No offense, but comments like this on ET are always highly suspect. If you rarely have any losses, you're better than most highly paid money managers. So perhaps you'd like to quantify this is bit. What is rarely for you? Is it over a 90% win rate? What are you trading, and what do you consider a win? You don't sound like you're scalping, more so swing trading, which would make it even easier for you to be a multi-billionaire by now.
Seriously, most professional traders will not be able to say that they rarely have a loss, unless they have a highly skewed R:R ratio, or suffer a huge drawdown when they do have the losing trade.
What you say above would also mean that you almost always get the direction of the market right. Once again, this proposition is highly suspect, so perhaps you'd like to share some details/stats because based on what you just said, you should be better than Buffet.
What do you call a win? If I make one cent on a trade is that a win to you? If that the case I win 95% plus on Scalping trades Commodities. I be a piss poor Scalper if I lost more than 5% and why I can average down. But the reality of it all, some weeks I am making less than ten bucks a trade and after fees based on original entry and why for me breakeven is plus one tick and why I can risk 12 ticks to end up averaging less than a tick in ES. But it comes down to 45-55% of my trades are plus one tick, and 40-50% are 2-13 ticks and the 5% is , minus fees to minus 13 ticks. I stopped recommending to many on learning how to scalp because each tick means so much and you do have to watch and study how to read the Dome. Extremely few weeks in a year are 0% losing trades for the week and it is getting tougher and tougher to scalp, but not cause the HFTs but my thoughts of less retail traders coming into the markets to lose. One of twelve signals I use is a momentum move of going with the trend and half of those I don't take cause they are too often where other trades I have on are getting out where the "mom" trade being place by many, so other eleven trades are generally going against the retail trader, and most of my signals are based on opposite of the books. I know why retail is taking their trades most of the time and I am betting they are going to fail so signals are generally based on failures. I know where they are not going to get in, so I get in based on some indicator many are using, and I know within a tick of where retail will be getting in for me to get out, so I provide liquid markets for others to play. I know where most are placing their stops so I am often waiting for HFTs to kick in to "hook" is all the weak players to trigger their protective stops where I am there to take other side, now believe it or not, most retail had the right direction, but didn't have a wide stop, and market resumes in the original direction of the newbs, many get courage to jump in again which is near where I am getting out. I play this game 20-40 times in first hour. Took me long time to figure this out and I am still learning. But once you stop thinking about reward and concentrate on risk, you might be able to turn your life in trading around.
Long term and short term overall positions, and when I speak of overall, that is including hedging. Now when you speak of those who trade for funds or hedge accounts for banks and brokerages, there is many stocks and ETFs they can never trade cause lack of volume on the options, so one time being smaller actually helps. There are many ETFs and stocks that have many gaps, more of what money managers can't handle.
I get the direction right mostly trading stocks commodities and options, but what is your definition of "right", when I buy a stock/commodity then use options as my hedge, if both sides nets between penny to over hundred thousand dollars 90% of then time, you will think it is impossible. On long term I average 4% to 15% wins on instruments of commodities per year by selling new highs/buying new lows, I am going to lose often, have the hedge well to recover. And hedging, you have to learn on your own, I doubt anyone of site is going to share how to do well as so much time is spent on how to do, not much books on this material, it is like Spreading Commodities, there are ZERO books on this subject as I have never found on how to make an incredible living Spreading, just ask Bones how well he trades them. If I was starting to trade, I would learn Spreading and Selling Options.
It is very possible of seldom having losses doing options, I now spend over 75% of my free time studying risk, and what do I have to do to hardly ever have a loss. You won't be hearing me talk about profits and making most of those, if you not losing often....
Yea, their are some pretty smart members on this forum that I once over looked cause I was believing in other concepts than them, so I am rereading much now of earlier posts from prior of 2005, but there are some newer members who are sharing now as well. Yea, many can't understand what I am blabbering about, just finding more ways to get better at the game. I am just trading 100% of my 401k and Roth now, so don't have taxes to pay right now or none by trading Roth, wish they increase what can be placed into that.
Until you do the numbers and learn by doing about selling Prem, humbletrader2016 has it right. I have found you might not make money on each trade, but that does not mean you have to always lose either. And keeping open mind can lead one to totally different way that has possibilities.
