Is it possible to make consistent profits from trading

tomorton said:
How would a trader revealing their strategy damage their personal returns? I've never understood this argument.
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The stock market is not as deep as you think.

Too much publicity causes edges to go away.

And sometimes there may be only a 500 shares available at a price and ooops... that trader you just gave your method and stock list to just beat you too them and a week later your method is too crowded to work.

Peter told Paul who told Suzy. Or Sally is a slugger doing large size Or Tom automates and does large size and so do his friends.. well... you get the idea.
 
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learner2007 said:
He is proud of his success and when a leech comes along and asks the trader to give him his hard earned knowledge so that the leech can make some fast easy bucks overnight without any effort on his part, it downright pisses off the successful trader.
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I'm sure there's (at least) an element of this, too.


tomorton said:
So, if not to teach and not to learn, why does this trader come onto the forum?
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I suspect that most people have a mixture of reasons, including both the above, to alleviate boredom, for some of us "to interact" in the broadest sense because we have (maybe even by choice) almost no other social interactions at all, and of course in some cases either to promote something openly or stealthily or just to self-promote (self-aggrandisement, to use a pompous term for it), and for other reasons, too.

And then there's also - trading forums being what they are - the point about one's awareness of the futility of setting out one's methods in great detail, in the knowledge that (a) doing so will inevitably give rise, among other things, to some hostility, resentment, aggression and even "challenges" of various kinds, and (b) nobody would be able to follow it and achieve the same results, anyway.

"Just my perspective". :confused:
 
tomorton said:
he won't be getting the benefit of other successful traders' criticisms and suggestions
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Such from other successful traders would be welcome and helpful, as no trader can know everything. But when some kid comes along as a leech, well you may as well just send him a check!!.
tomorton said:
So, if not to teach and not to learn, why does this trader come onto the forum?
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The successful trader can be of help to others who truly want to learn without being a mentor. And he can also learn from other experienced traders. No trader knows it all.
 
The most consistent profits come from strategies that exploit tangible market mispricing. That is, flat or index arbitrage. Market making has a similar level of consistency. However, these strategies can rarely be deployed by average traders. Although, there are takeaways to be had:

1. Treat trading like a business. U set stand how much capital is needed. Seek the lowest costs for trading fees and financing.

2. Learn to program and understand how to execute systematically. Infrastructure must match the execution speed necessary for your trade. Don't expect to trade index arb through interactive brokers.

3. Your trade should be grounded in some model which accurately values the price of a security to be traded. You will trade when price deviates from this model and hedge accordingly.

Understand that this differentiates trading from investing. I believe investing will likely be better for most average investors.
 
learner2007 said:
That's not the main reason. The successful trader has reached that level as a result of years of study, hard work and research. He is proud of his success and when a leech comes along and asks the trader to give him his hard earned knowledge so that the leech can make some fast easy bucks overnight without any effort on his part, it downright pisses off the successful trader.
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I don't mind. I've "given away the farm" for my K.I.S.S. method at least a dozen times on ET, but I'll bet only a few if any looked into it. After all, "how can it be that simple"?

:)
 
I think market is the best mentor. If you are truly passionate about trading and plan to do whatever to build the everlasting skills, the best way is to study the market itself, not to see the market through others's experience.
 
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It can be profitable. Currently I am able to generate about 80% positive months (about 10 out of every 12 months will be profitable). It's difficult to tell you what my positions are as there are several (close to 20 at this time) unrelated models each doing their own thing. And I think this is key for consistency over the long term - you have to have a portfolio of uncorrelated models. On any given day I can have several dozen long and short positions in stocks, ETFs and futures and the positions change on a daily basis - all the models are geared towards short term trading.

So yes it can be profitable but it can become a full time job and has to be run with discipline just like any business.
 
Is it possible to make consistent profits from trading

"Everyone is a genius in a bull market."

You can throw the proverbial dart at the dartboard (for the past *decade*) and get "winning" trades. Great. "We made history." (And again, three times, just this past week, right?) So if you're working equities/etfs, you're already *there*. Enjoy the ride. (Til it's over.)

I sell index options -- top and bottom -- so I'm *always* wrong, no matter which way the market goes. Happy happy joy joy, it is not. I work a *small* fund, but can generally 'beat the (long-equities) market.' But week after week, month after month, as long as the market is moving ("Please, GOD!!!"), I can sell picks and shovels to the miners in The Gold Rush.

I struggle. IT'S HARD. But when the Market Party is over (or at least, flags a bit), the option market will be there to insure (accept) the risk.
 
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Scataphagos said:
I don't mind. I've "given away the farm" for my K.I.S.S. method at least a dozen times on ET, but I'll bet only a few if any looked into it. After all, "how can it be that simple"?

:)
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Can you post a link to the thread where you gave away the farm? I am curious to see what your KISS method looks like.
 
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