To my thinking “trading stocks” and “long term” are conflicting terms. If one buys and holds a broad selection of stocks over the long-term, they are almost certain to earn some decent steady regular returns. Thats investing. Traders on the other hand who buy and sell various stocks trying to catch and buy on short-term lows and sell during price peaks are “Playing” the market and making reliably regular profits would be hard to do. That is not to say money cannot be made by trading but not unlike like gambling, traders may hit some strong up turns and hopefully sell at just the right time, but are going to have times when turning a profit is going to elude their best efforts. Like gamblers they are more likely to tell you about their wins and not talk about the times they lost.
Consider the last few months VS the last several years. The S&P 500 5 years ago was at about 2700, it closed yesterday (4–27–2023) just above 4100, In the last 12 months, its been rather volatile with lows below 3500 and over all about even (down slightly actually) from April ’22 when it was about 4200. Trading involves a lot of risk and uncertainty, their may have been some good trading opportunities last year even, but I am sure a lot of people bought and sold poorly and lost money. Investing long-term is a different game.