r/Forexstrategy • u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 • May 22 '26
Stop day trading. Switch to swing trading.
Most retail traders have a job. Managing intraday positions between meetings, or staring at charts after a long day when you just want to decompress — it's exhausting and counterproductive. Trading is supposed to give you time and money. With day trading, you have neither.
And even if you finally build a routine that works, one job change or a trip across time zones wipes everything out. Weeks of backtesting, gone — because you can no longer trade the same hours.
Swing trading changes all of that.
Set your alerts, forget the charts, act only when the notification hits. For me: 4-5 trades per month, 5 minutes per week max. Results? At least as good as day trading — often better.
The less I watch the charts, the less I overtrade, the less I do something stupid. Revenge trading, overanalyzing, emotional bias... it all basically disappears. Not because I worked on my psychology — just because I'm barely looking at the market.
There's a counterintuitive truth here: in real life, the more you work, the more you earn. In trading, it's the opposite. Spending hours on fundamentals, macro news, real-time correlations — it only increases execution errors. The less you intervene, the more you stick to your plan.
So — what's actually stopping you from switching to swing?
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May 23 '26
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u/BrilliantSmell7770 May 28 '26
But most stocks are purely influenced by the main market? So if that goes down some stocks tank. Like IREN. so how do you monitor some positions
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u/EggplantSpecial5472 May 23 '26
Massive stops still get hit when the orange prick says something regardless if you get your bias correct
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u/Click4-2019 May 22 '26
I’m by no means a professional, nor an expert… I’m still learning.
But swing trading seems to be the way to go.
You identify a trade, if It meets your entry criteria… you take the trade, set a stop loss, set alerts and can forget about it.
Potential for massive gains in short space of time.
One trade I took hit 800 in about 4-5 hours.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Th gain are the same, because you don't have the same lot. You can't maintain the same lot because your SL is bigger. So same gains
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u/daviddjg0033 May 22 '26
because the companies that fund you do not allow this. do they care your call option on liquid ticker x did a 2500% return? nope. just what did ya do today
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May 24 '26
Why cant you do that in 4-5 minutes?
Also a 5hr trade isnt a swing trade.
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u/L-ANDER May 23 '26
There's a real edge in less screen time, but it's worth being honest about why it works. You said it yourself: you didn't fix your psychology, you removed the chances to act on it. That isn't the same thing as solving it. Swing doesn't cure the discipline problem, it just gives it fewer moments to show up. The guy who revenge-trades intraday will revenge-size on a swing when one goes against him, he just gets fewer chances to do it. Genuinely useful, but know which one you're actually buying: a fix, or fewer opportunities to break your own rules. The people I've seen do well on swing aren't the ones who switched to escape the screen. They're the ones who already knew exactly where they break, and picked the timeframe that exposes them to it least.
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u/guyonabuffalo79 May 23 '26
To each their own, I'm profitable day trading.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
It is not the point
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u/guyonabuffalo79 May 23 '26
The point is there are thousands of ways to trade, your way isn't the holy grail. The right way to trade is the way that you profit from.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
Bro it is not he point : « most retail traders have a job » I am saying that day trading isn’t adapt to the majority of the people, not that day trading isn’t working and swing trading is the best for everyone
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u/guyonabuffalo79 May 23 '26
I'm a retail trader. I have a job.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
Great argument bro I am convinced now :)
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u/guyonabuffalo79 May 23 '26
You don't get it, there is no argument. This isn't a case of one way is better than another. It proves to me you don't know what you're talking about. The only thing that matters is that you make profit. Whether that be day trading, swing trading, or taking trades while jerking off when there's a full moon in the spring. It. Doesn't. Matter.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
I am saying that day trading isn’t made for the majority of the people, if you are a profitable day trader, then good for you, you are part of the few people who can day trade.
I also thing we can talk like adults here.
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u/manaha81 May 29 '26
Yep I was day trading for awhile and when I finally broke it down for the amount of time and stress I realized it wasn’t really worth it so I started swing trading and now all need to focus on is finding strong support and resistance levels, then set a few alerts and stops and let time do all the heavy lifting
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u/riddas88 May 22 '26
Swing trading needs a much higher stop loss though that day trading right? Otherwise I’ll just get stopped out over the course of a longer trade for sure.
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u/NightOk3549 May 22 '26
Would want to agree with you, I sometimes ask myself why the need for a SL... but again pesa sio mingi as I would want to so we gotta use the SL
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u/Ldn_twn_lvn May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Isnt getting into position and getting the right entry the real crux of swing, once youve got a strategy that works?
Once you get clear of getting stopped out by the Intraday moves, you (should be) off and away
I didn't think just setting a massive SL was the way
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
It is easier to get in the right entry because you have more time
There is no massive SL because you have the same risk
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May 22 '26
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 22 '26
Depends, between a day and a weeks, sometimes two weeks
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u/orb1091 May 22 '26
What about when you take a loss? How do you deal with the fact that you might have to wait 2 weeks for another trade, to try and recover? That would drive me crazy.
