When most people think of day traders, they have a movie-like view of their intraday trading income. While this view may be true of some of the upper-tier traders, the reality is that many day traders struggle to turn a profit on a consistent basis.

Over the years, I’ve read many stock blogs where the writer shared his trading profits and losses with his/her readers. And let me tell you this: most of their day trading income wouldn’t even cut it when it came to paying the bills and living comfortably. I’ll share some of these I remember from memory with your right now.

The first day trader I ever came across was a fellow who traded out of a prop firm. He was a scalp trader and was battling with the markets on a daily basis. His usually day trading income on a monthly basis ranged between 20000-35000 most months. He did have a few months that were below 20000. I’m not sure what happened to him as he quit writing his blog but he did seem frustrated with the way things were going.

Another day trader I followed was a young guy who was in college and was learning trading on the side. His day trading income ranged between a profit of 3000 to a loss of 4000 most days.  He ended up quitting after a year.

I’d say that the average trader, who knows what he is doing and has a mid-figure account to trader with, should be able to earn 25000-40000 a month. Starting out, though, your day trading income expectations should be much more tame. If you net a 10000 or 15000 a month in your first year of trading, then you’d be making more than the average day trader starting out.