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Learn/Day trading
beginner6 min read· Day trading

Risks of day trading

Most day traders lose money. Understanding slippage, overtrading, and emotional decision-making is key before risking real capital.

Studies consistently show that over 70% of day traders lose money over any given year. The reasons are not random: commissions, spread, slippage, emotional decisions, and insufficient capital all work against beginners.

Slippage is the difference between the price you expected to buy at and the price you actually got. In fast-moving stocks, slippage can eat a significant portion of your intended profit.

Overtrading is one of the biggest mistakes beginners make. Every trade has a cost (spread + commissions). Taking low-quality setups just to be active destroys accounts.

Emotional trading is when fear or greed drives your decisions rather than a plan. Cutting winners too early, holding losers too long, and revenge trading after a loss are all emotional patterns that reliably cause losses.

Paper trading first is the safest way to test a strategy. TuraTrade lets you simulate trades with real market data so you can experience what a strategy looks like before committing real money.

Practice what you learned

Build a simulated portfolio from yesterday's movers and see how these concepts play out with real market data.