Truly impressive words to me, Don! You are the only bright guy around.
How often do we hear people whining how glorious the 90's were? Losers!
Those making excuses or dwelling in the past are lost sheep. What's all the hype about the "glorious 90's"?
Humans' brain bug #1: To have a tendency to glorify the past world/business/life. It is an easy excuse. People have always done that.
How is that all "it was like taking candy from a baby" rant? I've seen the 90's markets. Sure, there was a lot more volatility - and it sure was easier to make a lot of money. And it was even easier to lose a lot of money! At the time, you could buy 1,000 shares of something, have it plummet 5 points in a couple of minutes and be $5K in the hole, just like that. And that is:
Humans' brain bug #2: To have a tendency to glorify past gains and to forget (the magnitude of) past losses. Most people don't even remember yesterday's losses! How about 3+ years ago?
You know what I'm getting at? To say "it was easy freeforall money" is BS! - Because then, just like today, there always had to be a loser on the other side of a winning trade. Predator and prey. Nothing is new.
People will always be looking for excuses. Sure, things always become a little more competitive after time, but that's just the speed at which the industrial / information age evolves. Life has become tougher for anybody, not just for traders! It's the way the world has always gone 'round. Survival of the fittest. Get used to it!
Another thing I've seen is that so many people have terribly overcomplicated trading since then - in the hope to gain an edge etc. Is there any point? No! Trading is trading. But if you overcomplicate things, you're doing yourself harm. I see people with megalomaniacal trading setups, spaghetti-screens and fancy indicators, and then they complain it's so hard to make money these days!
Myself, sure I can bring up all my fancy harrytrader-like charts if friends are around and I want to pull a wank. But when I'm trading, I can use one naked ES chart and volume, a tape and a decent exec platform with depth and do it, from a single screen, no Bolognaise. No floor trader in the world uses all that fancy stuff!
What are people whining about, for trading becoming so hard? I can think of the most simple strategies to make good money in the market, day in day out. All you need is a simple KISS plan with rules and then go. If you've back-and-forward tested it properly, there's no reason why it shouldn't work.
Money is still just lying on the street, waiting to be picked up. Just ask some real traders here, like T-REX, marketsurfer or RAMOUTAR - they know! They do it day in, day out!
Peace,
Scientist.