Stock market day trading - does it work or should I be worried?

[turkeyboots]

Fil has taken up day trading on the stock market to make some money. But last time we saw them sMiL said (once FiL was out of the room) that she was worried that he was loosing huge ammounts of money.

For background FiL is in late 50s and retired early - selling a successful shop and big house. They are living off the interest from this and have no pension. He's using the capital to gamble on the stockmarket. He likes to think he can "out smart" the market and has told DH that we shouldn't worry about money, that "you'll be taken care of when my plan come together". Which makes me think if a 20% return (the "big" plan) can do that, he's staked the lot.

I'm right to worry that he's risking his and sMiL's security amn't I? What, if anything, can DH and I do or say?

And no, not worried about any inheritance. Want them to spend it on themselves, just don't need two destitute pensioners to add to my own financail woes!

It can work, but it takes a lot of work and study - it's effectively a full time job as you need to study the market, understand the minute fluctuations, figure out which companies are going to be releasing what news over the next few days so are going to experience stock changes etc. It's absolutely not something that someone with no market experience is going to succeed at imo. A 20% return is very high. About 80% of day traders lose money.

I don't know how you would persuade him to stop though. Hopefully a few months of slow losses might.

I think your SMIL probably needs to intervene before he loses the lot.

Any idiot could make money doing it - in the 1990s, when the dotcom bubble was building and you didn't need to know anything about the market because all stocks, even absolute stinkers, were rising. We're in a very different world now!

Seriously, if one old gipper with zero experience could "outsmart the market", do you really think the banks would be recruiting Oxbridge maths PhDs for hundreds of thousands of pounds?

I work in finance and "outsmart the market" is one of those phrases that makes me think either (a) desperately naive, will lose everything or (b) scammer, trying to convince others to lose everything.

I think your SMIL needs to tell him that she's not comfortable with this and that he needs to stop gambling with their future.

From shop keeper to stock trader - if he's not done it before and has no previous experience, he needs to stop NOW.

This is not for the inexperienced, but becomes a bit like gambling, they are always sure the next trade is the big one and will make the fortune. Sadly it never does.

Thanks, had a feeling that was the case. SFIL has had addition problems in the past, wonder if he's just moved on to gambling no instead.

addiction issues am fairly sure he has no problems adding things up!