I'm 21 years old, couldn't enter University, planning to trade full-time.

[EPrado]

Your reply made me think of a recent YouTube Trading video I watched
Analysis of A $1 Million Trade (With John F. Carter)

Wow....I never thought AJ Soprano would go into radio interviewing. I guess Tony didn't feel his was fit to lead the crime family into the future.

 

[VIXTrader]

Thanks dude...now this Lawerence guy is going to want to do an audit on my trading records the last 23 years. Nice Surf....real nice.

There's a difference between being private and grounded and not being able to verify a track record. I'm not doubting you, for all we know you're the worlds top trader, but.....

Is it really that surprising that some people might want trading returns verified? I have no idea who Lawerence is but, is he wrong in wanting some proof? If you are a trader I'm sure you're well aware the number of people who can verify their claims is nearly zero.

It sure would be a breath of fresh air if someone making claims actually proved it. 0.02$

 

[zenon12]

So I've been visiting my local libraries and reading up a lot on investing books. I'm fortunate that they havw many high-quality investing books by famous names like Warren Buffett. Anyway I've read part of market wizards as well(I read Paul Tudor Jones' interview and the first guy who was a friend of Ed Seykota) but so far I think they don't teach the details of successful trading or investing, just general advice like "bankroll management is very important, don't put all your money into one stock", which I've noticed and understood the importance of long ago. I wonder if most investment books are sort of useless past a certain level of knowledge and the only way you can learn more is by investing and trading by yourself?

 

[Pension_Admin]

Learning how to trade is much more difficult than school. In fact, you will need to go to school to learn some of the statisitic, business, and economic concepts, which will be needed to ground your trust in your systems and your decisions.

Trading is not like a course that you can just read and learn. It is a combination of courses, and you won't even know which courses to take, because everyone has different answers...and majority of them are wrong. The one who knows will not tell you outright, but will give you hints, which you wouldn't be able to tell until after you have learned and research on the concepts and rationales.

If you like trading, then go to school and study business. Browse the archive of this site often. It contain a lot of good information if you can filter out the BS.

Side note: Dan Zanger was a really lucky guy. He really doesn't know how to trade. He just doesn't have all the knowledge needed to trade to make it a profession, and I doubt he has the proper combination of knowledge for professional trading.

 

[d08]

So I've been visiting my local libraries and reading up a lot on investing books. I'm fortunate that they havw many high-quality investing books by famous names like Warren Buffett. Anyway I've read part of market wizards as well(I read Paul Tudor Jones' interview and the first guy who was a friend of Ed Seykota) but so far I think they don't teach the details of successful trading or investing, just general advice like "bankroll management is very important, don't put all your money into one stock", which I've noticed and understood the importance of long ago. I wonder if most investment books are sort of useless past a certain level of knowledge and the only way you can learn more is by investing and trading by yourself?

I shared your frustration long time ago. There are methods in some books but they don't work, EPrado's suggestion was good in that the interviews give you general guidelines on what to do or not do. Don't expect books to teach you trading, consistently profitable traders don't have the time or need to write books and you never share things that work well anyway.
Like you guessed, books are only good for more general reading and the most important part is watching the market in the beginning so you get an idea how the price moves and then coming up with ideas on how to profit from those moves.

 

[EPrado]

There's a difference between being private and grounded and not being able to verify a track record. I'm not doubting you, for all we know you're the worlds top trader, but.....

Is it really that surprising that some people might want trading returns verified? I have no idea who Lawerence is but, is he wrong in wanting some proof? If you are a trader I'm sure you're well aware the number of people who can verify their claims is nearly zero.

It sure would be a breath of fresh air if someone making claims actually proved it. 0.02$

I have never claimed to be some market wizard world's greatest trader. I claim I have been successful enough to have a 20+ year career as a trader. As far as verifying my trading performance? I have had to plenty of times over the years when hired by a prop firm/hedge fund. I have zero problem sharing my record when it's called for. But let's be real man. Some guy who I have zero clue is asks me to prove myself with trading records? On an internet trading site? Really? Give me one reason why I should? People can read what I post and figure out if I am worth listening to or not. I won't lose any sleep if someone doesn't believe what I say.You should be able to tell from reading my stuff over the years if I am full of shit or not.

People who claim to be some hotshot never-losing trader or people who claim to have some great system they are selling should absolutely have to verify their trading. I don't fall into either category.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

Like you guessed, books are only good for more general reading and the most important part is watching the market in the beginning so you get an idea how the price moves and then coming up with ideas on how to profit from those moves.

I agree d08,
I don't think I have ever really completely read or picked up an actual trading book. (or ebooks or websites, for that matter too.)

All one needs to do to learn the Markets/Trading...is just basically Watch and Do the markets. -- it doesn't take a genius to quickly pickup and realize what's happening and unfolding and why.

 

[zenon12]

Learning how to trade is much more difficult than school. In fact, you will need to go to school to learn some of the statisitic, business, and economic concepts, which will be needed to ground your trust in your systems and your decisions.

Trading is not like a course that you can just read and learn. It is a combination of courses, and you won't even know which courses to take, because everyone has different answers...and majority of them are wrong. The one who knows will not tell you outright, but will give you hints, which you wouldn't be able to tell until after you have learned and research on the concepts and rationales.

If you like trading, then go to school and study business. Browse the archive of this site often. It contain a lot of good information if you can filter out the BS.

Side note: Dan Zanger was a really lucky guy. He really doesn't know how to trade. He just doesn't have all the knowledge needed to trade to make it a profession, and I doubt he has the proper combination of knowledge for professional trading.

Fortunately for me I did study economics in my school so I know most of the economic terms traders and investors use. Reading investing books also teaches me some of the jargon used in trading like P/E

 

[zenon12]

Also, in reply to someone who asked me a while ago which investment type do I plan to use, I plan to trade only stocks for the start. I'm most comfortable with stocks as I've seen my father invest in stocks before and he has also explained to me about them.

 

[kut2k2]

Fortunately for me I did study economics in my school so I know most of the economic terms traders and investors use. Reading investing books also teaches me some of the jargon used in trading like P/E

Just out of curiosity, what are your math skills?