Can you really make money day trading?

Spend five minutes online and you’ll find traders promising fast profits, funded trading accounts and the ability to trade from anywhere.

But what’s the reality?

In this episode of Talking Trading, Louise Bedford talks with professional trader and Real Life Trading CEO Jerremy Newsome about what successful day trading actually requires – and why the answer can be very different depending on where you live.

Jerremy has spent years trading the US markets, where enormous liquidity, intraday volatility and thousands of actively traded stocks can create opportunities for short-term traders.

Australia is a very different market.

ASX volumes are considerably smaller, many Australian shares simply don’t move enough intraday to produce the same opportunities, and Australians wanting to day trade US markets face another very practical problem – the US trading session happens while we’re supposed to be asleep.

So is day trading a realistic option for an Australian trader?

Louise and Jerremy explore what separates professional day trading from the version portrayed on social media, what beginners need to understand before risking their capital, and why the right trading timeframe has to fit both the market you’re trading and your life.

They also tackle the explosive growth of prop trading firms. Funded accounts can sound like an attractive way to access larger amounts of trading capital – but how does the model actually work, what should traders look out for, and does Jerremy believe prop firms offer a genuine pathway for developing traders?

You’ll discover:

• what professional day trading actually looks like
• who is temperamentally suited to it
• why liquidity and volatility matter so much
• why US markets offer opportunities that can be difficult to replicate on the ASX
• the reality of trading US hours from Australia
• what Jerremy looks for in a high-quality day trade
• why waiting is such an important part of short-term trading
• how much screen time day trading really requires
• the biggest mistakes beginning day traders make
• what traders should know about prop trading firms and funded accounts
• when swing or position trading may make far more sense than day trading

This isn’t about making day trading look easy.

It’s about understanding what actually works, what gets traders into trouble, and choosing a style of trading that fits both you and the market you’re trading.

Questions we explore:

1. Let’s start by stripping away the Instagram version of day trading. What does professional day trading actually look like for you – how many trades, how many hours at the screen, and how much of your day is simply waiting?
2. Take us inside an actual trade. What makes you sit up and say, “There’s an opportunity here”? What are you looking for in terms of price action, gaps, volume, volatility and confirmation before you put money on the line?
3. You’re trading US markets, and that’s an important distinction for my Australian listeners. In Australia we have considerably less volume and liquidity, and our shares generally don’t produce the same reliable intraday movement. How important are the characteristics of the US market to making your style of day trading viable?
4. So let’s take an Australian who says, “Great – I’ll just day trade America.” Our problem is that we’re on the opposite side of the clock. Is staying up overnight to trade the US market remotely sustainable? What would you tell an Australian who wants to do what you do?
5. Who should NOT day trade? What characteristics, lifestyle constraints or expectations make you look at someone and think, “You’d probably be much better suited to swing or position trading”?
6. There’s been an explosion in prop trading firms offering traders access to funded accounts after they pass an evaluation. What’s your view of the prop firm model? Where is it genuinely useful, and what should traders be very wary of?
7. Let’s talk money. How much capital does somebody realistically need to day trade, and what expectations should a beginner have about income? At what point does the desire to “make money today” become the very thing that destroys their decision-making?
8. You’ve been doing this for years. What have you changed your mind about? What’s something you believed about day trading when you started that you now think was completely wrong?
9. For someone listening who is fascinated by day trading and wants to explore it, what would you have them do for the next 90 days – before they start putting meaningful money at risk?

About Jerremy Newsome

Jerremy Newsome is a professional trader, author, investor and CEO of Real Life Trading, a global trading education community.

He is the author of the Amazon No.1 bestseller Money Grows on Trees and The Naked Trader, and has spent years trading the US markets across day trading, swing trading, shares and options.

Known for his energetic approach to trading education and his ability to make complex market concepts understandable, Jerremy combines technical trading skills with a strong interest in psychology, performance and the beliefs that influence the way traders behave.

He is also the founder of the RLT Foundation and has been a regular and much-loved guest on Talking Trading.

Stay in Touch with Jerremy

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jerremynewsome
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPNysg5PvYuJjkp8q7RxOQ
Website: https://jerremynewsome.com/

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook