Quote from guy990opl:
The thing is that there seem to be a close correlation between trading and gambling. If a trader does not have an edge he is a gambler and most traders are gamblers in denial. Just because they don't bet on the ponies they think they are different.
You're right. You can view the stock market as gambling and some people are better gamblers than others. But there is a huge difference, and that is DATA and COMPUTERS. If you try to go into a Las vegas casino with your laptop, they will kick you out. But no one is stopping you from using your computer to trade stocks.
Since you mentioned Options; When you buy a "call" option, you are "betting" that it will go up over a specified period of time.
Now, you said you cannot predict where a stock will go. I content that you can at least know where a stock is NOT going to go, and that is where you start the development of your trading strategy.
For instance, would you buy a $30 Call option on Microsoft that is going to expire in 2 days. Not LIkely. Just keep stacking up a lot of things you would NOT do and you will have one heck of a good strategy.
That is how I trade stocks, and with the right tools / ATS to keep track of all of the "don't do" rules, and throw in some good money management, then making money in the market is easy and predictable. I know many who do it.
However, back to the normal stock trader. You're right, he doesn't have a prayer. He violates rules all over the place. The average trader couldn't even tell you that a 2-Day, call option ($7 out of the money) is a bad wager. The average trader doesn't even know that the DOW can be 100 points up while the whole market is selling off (instead, he is buying like crazy). The average mutual fund holder watched his portfolio get cut in half last year and didn't get out, even though 8 months ago over 95% of the stocks in the market where all heading down (simply the 5-Day Simple Moving Average was less than the 18-Day Simple Moving Average, a clear sign that the stock was in a long-term downtrend.) And this was true for almost every stock in the market.
Just like driving, there are a lot of "don't do" things follow to avoid getting into an accident. However, if people drove their cars the way they trade the stock market, they would crash every day. Can you imagine driving up the Exit ramp of a highway during rush hour traffic and driving against the flow of traffic! You would crash for sure! Well, to me, that is no different than going Long while 99% of the stocks in the market are all clearly heading down.
Can you imagine walking into your house, throwing your car keys over your shoulder, leaving 1 shoe in the garage, and the other in the bedroom. Well, welcome to the average trader. ha.
I applaud anyone who takes control of his own trading and uses tools/indicators/rules to determine what to trade, instead of just letting people on TV tell him what to buy.
Happy Trading!
Ed