It seems the key rules to beating the market are these...

[newwurldmn]

Plenty of stocks have gone to zero. None have gone to infinity.

gme from 30 to 650 might as well have.

 

[kotika]

Dude, first things first. TQQQ gives you x3 return and you can’t lose more than you invested (unlike futures). But there is no free lunch, and so it has a cost or “time decay”. How much exactly? I’ll tell ya not one but two ways how to compute it.
1) look at its actual performance over say 5 years, divide that by 3 and then compare it to the plain QQQ return - you will be behind, by a lot
2) being able to leverage x3 without ever a margin call ought to cost about as much as constantly buying out of money puts, at strikes 33% below. Those puts are not expensive but buying them year in year out will cost you, 3-5% a year by my reckoning.

 

[7out]

Dude, first things first. TQQQ gives you x3 return and you can’t lose more than you invested (unlike futures). But there is no free lunch, and so it has a cost or “time decay”. How much exactly? I’ll tell ya not one but two ways how to compute it.
1) look at its actual performance over say 5 years, divide that by 3 and then compare it to the plain QQQ return - you will be behind, by a lot
2) being able to leverage x3 without ever a margin call ought to cost about as much as constantly buying out of money puts, at strikes 33% below. Those puts are not expensive but buying them year in year out will cost you, 3-5% a year by my reckoning.

Have you looked at the returns of TQQQ?
last year 82%, year before that 107%, the year before that 155%

Even with TQQQ hovering around $50 now, for every $1 you invested 5 years ago (let's say the open on first trading day of Jan 2017) you'd have $10 now (and that's even after this years -year to date- 35% decline).

 

[bln]

Have you looked at the returns of TQQQ?
last year 82%, year before that 107%, the year before that 155%

Even with TQQQ hovering around $50 now, for every $1 you invested 5 years ago (let's say the open on first trading day of Jan 2017) you'd have $10 now (and that's even after this years -year to date- 35% decline).

Cherry picking

How would TQQQ have performed during the 2002 and 2007 bear markets then Nasdaq 100 went down -60% or more from it's ATH?

 

[RachEB]

Sometimes we over complicate things, keep things simple is how I have made progress.

 

[sebking1986]

From Paul Tudor Jones... "The conventional wisdom is to not try to pick bottoms and tops. I've made 10 times more money trying to pick them than I ever saved trying to avoid picking them"...

IOW... Try to nail tops and bottoms... always with stops. (If you learn "Price TA", that won't scare the crap out of you. )

FWIW..

I think there is real insight and skill in placing orders in advance of tops and bottoms if you can read where price may go as it approaches those areas. I still don't think it is necessary however.

 

[smallfil]

Sometimes we over complicate things, keep things simple is how I have made progress.

You got that right. My trading results dramatically, improved once, I simplified my trading system. The more complicated something is, the more apt for you to make numerous mistakes which are very costly.

 

[Jdesey]

you left out short selling. I am a short sell specialist. But for whatever reason very few traders and even less investors will short. I personally increased my results BIG TIME when I added short selling a few years ago, even in the raging bull market.

 

[HolyGrailSeeker]

For me the secret to trading is not to lose all your money. The longer you stay in the market the higher chance of being profitable.

 

[Jungletrader]

Trading tops and bottoms wheter it be by simply pattern Trading with double/Triple tops/bottoms or Supply Demand taps best way ideally to pull profits from the market