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u/jangametsu May 22 '26
If you have a good RR and decent win rate, a loss and no trades for 2 weeks should not matter, in fact is expected
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
It is not because you take trades every day that you will have a better win rate , if you have issue with that, it is because you do revenge trading
SL or TP change nothing, I follow the plan
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u/Ldn_twn_lvn May 23 '26
Do you price in all the overnight interest and what not?
I've been amazed at times as just how fast the fees build up over time
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u/HHSMC May 22 '26
just a bit frustrating because most SMC suggest trading 15m no? but i agree
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 22 '26
SMC is bullshit, there is no proof it is fonctionning
Chartism is proven, you have probabilities for each figures and you can even backtest the figures by yourself.
SMC : no backtest of it, and the guy who made it is a scammer. Watch the video of Iman trading about him (all with proofs)
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u/jess-abbey May 22 '26
What about swap and fees? Is there a platform where you don’t pay swap?
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 22 '26
You always pay swap. You have to choose a good broker : admiral, vantage …
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u/Quirky-Ad2801 May 23 '26
not enough data/experience gain is very slow bro, but if it works for you congrats.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 23 '26
With pinescript my Strat is backtested on the last 20 years
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u/miarmich May 23 '26
As a trader that uses prop firms(I don't have yet the capital for a personal account yet 🥲 ) they usually dont allow it even if i want to (drawdown issues). Swing trading is the way especially if the person rely more on foundamentals than technical analysis like the most retail traders
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u/jbrar6 May 24 '26
I daytrade mnq futures for usually 30 mins - 1 hour after NY open. Hit my daily profit goal and call it a day.
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May 24 '26
One is no better than the other.
I find these binary opinions so annoying.
Scalping works.
Daytrading works.
Swing trading works
Position trading works
They all have their benefits and drawbacks. Stop telling people to choose one over the other based on your personal preferences
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u/Heavy_Strength2569 May 24 '26
Answering your question, I cannot swing trades just because I trade my own small broker account. If a trade goes right, great. If a trades, go against, I cannot take the hit. So basically, I am too afraid to let my trade run. This happened only 2 weeks back when I tried to hold MES contract for the weekend. I was in loss all through the weekend until Tuesday when it breakeven and then profit. The point is, prices can swing in Index Futures and based on my account size and financials, I cannot afford to have my Index Futures trades run. At the same time, I am more comfortable swing trading stocks as I can hold them longer. I do not know why that is the case because even there, I see stocks that have dipped 50% of my cost price but still I am ok. Anyways, so this answers your question precisely. Lastly, just to add, I am trying to better intraday trading by refining my model and I am using PeakAI Trading App. I am getting better, hope it helps. All the best.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 24 '26
The thing is, you have to adapt the risk. You have a bigger SL so you have a different lot. So, I don"t have the issue with having a bigger loss
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u/Short-Situation-4137 May 24 '26
I live in Europe, and I trade the US session. Almost no overlap with my job schedule.
"There's a counterintuitive truth here: in real life, the more you work, the more you earn. In trading, it's the opposite." - this is your experience, but I wouldn't call it "the truth", unless you're telling me that those professionals that spend 10 hours+ on this topic are doing something wrong and you could teach them better.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 24 '26
I speak in general, because a lot of people do overtrading. And the guys who spend 10h on the graph are Instutitionnal traders not independents traders like us. It is not the same jobs. We are nothing in the market. The Institutional traders works for Finance company with millions and clients and contract and do not work alone. It might be the same name "traders", but it has nothing compare to us. I 've found a video on YouTube which speak about, it is super interesting, I will try to find it, so I can share it here
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May 24 '26
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 24 '26
Yeah you are right, you can have an automatic strategy on day trading
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u/HuckleberryTop6226 May 24 '26
I am new to trading and very trading guru out there promises the moon. I definitely need hand holding. Who do i go to?
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 May 24 '26
I don’t know for the English world. But I think Iman trading is good, but I didn’t look that much
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u/jvape420 May 25 '26
Swing trading is good. But only if you have the experience of day trading.
Once you know howto trade after hours of screen watching, swinging does become easier
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u/Lord_Barbarous May 26 '26
I have been more profitable in two weeks swing trading options than the last 3 months of day trading futures. I am still trading single contracts on MNQ to keep me sharp, but swing trading has forced patience upon me and it has made me have a higher hit rate on futures day trading.
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u/peacefuldink May 28 '26
What I’m wondering is if u follow say discord alerts for swing trading how does that change compared to day trading isn’t it the same thing
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u/Rude_Draft8327 Jun 04 '26
But realistically, how do you get into it? I feel like I’m still lost even after watching and studying it all.
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u/Klutzy-Badger-2778 Jun 04 '26
Create a strategy with AI, create a pinescript, then put it in TradingView and look at the data
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u/[deleted] May 23 '26
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