If edge is hard to get, why traders keep trading?

Quote from OddTrader:

'You can't win without an edge, even with the world's greatest discipline and money management skills. ... If you don't have an edge, all that money management and discipline will do for you is guarantee that you will gradually bleed to death. Incidently, if you don't know what your edge is, you don't have one." --- (New Market Wizards, page 463)

"Good money management alone is not going to increaese your edge at all." --- (NMW, Page 175)

Who are you going to believe? :D

"A trading edge is the easiest thing?"
http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2478826#post2478826

Quote from Buy1Sell2:

Folks, the edge IS the asset allocation and risk management. That is the only edge in trading
 
so now we have an interesting phenomena -

I suppose most ETers have a sense that going to the casino and pulling the 1-arm-bandit is not a career. But because they don't know what they don't know (they don't have an edge), they passionately persue this trading thing as if it's a career, lol.

they keep pulling that lever, disciplined enough that they promised they will -

never put more than 4 coins in any 1 pull;
never continue playing if they have lost 100 coins for the day;
let the winner run and keep playing if they win 200 coins for the day;
have a written business plan about pulling the lever;
exercise everyday so they have a fresh mind when pulling the lever;
go to college to have the right degree to be better in pulling the lever;

The list goes on.
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

no, its more like sitting at the roullette table with only a black and red bet with no zeros. however, this roullette table can offer way more than double your money on each bet, but you can only lose the amount you put up from your stash. the slot machine analogy doesnt work when compared to the market.

best, surf

wrong - now you are arguing along the lines that a risk:reward of 1:1000 alike is a money tree.

you need to take Stats101.
 
The important discipline here is that unless no edge, you should keep trading simulated until it is found. Then and only then, is that cash should be used.

On the other hand, it goes without saying that it is much harder to apply in CASH what you found in the simulator.

....and in there lies paradox.
 
Quote from dozu888:

so now we have an interesting phenomena -

I suppose most ETers have a sense that going to the casino and pulling the 1-arm-bandit is not a career. But because they don't know what they don't know (they don't have an edge), they passionately persue this trading thing as if it's a career, lol.

they keep pulling that lever, disciplined enough that they promised they will -

never put more than 4 coins in any 1 pull;
never continue playing if they have lost 100 coins for the day;
let the winner run and keep playing if they win 200 coins for the day;
have a written business plan about pulling the lever;
exercise everyday so they have a fresh mind when pulling the lever;
go to college to have the right degree to be better in pulling the lever;

The list goes on.

forgot the other thing they promised to do -

they will always play a machine that has great risk:reward. i.e. a machine that may spit out 1000 coins for a bet of 1 coin.

:D :D :D
 
Quote from dozu888:

determines that the chances are you will run out of coins before hit the jackpot.

people still hit jackpots, but odds are against that.


good point! you bring up an important issue, you need infinite or huge wealth, for some of this to work.

this again confirms that in trading, it REALLY PAYS to play, if you're ALREADY wealthy and/or rich. sorry, that's life . . .

i know it's sad, but i'd rather know the truth. it is great fun though, and, if you're good at it, maybe you can do fairly well. some poker players are pros, but it's not for everyone. you need the skills, and especially the right personality for that. a lot of them do other things in life too

here are some interesting graphs on lotteries.

r6.ca/blog/20090522T015739Z.html

that's where psychology kicks in. you really have to stay focused, and, above all, centered.
 
Quote from risktaker:

I seriously doubt that. They may be perceived to have an edge but it's just fiction in most cases, thus the continuous losing.

But, do feel free to remind me of all individual edges out there that people have been given and continue to lose money with.

actualy, this was proven some years ago. A group of Ph.D. students were a given a "system" with a positive expectancy and over 90% lost all their money. I have seen this study crop up again and again.

Even with an edge, you need very disciplined money and trade management, or you still face a very high Risk of Ruin (RoR)

Such as, A 60-40 system, where the trader/gambler keeps double or nothing, will on average be out of $ in only 2 or 3 trades.
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

Interesting. I hear this all the time from traders. My contention is even though good money management isnt an edge, it will keep you in the game long enough to take advantage of LUCK. Those huge winning days that are guaranteed to happen if you are in the game long enough.

it isnt edge, but LUCK will arrive if you can stay in the game via money management.

just a thought, surf

But the LUCK will be outmanned by RUIN.
 
Quote from dozu888:

so now we have an interesting phenomena -

I suppose most ETers have a sense that going to the casino and pulling the 1-arm-bandit is not a career. But because they don't know what they don't know (they don't have an edge), they passionately persue this trading thing as if it's a career, lol.


When trading, you have the right to be the casino, that's the difference. I am sure casino owner really see their job as a career, right?

What is the job you ended up doing when you pulled the trigger on this trading/casino thing? Serious question.
 
Quote from Ms Varima-Garch:

good point! you bring up an important issue, you need infinite or huge wealth, for some of this to work.

this again confirms that in trading, it REALLY PAYS to play, if you're ALREADY wealthy and/or rich. sorry, that's life . . .

i know it's sad, but i'd rather know the truth. it is great fun though, and, if you're good at it, maybe you can do fairly well. some poker players are pros, but it's not for everyone. you need the skills, and especially the right personality for that. a lot of them do other things in life too

here are some interesting graphs on lotteries.

r6.ca/blog/20090522T015739Z.html

that's where psychology kicks in. you really have to stay focused, and, above all, centered.

I know there are people scouting the globe for any lottery that has the 'expected value' above the face value when the jackpot has grown big enough.

This is a valid business model... it's simple Stats101... amusingly enough most ETers never took Stats101 (notice I didn't say sadly)
 
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