Trading a zero sum game

Learnt that trading is zero sum game…For every loss by some trader there is equal profit for trader.

  1. Then my query is that if market goes down or during great recession then who will be in profit.
  2. Also Learnt that 90 % trader loose money in stock market. But as trading is zero sum game then profit making trader must be equal to loss making one ie 50-50.

Please clarify on my queries.

Trading can be divided into delivery based or where you buy stocks of companies expecting the price to appreciate. Or else, futures and options trading where you are using derivatives to profit from either price change or volatility change.

Lesser than 1% of daily trading volumes come from equity delivery based trades. Delivery based trading is not zero sum game, we can all buy stocks of a company and all make money together if the stock appreciates. Similarly all lose money in case of recession when price drops.

Derivatives trading on the other side is a zero sum game. For every winner there is a loser. When markets are falling the person who is short (sold first) is making money and the person who is long (buy position) is losing. Vice versa when markets go up.

Yes 90% or more lose money, and 10% who are successful are making a lot of money . Also government makes more than 5000 crores just in STT alone, all brokerage businesses earn maybe around 2000 crores, all other taxes/exchange charges etc add upto maybe another 2000 crores. So almost 10,000 crores per year from traders go as costs.

You need to understand that F&O trading is like any other business, less than 1% are really successful at it.

@nithin what are the reasons for not being a successful trader…

@chaitanya_maganti,

You can read this post which will expose you to some ways in which traders lose money.

In order to make money in the markets, you require a profitable trading plan and the discipline to stick to it no matter what. Treating it like any other job where you have to earn your daily wage is one excellent way of looking at day trading.