Are most traders married?

[Algorithm]

Quote from tivthetrader:

when i first started trading for a firm in 1988 on wall street, there was an older guy who sat next to me who was the greatest chart reader in the world. great trader married 4 times.

as a younger guy,i couldn't figure out why a guy making all that money would ever have such problems in his marital situation.

18 years later, some consider me a pretty good trader. i couldn't stay married either. trading well has its negative side, as it a mistress that is always there- hey it s 6.48 on mothers day and i am watching the futures after making millions last week; it is 85 and sunny outside, there are a million other things i could be doing, yet i am scalping the futures.

i'm an addict there is no doubt; it makes me good at this but there is a cost- so to you younger guys out there, make sure you have a wife who can handle the swings and who understands that to succeed at this , you must maintain the passion , desire, and hunger.

on the other hand, how could i not watch the futures right now; tonight could be crazy.

I know what you're talking about, just returned from a month long "vacation" in Florida and probably watched the market and CNBC for a good half of it. I probably traded for a good 15 days of the "vacation" (damned WiFi, I absolutely love it!). I spent my "spare" time poolside reading assorted books about economics and trading, you know the entertaining stuff.

Funny, Livermore also wrote about how he curtailed many of his fishing trips and vacations in order to trade. The killer fact is that the more successful you become as a trader, the more time you tend to spend researching opportunities. You are correct when you say it needs to be a passion. The money is really secondary, more of a way to keep score on how well your thoughts and theories have panned out.

No doubt that the successful traders NEED A VERY UNDERSTANDING family support system with a strong spouse at its center. Trading ain't easy and you'll find things out about yourself and your spouse you may never have thought were true.

Good trading is truly a journey that I enjoy.

Good thread BTW, one of the better ones.

 

[volente_00]

Only the crazy ones are.

 

[Buy1Sell2]

I think it's possible that sharing the losses as well as the wins could be an advantage over isolation. It would have the effect of forcing one to perform bettter, much as a company reporting to shareholders does.

 

[Buy1Sell2]

Quote from Buy1Sell2:

I notice that there are two people on the poll that say they are married and the spouse/family doesn't KNOW they trade?? Seriously?? Please explain--

I need someone to come on and explain how this is even possible or why you would want to do it-- Is the spouse someone like Terri Schiavo? If not, why would you want to hide it and wouldn't you feel terrible holding info inside --especially negative info?

 

[Buy1Sell2]

Quote from Buy1Sell2:

I need someone to come on and explain how this is even possible or why you would want to do it-- Is the spouse someone like Terri Schiavo? If not, why would you want to hide it and wouldn't you feel terrible holding info inside --especially negative info?

No one has addressed this. Let me tell you though-- It is far far better to let others in your immediate family know right away about trading losses. Not doing so, sets up a major problem later and also will make you begin to take huge risks to "get back even". Of course, a bigger hole is then dug.

 

[bigbadbaz]

Only the 95% that lose are married

 

[dividend]

Quote from Cutten:

Good traders never get married to a position, no matter how attractive it appears. Getting married is like going limit-long in a single position, and relying for protection on a stop loss that takes 6 months to process, and ends up costing you half your account.

Instead, good traders should diversify their investments, and rapidly exit any positions the moment they start going sour.

This is a good analogy, EXCEPT that investments like stocks,etc are not human. They are passive and inanimate... A stock is not going to cry if you "cut your loss" and dump it. A girl will. Stock will care less.

Don't forget that to diversify your 'investments' you need tons of capital. So you better be rich already if you're going to do that

 

[Option_Trader32]

I would say most are married to their positions.

 

[jazzsax]

I am married, my wife is 7 years younger...

She wants to know how I am doing, but doesn't care about the details.

She wants to know about big losses or big wins, when they make a difference in where we sit overall.

After all, it's both of our investments. SHe trusts my decisions and doesn't question them, even on the losers....

 

[SiSePuede!]

Quote from jazzsax:

I am married, my wife is 7 years younger...

She wants to know how I am doing, but doesn't care about the details.

She wants to know about big losses or big wins, when they make a difference in where we sit overall.

After all, it's both of our investments. SHe trusts my decisions and doesn't question them, even on the losers....

Is her curiosity in a selfish manner...kind of like she only cares if she can either buy a new Jag or has to go shop at the thrift store? Or is it more of a gauging of just how you're doing to get a feeling in general?