SEC关于Day Trading的特别报告

C. Common Characteristics of Day Traders

The Staff analyzed the limited customer information obtained by day-trading firms to generate a profile of day traders based on their self-reported age, income, and net worth.¹⁵ The Staff compiled age information on 224 day traders and found that over half (57%) were between 20 and 39 years of age.¹⁶ As shown in graph 2 below, there are fewer day traders between the ages of 40 and 79.

The Staff also reviewed limited information on annual income for 166 traders.¹⁷ As shown below, more than half (53%) of the day traders purportedly earned more than $100,000 annually. The data does not indicate whether any of this income is derived from day trading.

Net worth information was compiled for 168 day traders.¹⁸ As shown below, most (78%) indicated that they had a net worth greater than $200,000. Six percent, however, reported net worth of less than $50,000.

Based on the information reviewed with regard to these day traders, most day traders in this limited sample appear to be under the age of 40, earn more than $100,000 per year, and have a net worth greater than $200,000.

The Staff did not determine whether day trading was generally profitable or unprofitable, but did seek to determine whether there were any factors common to traders who had profitable accounts and common to traders who had unprofitable accounts (at the time of the examinations).¹⁹ The Staff compiled year-end 1998 trading data for a sample of the profitable and unprofitable accounts at each of seven day-trading firms.²⁰ The Staff reviewed a total of 123 trading accounts. The average of the profitable accounts was $177,732, while the average of the unprofitable accounts was $73,756. The Staff did not find a correlation between training and profitability or prior trading experience and profitability. It appears that many day traders with both profitable and unprofitable accounts had varying levels of prior professional trading experience, ranging from no experience to significant experience.

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