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- 80% of day traders quit within the first two years.
- Among traders who trade all day, about 40%day trading lasts only one month. Over the course of three years, only 13% continue to day trade. After five years, only 7% remained.
- Traders sell winners at a rate 50% higher than losers. 60% of sales are winners and 40% of sales are losers. 2
- The average individual investor underperforms the market index by 1.5% per year. Active traders underperform by 6.5% annually. 3
- Day traders with good past performancecontinue to make good profits in the future. Although only about 1% of all day traders can predictably make a profit minus commissions.
- Traders with a negative track record of up to 10continue to trade for years. This suggests that day traders even continue to trade when they receive a negative signal regarding their abilities.
- Profitable day traders make up a smallshare of all traders - 1.6% on average per year. However, these day traders are very active, accounting for 12% of all day trading activity.
- Among all traders, profitable traders increase their trading more than losing day traders.
- Poor people tend to spend more of their income on lottery purchases, and their demand for the lottery increases as their income decreases.
- Investors with large differences between their existing economic conditions and their aspiration levels hold riskier stocks in their portfolios.
- Men trade more than women. And unmarried men trade more than married men.
- Poor young people who live in urban areas and belong to certain minority groups invest more in lottery-based stocks.
- In every income group, players are inferior to non-gamers.
- Investors typically sell winning investments while holding onto their losing investments.
- Trade in Taiwan fell by about 25% when the lottery was introduced in April 2002.
- During periods with unusually large lottery jackpots, trading by individual investors declines.
- Investors are more likely to buy back shares they previously sold for a profit than shares they previously sold at a loss.
- Increased search frequency [in a particular instrument] predicts higher returns in the next two weeks.
- Individual investors trade more actively when their last trades were successful.
- Traders don't learn to trade. “Trading to learn” is no more rational or profitable than playing roulette for the individual investor.
- The average daily trader loses money with a significant margin after adjusting for transaction costs.
- [In Taiwan], individual investor losses account for about 2% of GDP.
- Investors are overweight in the industry in which they are employed.
- Traders with high IQs tend to hold more mutual funds and more stocks. Therefore, there is more benefit from diversification effects.