Since the 2009 bottom, did most ET blowups occur during the crashes of 2010, 2011, and 2015 & 2016?

[Error Correction Funder]

I've seen people talk about blowups, and I found a few old threads where OPs talked about their experiences.

The few I saw clustered around 2011 mostly. Were the rest mostly during the large crashes of this recovery?

 

[Clubber Lang]

Crashes? When?
The two flash crashes were goldmines for traders.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

people talk about blowups

few I saw
2011

Trading account blowups happens all the time...left, and right and up and down ,
Has nothing to do with bull market, bear market, trending market, flash crashes, 90's, 2000's, 2010's, etc etc.

If you truly suck, and/or are lacking or have defiencies...your trading account will blowup sooner or later inevitably -- has nothing to do with a magical current market environment, or some other temporary faux scenario that may be ideal for you.

Trading successfully, fruitfully, for the long haul...is a complex, dynamic organism to manage and oversee and run and implement and execute. -- That's why it's relatively somewhat considered rare to last in this game, while most seem to drop like flies.

Everybody can technically lasts in this game if they simply buy and hold/invest in the SPY or SPX broad market ticker.
But the true skill in trading, or being an ET,...is being able to trade and push things to the limits. And manage to survive and Thrive still.

 

[comagnum]

Major bear market bottoms are well known to defeat the vast majority of traders & investors alike leaving them flush, hating the markets, & unlikely to ever want to trade or invest ever again. New bull markets are born mainly from new market participants. That is the cyclical nature of markets through history.

In the dot.com bull market the vast majority of traders that had gained 7 digit accounts or more ended up losing all their profits and than some in the preceding bear market, including some of the best traders of that era like Zanger that claims to have turned 10k into $18M (see Wikpedia)

Some were lucky or smart enough to have cashed out before the bear and use their profits to buy real estate and/or a small business.

 

[Maverick74]

I've seen people talk about blowups, and I found a few old threads where OPs talked about their experiences.

The few I saw clustered around 2011 mostly. Were the rest mostly during the large crashes of this recovery?

Actually, most the blowups happen on rallies and declining vol environments. Crashes or high vol tapes usually are much easier to trade. I know guys who couldn't find their way out of a brown paper bag with a flashlight make money during the crashes then blow up fading the rallies the next 5 years.

 

[globalarbtrader]

When you lose money depends on your trading style. Flash crashes are bad for 'short gamma' strategies. Examples include selling options and market making style strategies where you aim to buy low and sell high on a short time period.

Not based on any survey but I think most amateur traders are short term trend followers. The ones who don't understand position sizing are more likely to get killed in a volatile market. The ones who do understand position sizing are more likely to bleed to death in a quiet market, from the cuts of a thousand sets of trading costs.

GAT

 

[Maverick74]

When you lose money depends on your trading style. Flash crashes are bad for 'short gamma' strategies. Examples include selling options and market making style strategies where you aim to buy low and sell high on a short time period.

Not based on any survey but I think most amateur traders are short term trend followers. The ones who don't understand position sizing are more likely to get killed in a volatile market. The ones who do understand position sizing are more likely to bleed to death in a quiet market, from the cuts of a thousand sets of trading costs.

GAT

To further the point on the thousand sets of trading costs is perhaps the most expensive one, opportunity costs. If one is college educated with marketable skills, the time spent trading in a quiet, low vol environment vs perhaps earning 60k to 80k or more in a professional job, is often the greatest cost. Hedge fund managers who earn 2/20 can often get by on the lean years off management fees. Earning zero income for the retail trader for 2 to 3 years can be brutal.

 

[trader99]

To further the point on the thousand sets of trading costs is perhaps the most expensive one, opportunity costs. If one is college educated with marketable skills, the time spent trading in a quiet, low vol environment vs perhaps earning 60k to 80k or more in a professional job, is often the greatest cost. Hedge fund managers who earn 2/20 can often get by on the lean years off management fees. Earning zero income for the retail trader for 2 to 3 years can be brutal.

Agreed.

Or if you are a mid-career technology professional earning well over six figures(not including bonuses and benefits) then trading full-time is a very risky venture. That's why I'm only trading part-time and on the side despite the urging and encouragement of many on here to go full-time. Until my trading makes multiple of my regular income the opportunity cost is too high to go full-time trading...