I also failed, but in a different sense. a couple of years ago for a few months I 'day traded' before work and actually made about $3000 for the year after all expenses. When I went back and calculated it, if I had simply held the stocks for that time period, I would have made about triple that because of trading fees and missed gains when I wasn't holding the stock. The market was simply on an upswing at that time and I thought I had figured out the system. Overall it was a great experience. I really learned and understood how and why the market does what it does. It taught me that day trading is not for me, but I got a few longer term strategies out of it that I still use today. Just on a much smaller scale and NOT as my sole source of income.