Is manual trading still profitable in the age of artificial intelligence?

josevas217 (80)in PussFi 🐈 • 16 days ago

Hello PussFi community members, have a great day! Today I want to address a topic I hear more and more frequently, especially among those of us involved in the markets: Will manual trading still be profitable in a world where artificial intelligence, algorithmic trading, and high-frequency trading seem to dominate everything?

I think it's a valid question, because the landscape has changed a lot in recent years, and denying it would simply be self-deception, and self-deception isn't the smartest thing we can do.

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It's clear that today we have extremely advanced technological tools capable of executing thousands of operations in fractions of a second, analyzing gigantic volumes of data, and reacting before a human can even process the information. Faced with this, many feel that the manual trader is doomed to disappear, as if there were no longer any place for them. But the reality, at least from my point of view, is a bit more nuanced.

Manual trading, understood as scalping or very intraday trading, has indeed become increasingly complex. Competing on very short timeframes against algorithms and high-frequency systems is not a fair fight; it's not a field where we can win manually. Speed is everything there, and technology has a significant advantage. To think that one can consistently beat a machine in that arena is, frankly, quite naive. And this is where many get frustrated, because they insist on playing a game that is no longer designed for humans.

I personally tried it, and the truth is that it didn't go very well for me, and that's why I focused on other ways of operating that, in addition to giving me more chances of being consistent, give me peace of mind.

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However, this doesn't mean that manual trading has lost its relevance, but rather that it has had to adapt. And this is where swing trading and a longer-term perspective come in. When you step away from the minute-by-minute noise and start observing broader movements, the picture changes completely. The macroeconomic decisions of major economies, monetary policies, interest rates, inflation, geopolitical conflicts—all of these continue to dictate clear directions in the markets, and these decisions don't unfold in seconds, but rather over weeks, months, and even years.

In this context, the manual trader still has a huge advantage: the ability to interpret the context. Artificial intelligence can process data, but understanding the political, social, and economic backdrop, and how that translates into human expectations, remains an area where judgment and experience carry significant weight. Detecting an underlying trend, waiting for pullbacks, managing risk calmly, and riding a broad move doesn't require extreme speed, but rather patience and discipline.

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Furthermore, swing trading significantly reduces emotional strain. You're not glued to the screen all day, you're not dependent on unpredictable micro-movements, and you don't fall into that almost addictive dynamic of overtrading (something that also happened to me). In the long run, this is also profitable, even though many don't see it that way. Consistency isn't only measured in money, but also in the ability to sustain a strategy over time without burning out.

I think the mistake lies in believing that manual trading should compete directly with technology on all fronts. That's not the case, not for me. The market offers different opportunities, and everyone should understand where they have the best odds. Swing trading, when well-founded, with a clear macroeconomic analysis and proper risk management, remains perfectly viable, even in this algorithm-dominated era.

I'd like to know what you think about this. I know there are traders out there, and your experience might be different. If you have a different perspective than what I've shared in this post, I'd like to hear it. This is just my personal opinion; you may disagree with me, and that's fine. Goodbye, have a great day!