Day traders focus on Positive Expectancy. Their focus is not necessarily time-based–minutes, hours, days or weeks. This gives day trading a completely different outlook. They are not short sighted, and a profitable day or a losing day is not a reason to feel “happy” or “depressed.” In fact, their winners are associated with relief. But that could be an entirely different topic. You could make money despite bad decisions (it’s called luck), but if you do not have the edge of positive expectancy, you will not come out positive in the long run. Your goal as a trader is to have Positive Expectancy over Negative Expectancy. This means that each trade as a single trade should not play a role in your success of failure. This also means that part of the discipline above is to take each trade set up. If you have the set up or levels and decide not to be in the trade based on feelings, you will soon realize that not taking a trade has a cost. In day trading, any trade missed can mean a loss if only through opportunity cost. Opportunity cost removes the potential for positive expectancy. When odds are in our favor, you take the trade! The discipline of day trading teaches that lost profits are objectively the same as losses.
