orders on intuition whereas in Intraday trading you are calculating,analyzing and predicting the trend.

There are many Intraday traders who earn lakhs of rupees daily but they are professionals. I completely agree with the statement that every professional trader was a beginner once but Intraday is not everyone's cakewalk. It is due to lack of knowledge and experience that 80–90% traders lose money. Luck is also a driving factor sometimes as the movements are so so so fast, that these are all the things you require on the day which you are trading:-

• A happy mood.
• A positive mindset.
• No disturbance.
• Prior Watchlist ready before 9 am.
• A good computer or laptop.
• A swift and fast software.
• Fast Internet speed.
• Last 2–3 days market statistics.
• Calculations should already start in your mind even before the market starts.

I will not demotivate you but tell you the truth that Capital markets is not for the weak hearted. As Rakesh Jhunjhunwala famously says :- If you dont understand markets, go for mutual funds.

But what I truly feel is that any layman can understand Capital markets. The main drawback is that it takes time to learn and gain knowledge. People nowadays are so impatient that they only see the pros of market and forget the cons and want to become rich quickly.

From 2014, after the Modi goverment rule started, people had hopes. People have belief in the Prime Minister that he'll do good for the country so the markets are also moving up and more and more people are getting attracted towards it. But remember, that market is volatile. The way its moving up it will move down. Companies having strong fundamentals will survive and others will fail.

This is similar to the huge wave that started in the reign of Harshad Mehta in the 1990s when he single handedly manipulated the markets and took the Asia’s oldest index Sensex from a massive 1000 to 6000. He also took the share prices of ACC from 200 to 9000 extracting billions of profit from it.

More than 5000 points increase in the Sensex. This was nothing less than an avalanche then. Noone had seen such a person who could manhandle the Stock markets in the 1990s. Those days people were only talking about Returns On Investment(ROI) and noone talked about risk. His moto was to only increase Sensex and never let it fall. This would help the nations economy to grow further in the coming years but his way of doing this was not right.

I'll also like to tell you the whole story of Harshad Mehta.I truly feel that ‘The Big Bull’s’ intentions were right but his way of doing it was wrong.

He was one of the richest person in India in the year 1991.

                                                                   

Remember that there is no one in this world who can predict Capital market completely not even Warren Buffet, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala or Peter Lynch.They have also incurred huge losses but the proportion of profits was higher so they are successful however they never did Intraday.

This is similar to the game of cricket. Sachin tendulkar is hailed worldwide as the “God of cricket” but is it that he will never get out??

Has Sachin Tendulkar never failed in the stadium?

You all know this is not possible. He has gone several times on a duck also. But the patience and perseverance he showed, the struggle he did to become no. 1 and overcome the shortcomings is noteworthy which made him the the God of cricket.

That's why we should always aim to maximize profits and minimize losses and never think that we'll never face a loss.

Losses are a part of the game. They are bound to come but we should not give up. 

As the famous adage goes :- “Only he who suffers feels the anguish of sorrow and pain”. So you should learn from the losses. Seasoned traders as well as newbie traders both have knowledge but what the seasoned traders/investors have is tremendous experience which the newbies lack. Experience is the main driving element and losses are the impetus to move ahead. It is experience which is the best teacher. 

To overcome the bloodthirsty winds of Capital markets you need unflinching patience and determination.

 Remember guys, Its difficult but not impossible.

BY ABHIRAM DAPKE