Quote from candletrader:
Somewhat of a loaded question in my opinion... the tone of the question implies that it is somehow "expected" to break even... I think we can agree that the vast majority of wannabees remain consistent losers, and don't attain even breakeven status... of course, if you had established this poll in the heady days of the bubble, then every guy and his mom were making a killing without knowing what they are doing... but in these "normal" times, to merely break even is to be an above average trader and not an inferior trader...
To answer your poll, I was one of those idiots who had an easy ride in the internet bubble, without knowing what I was doing... I had no discipline, and to have no discipline in those days actually meant you made more money... after having accumulated a pile of reserves from a minor grubstake, I started to give it back when times normalized... fortunately, I went real small when I realized that I "had lost my touch" (I never actually had a touch anyways, it was all Mother Market's blessing), so I didn't give back too much... so, in a nutshell, I was profitable from day 1, but not out of any skill... and the substantial reserves accumulated in the bubble allowed me to have a proportionately tiny $ learning curve...
Much has to do with luck and nothing more... had I started my trading expedition in a similar environment to today's and had I traded as I traded during the bubble, I would have blown out several times by now and would have no reserves of profit whatsoever...
