Quote from piezoe:
It is my opinion that trading is gambling and has the same appeal as any other form of gambling, but is even more insidious because of the appearance of legitimacy promoted by the media and Wall Street hucksters in fancy suits. It can be even more addicting than other forms of gambling. And the money to be made by those promoting stock market gambling,i.e., your broker and mine, is even greater than the money to be made by the House in Las Vegas.
The main difference I see between short term trading and casino gambling is that through hard work, study and attentiveness it is possible, assuming you have reliable and timely data, to tilt the odds in your favor. I would suggest that anyone trading keep statistical records that go far beyond mere profit and loss. You must have enough information recorded to provide insight, not a mere record of your trades which your broker provides anyway. There should be a definite quantitative element to your trading. If you find yourself trading entirely by the seat of your pants (by intuition alone, in other words) you are in trouble. On that latter subject, I am a true expert!
If you find that you do not have a statistical edge, or at the minimum, that your trading is not improving and moving toward a quantifiable edge, then stop. If you can't stop you are a gambling addict and trading will eventually ruin you.
In my own experience, most of the commercial companies selling trading methods and advice, or investment or stock tips, are worse than worthless. I'm sure, many front run and lie to their clients just as Wall Street Hucksters do --Here i'm recalling that infamous headline in Barrons pointing out what a great buy GM was, when in fact GM was already insolvent and a breath away from bankruptcy with dire prospects for the future. Sure enough, however, the stock bounced enough to cause many of the Put holders to bail prematurely and long enough, i'm sure, for the Barrons' palls to extricate themselves.
