Do you feel bad? Should you?

T

tampa

Does it trouble you to know that the poor soul on the other side of your next winning trade may have just lost the rent money? Or that the loss may be the last straw that will cause his marriage to fall apart? How about if he becomes despondent, and takes his own life?

These things happen every day.

I know that you are not “responsible” for the irresponsible behavior of others, but knowing that these things can and do happen, do you ever feel bad about being part of an industry that can not only bring personal triumph, but also total personal devastation and ruin?
 
My feeling is that anyone trading should not be doing so with the rent money or required living money. They should be using discretionary income. The person who is trading with everything on the line is no different to me than the person who goes to a casino with everything on the line.

Also, I have given enough of my hard-earned money to others over the years that I have no problem making money now.

So no, I don't feel bad.
 
Nope...never do.

Think of it this way. That market is going to trade regardless of whether YOU buy or sell. You can't control what someone else does. You're just NOT that powerful. If they choose to act irresponsibly by trading the rent money, how could you have possibly changed that? But if you decide to give this mythical trader a break by not making a trade, what did that accomplish...someone else just makes the trade...and again, let me know when you get to the point where you can control the outcome of someone's marriage or whether they trade the rent money.

Usually what I imagine is that the guy on the other side of my trade is a guy using one minute charts! That builds my confidence!:D

OldTrader
 
no, because:

1) i don't make money anyways.

2) the best man wins. every trade is an attempt to take someone else's money. if a smarter person takes mine instead, i can't complain.
 
almost all business is a form of competition for scarce / limited resources regardless of what that business is.

if you open a well run sandwich shop, you might put out of business the poorly run sandwich shop down the street.

if you sell paintings of elvis or dogs playing cards, you might put out of business some other guy who paints elvises and dogs playing cards.

if you take the last spot on the minor league ball roster, you might end up shattering the dream of the guy just behind you who wanted to be a baseball player too.

and so on.
 
That's it. I'm going to make a painting of dogs daytrading. The lapdog is going to be using a laptop.

Does the big bulldog or german shepherd trading 100,000 shares feel sorry for the little mongrel trading 5 options contracts? No.
 
In the derivatives market a certain portion of the trades are initiated with the hope of them being losing trades. They are hedge postions against MONSTER equity trades.

Why should you feel bad taking what someone else is gladly giving? Your profits (in the futures market) come from inexperienced newbies, neurotic scalpers, day or swing traders or hedgers - its a mixed bag.

A good method/system of trading the market will work in all market conditions.
A true friend is there for you in both the good and the bad times
 
No, you think the guy on my losing trades feels bad, I don't think so. Plus, most of the time it's the specialist, so I could care less, cause I know he's gunning for me.
 
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