By Molly Matthews, DBJ Contributing Writer

    In the world of day trading, Geoff Johnston said the good days were good, but the bad days were very bad.
    Last year, Johnston, of Tunica, tried his luck as a day trader. It was an experience that he has no desire
to repeat.
    "I started out with $5,000 and it wasn't enough," said Johnston, 31 and single. "I found out real fast that
if you want to be a day trader, you have to start out with sizable amount, around $40,000 to $50,000. I
didn't lose all of my investment but I discovered that I didn't have the discipline to day trade. When I was
down, I'd hang on to it and it usually didn't work out. In fact, for over a month, I've been sitting on
what I thought was going to be a day trade. I didn't empty my position every day."
    With national attention on the sport of day trading, following the shooting rampage in Atlanta by a day
trader whose stock turned sour, is day trading worth the risk?
    No, said H.L. Dilworth, branch manager of A.G. Edwards in Clarksdale.
    "If you day trade, it's probably going to turn out like people that trade commodities speculatively," he
said. "About 80% of people who trade commodities lose money. And if you day trade, you'll probably be in the
same boat."
    David Blount, spokesperson for the Secretary of State's office, said there's no way to regulate day
trading companies because there's no special classification for them.
    "If a company deals with stocks, that company must be registered," Blount said. "There's no way to
distinguish day trading companies from other investment companies."
    Johnston said he has friends who are considering quitting their jobs to day trade.
    "They think it's so simple," he said. "It's nothing more than playing craps. Nine times out of ten, you
won't know anything about a company. All day traders care about is jumping in on momentum of XYZ Corp."
    Unless day traders purchase a mass quantity of shares in penny stocks, it won't make a difference, Johnston
said.
    "Stock won't trade a point or two in one day, not at that level," he said. "You're always looking to get
that fraction and I don't have the stomach for it."
    His advice? Don't do it.
    "Unless you have the soul of a gambler, don't do it because it's 99% luck," he said. "It's got to be luck
because you are not trading on fundamentals. You're jumping in and out, hoping to get an uptake."
    When he stepped into day trading, Johnston's goal was to make $100 per day.
    "I was not out to make a million," he said. "I traded with Day Tech for $9.99 per trade. I had level 2
quotes in real time provided free of charge. Some outfits encourage traders to borrow money to cover
positions, which is absolutely insane. Some companies advertise hot stock tips and loans of 125% of the
value of a home. If a day trader lost his home and everything else, the consequences could be very sad."