How many are actual trader vs Posers/Newbies.....

[Cutten]

Quote from Maverick74:



How this for sad turnouts.

In 1923, nine of the world's most successful financiers met at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel. Financially, they literally "held the world by the tail" -- anything that money could buy was within their grasp -- they were rich -- rich -- rich! Hear their names and the high position each held:

1. Charles Schwab, the president of the largest steel company.
2. Samuel Insull, the president of the largest electric utility company.
3. Howard Hopson, the president of the largest gas company.
4. Arthur Cutten, the great wheat speculator.
5. Richard Whitney, the president of the New York Stock Exchange.
6. Albert Fall, the Secretary of Interior in President Harding's Cabinet.
7. Jesse Livermore, the greatest "bear" on Wall Street.
8. Ivar Kreuger, head of the world's greatest monopoly.
9. Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements.

A tremendously impressive group -- right? Would you like to change positions with one of them? Before you decide, let's look at the picture 25 years later -- in 1948:
1. Charles Schwab was forced into bankruptcy and lived the last five years before his death on borrowed money.
2. Samuel Insull not only died in a foreign land, a fugitive from justice, but was penniless.
3. Howard Hopson was insane.
4. Arthur Cutten became insolvent and had died abroad.
5. Richard Whitney had just been released from Sing Sing prison.
6. Albert Fall had been pardoned from prison so he could die at home--broke.
7. Jesse Livermore had died a suicide.
8. Ivar Kreuger took his own life.
9. Leon Fraser also committed suicide.

The entry about Cutten is incorrect, as he didn't declare bankruptcy or die abroad. I haven't been able to find exactly how much he left when he died, but his estate sold the Cutten Club (which still exists) for $22 million in 1939. It was completed in 1931 at a cost of about $800,000, thus making a greater than 2500% return during the depths of the Great Depression. He also claimed to be "down to my last $17 million" in the mid 1930s after losing 10s of millions in the stockmarket crash. He died in 1936 at the Beachwater Hotel in Chicago, and was buried in his birthplace of Guelph, Ontario.

Cutten had also been charged by the government with failing to report nearly $50 million in grain trading profits for 1930 to 1931, and was subsequently banned from trading until he successfully appealed in the Supreme Court in 1936 just before his death.

 

[mrmoose]

is http://www.snopes.com/glurge/fortune.asp is a web site that exposes urban myths most of that story is not true

 

[fxtrading]

i am a poser - watch and trade occasionally

 

[lobsterman]

I wonder if the administrator of this site actively trades, maybe Baron is a Newbie?

 

[maxpi]

Quote from IGNORANT:

i want to trade but i cant.
i want to eat but i cant.

Don't worry Ignorant, the food still tastes as good as ever.

I'm a poser because I refuse to quit my nice job and risk it all for trading. I am writing automation code however, so that my computer can trade all day while I keep the security of a nice job with benefits. I have a feeling that my computer will have a better attention span and better ability to make decisions than I will anyhow. In fact, once my wife finds out my computer makes more $ than I do they will probably run off together and I will have to seek my fate in the South Seas somewhere. I can see it now: "oh Captain Max, you so handsome and got such big boat, you take me to New York and buy me dress, no?? We make fine babies on the way".

 

[fxtrading]

Quote from maxpi:



In fact, once my wife finds out my computer makes more $ than I do they will probably run off together and I will have to seek my fate in the South Seas somewhere. .

isnt that what offshore accounts are for?

 

[T-REX]

its a shame that more traders are not making any money or have blown themselves up.

its a shame that my journal got cancelled Ignorant could have gotten himself out of that trailer park.

 

[rttrader1]

All,

Oner of our the guys I trade next to in our SF office is cleaning up, he just put down 2 - $8,000.00+ weeks in a row and has been very consistant since he joined our shop.......he is one of about 9 guys who are very good traders. I choose this firm because this is the environment I want to be immersed in...I admit this is an extremly "rare" group though.

rttrader1-

 

[ChartingMarkets]

Here are copies of my October 2003 P&L in my Terra Nova Online Account. I trade for myslef at home. No prop ... just me and my 10 years of experience.

 

[ChartingMarkets]

Here are the rest of the statements for Oct 2003..they will to big so I had to cut it in to pieces.