Share your Rags to Riches stories

bigbrian000 · Aug 22, 2015

EPrado said:
In the past I would trade U.S. Then sleep from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. edt. Then get up and trade Europe into the U.S. Session. 5 hours sleep would be enough. But it does get rough towards the end of the week. In my younger days I would do the 24 hour thing, except I was done trading at 4:15 p.m. From 4:16 pm. until 9:29 a.m. the next day I was doing what 98% of traders did in Chicago on a Thursday night. Believe it or not that gets old as well. On a serious note set your alarm for 2 am or whatever, check charts. If your set ups are well defined you should be able to tell quickly if there is anything to do or not. If not go back to sleep.

As far as the in between times.....do whatever you think will keep you occupied and keep you from doing trades you shouldn't be. I bs with other traders......go on the internet...I have a few good trading books around I always look through again and again. I think I have read Market Wizards I and II a few times each year.

The patience thing is slow. But in my opinion it is what will separate you from the others out there. Some people on here whine that only 5% of traders make it. Who knows. That could be true. But I would be willing to bet a huge part of that 5% have unbelievable patience. I used to trade a lot more years ago. I was amazed how much better the results were if I just waited for set ups and did much bigger size on those fewer trades. The difference was huge.

Which market wizards books are you re-reading each year, that's quite the endorsement. I ask because I'd like to check them out and as we know, theres a million on amazon.

der_kommissar · Aug 22, 2015

marketsurfer said:
While there are many success stories in the market--- i don't think there are any true rags to riches stories like an entrepreneur boot strapping a business among individual, non prop, non outside funded traders.

The reason is it takes money to make money and if you have enough to make it as a trader on your own - you are not starting out poor or rags.

I started my publishing co with $15.00 and a car. Made millions ( not annually) over multiple years with zero additional monetary investment. That could not be done by a trader. Just saying

surf

The last 15 years or so are really an anomaly in so far as the entrepreneur going from rags to riches in such a short time...Arguably it's been caused by three successive equity bubbles that place sky high valuations on start-ups (only to trade to the other extreme in short order) - (obviously caused by reckless monetary policy)...but just think about how many great business ideas never got the necessary funding 30 or 40 years ago or about how many businesses were crushed in the 1970's by 15-20% interest rates...

Back To The Futures · Aug 22, 2015

EPrado said:
Yep. Exactly. They are very vocal when they want something. We have a 2 yr old and a 9 yr old. The younger one is hilarious. She messes with the older one. Will sneak up on her, smack her with her paw then run. The older one will eventually get up and pounce on her. 5 minutes later the younger one starts the whole thing over again. Great pic of yours.

Reminds me of me and my cousin when we were little. LOL

EPrado · Aug 22, 2015

bigbrian000 said:
Which market wizards books are you re-reading each year, that's quite the endorsement. I ask because I'd like to check them out and as we know, theres a million on amazon.

I like I and II the best. The original ones which interview the best traders out there.Basically they cover the best of the best.

III was ok. IV is pretty good.

I basically re-read I and II. Also Trend Following by Michael Covel. Even if you aren't a fan of TF's the book has a ton of great quotes from some of the best traders that ever lived.

EPrado · Aug 22, 2015

Back To The Futures said:
Reminds me of me and my cousin when we were little. LOL

Funny. Huskies are a riot. Never a dull moment.

marketsurfer · Sep 20, 2015

der_kommissar said:
The last 15 years or so are really an anomaly in so far as the entrepreneur going from rags to riches in such a short time...Arguably it's been caused by three successive equity bubbles that place sky high valuations on start-ups (only to trade to the other extreme in short order) - (obviously caused by reckless monetary policy)...but just think about how many great business ideas never got the necessary funding 30 or 40 years ago or about how many businesses were crushed in the 1970's by 15-20% interest rates...

No question about it.