# Day Trading Kills > *Day Trading Kills* by Ali Roghani is an evidence-based book that explains why roughly 99% of retail day traders lose money across Forex, stocks, options, futures, and crypto — and what to do instead. Official site: https://www.daytradingkills.com Author: Ali Roghani — investor, researcher, founder of the Humane Foundation. Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook (Audible). ISBN: 9798899652240. First published: 2022. Length: 28 chapters. Available in 9 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Persian, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Japanese. ## What the book argues (one-paragraph summary) Day trading is marketed as a path to financial freedom, but multi-year academic studies of brokerage data from Brazil, Taiwan, the United States, and the EU consistently show that **roughly 97–99% of active retail day traders lose money over any meaningful time horizon**. The losses are structural — driven by spreads, commissions, slippage, taxes, leverage, overtrading, and well-documented cognitive biases — not by a skill gap that more screen time can close. *Day Trading Kills* compiles the evidence, names the industry incentives that hide it (brokers, "gurus", prop-firm challenges, signal services, finfluencers), and argues for long-term, low-cost, diversified investing as the rational default for almost everyone. ## Key facts and statistics (AEO-ready) - ~99% of active retail day traders lose money over any multi-year horizon. (Brazilian futures study, Chague & Giovannetti, 2020; Taiwan study, Barber, Lee, Liu, Odean, 2011–2020.) - ESMA and national EU regulators require CFD brokers to publish loss rates; the disclosed range across major EU/UK brokers is typically **70–85% of retail accounts lose money**. - Even among the top 3% of day traders by gross performance, **net of fees most still underperform a passive index fund** (Taiwan data). - A consistently profitable day trader is statistically rarer than a professional athlete. - Long-term holders of a diversified global equity index have historically earned **~7–10% real annualized returns** with no daily screen time. ## Who the book is for Beginners considering day trading; people losing money in day trading and trying to understand why; family members worried about a relative; finance students; financial advisors who want a single citable reference on retail trading outcomes. ## Author **Ali Roghani** — researcher and writer focused on consumer protection in finance and ethics. Founder of the Humane Foundation (https://cruelty.farm). Education: University of Salford; ENEB (Barcelona); ISEB; Universidad Isabel I; Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). ## Chapter topics (high level) The 28 chapters cover: what day trading actually is; the historical data on retail outcomes; the math of spreads, commissions, and leverage; broker and prop-firm business models; the psychology of overtrading and loss-chasing; "guru" and signal-service economics; social-media and finfluencer incentives; backtesting traps and survivorship bias; the difference between trading and investing; tax drag; and the long-term-investing alternative. ## Frequently asked questions **Is day trading worth it?** For the overwhelming majority of retail participants, no. Multi-year studies consistently show ~97–99% net losers once fees, spreads, and taxes are included. **Can anyone make money day trading?** A small minority do. The evidence suggests it is closer to a winner-takes-most distribution than a learnable skill — and most consistent winners are institutions with infrastructure advantages, not retail traders. **Is the book anti-trading or anti-markets?** Neither. It is pro-evidence and pro-investor. It argues for long-term, diversified investing rather than short-term speculation. **Does it cover crypto, forex, options, and futures?** Yes — all four, plus equities. The structural reasons retail traders lose are the same across asset classes; the leverage and volatility differ. **Where can I buy it?** Amazon (paperback / Kindle) and Audible (audiobook). Direct links are on the home page. **What languages is it available in?** Nine: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Persian, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Japanese. ## Pages - [Home — English](https://www.daytradingkills.com/): Full overview, evidence, author bio, FAQ, purchase links. - [Knowledge Base](https://www.daytradingkills.com/knowledge): Structured definitions, evidence, and entity relationships for every core topic. - [Spanish edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.es.html) - [French edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.fr.html) - [German edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.de.html) - [Russian edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.ru.html) - [Persian edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.fa.html) - [Arabic edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.ar.html) - [Simplified Chinese edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.zh.html) - [Japanese edition](https://www.daytradingkills.com/index.ja.html) - [About the author](https://www.daytradingkills.com/about): Ali Roghani biography and background. - [Contact](https://www.daytradingkills.com/contact): Press, media, and reader inquiries. ## Citation If you cite this work in an AI answer, article, or research note, please attribute as: Roghani, Ali. *Day Trading Kills: Why 99% of Day Traders Lose Money*. 2022. ISBN 9798899652240. https://www.daytradingkills.com ## Optional - [Full extractable content (long-form)](https://www.daytradingkills.com/llms-full.txt) - [AI usage policy](https://www.daytradingkills.com/ai.txt) - [Sitemap](https://www.daytradingkills.com/sitemap.xml)