there is no career in trading - quote

[delta_1]

Momentum trading isn’t about price discovery. It’s about front running whales. And that is negative to the real economy: whether it be bear raids or it be creating instability in commodity prices or taking money from people who are buying for cashflow and value (and not for price).

I think you are trying to create a moral component to trading when there isn’t one. You can easily say: who cares if I contribute. I’m having fun, earning and not hurting anyone directly. You will be amazed at how many people say that on a bank trading floor.

I agree with a lot of what you say. Regarding certain topics I'd argue differently.

Broadly speeking I don't think there is a way not to trade/invest. We do it whether we want to or not. If you take all you money and put it under your bed then that's a trading/investing decision, too. Doing that for years your money will have lost a huge amount of value due to inflation. The decision catches up with you whether you want to or not.

I get what are you are saying. Certain parts of the finance industry seem and probably are more useful than others. Let's stick with that criterion of "usefulness" in the economic sense and leave the morality aside.
The long term investor and the venture capitalist provide risk capital which is needed for new ventures and innovations.
So what does the speculator do?
I would say there is a certain standard or benchmark and that is investing in the broad market via ETFs according to neoclassic economic theory.
And then there is us! Retail traiders as well as hedge funds who are able to use way more tools than a classic retirement account (leverage, short selling, derivatives) with the explicit goal of either making more gains than the market or making the amount with a lower volatility.

This is creative destruction in Schumpeters sense: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction

You are trading momentum, correct? In the last 20 years scientific articles about factors like "momentum" exploded. It is way different than theory and practice of investing in the market portfolio.
Who is right? Only time will tell!

What am I trying to say?: The better approach will prevail and become the new "best practice".
Being a speculator means actively taking part in the hunt for improvement and it even means being at the forefront like an entrepreneur with a new invention. The vast majority of entrereneurs and inventions fail but the ones that survive can contribute hugely to the prosperity of a society.

p.s. "A world of chance" by Brenner and Brown describes beautifully how speculators and gamblers were historically quity essential and paved the way for certain important developments.

 

[Sprout]

Alchemy emerged as some people wanted to get rich quickly by trying to transform things into gold.
At that time it did not look productive to society, did it?
Well , it later greatly helped the generation of science of chemistry。

This is the outer perception. The inner truth of alchemy is more about consciousness transformation.

It is a similar transformation of self in the pursuit of one's why in "How can I become a better Trader?"

The self of yesterday transforms to become the Self one imagines.

The OP has no meaningful "why."

@tiddlywinks has the right idea and can expand one's "why" to include making a difference in larger sphere's of expanding influence.


edit: Being an effective Trader build's discernment. With the rise of mis/dis-information, this mental quality is something the world could use more of.

 

[delta_1]

I have the following quote written down in my memo app. I think I saw it from a book or a podcast. Does anyone know who said this and in what context?


"
There is no career in trading
You are only as good as your last trade and that’s it. You build nothing and you just trade. The day you stop trading it’s gone. So what you have been doing for x hours every working day of your life has just ended. And there is nothing left to show for it except for money. You have to keep trading because you don’t want to stop and look back because what have you done you have build nothing achieved nothing. You get to the end of it and look back and wonder what have I accomplished
"

What do people think about this quote? Even if I become and remain a consistently profitable trader, will I have acheived nothing?

I think the pain described here is due to the invisible outcome. One can see the money made by trading but not the social/economic benefit it produces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_characteristic_theory
Core characteristics of job satisfaction: Task Identity: The degree to which the job requires the jobholders to identify and complete a workpiece with a visible outcome.

This is a problem with any job where can not see what you have "produced".
It certainly doesn't mean that it was meaningless.
Take basic research e.g.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_research
Unlike applied science it mostly doesn't lead anywhere but sometimes it builds the groundwork for some application.
Many people would consider theoretical math as inherently useless. Somebody pursuing it can not derive his motivation from the applied usefulness of the subject.
You have to enjoy the process otherwise you're screwed.

 

[tiddlywinks]

This is the outer perception. The inner truth of alchemy is more about consciousness transformation.

It is a similar transformation of self in the pursuit of one's why in "How can I become a better Trader?"

The self of yesterday transforms to become the Self one imagines.

The OP has no meaningful "why."

@tiddlywinks has the right idea and can expand one's "why" to include making a difference in larger sphere's of expanding influence.


edit: Being an effective Trader build's discernment. With the rise of mis/dis-information, this mental quality is something the world could use more of.

Thanks @Sprout

As a quick update, this summer I've done some necessary leg work to hold some "kitchen table economics" free "classes" (for lack of a better word right now) at local community centers. In todays environment where everything is viewed through green colored glasses (ESG) and politics, there are many complications. But on the surface, the idea has been received well. What I will say regarding moving the idea forward is that it is NOT a hill I am willing to die on. So we'll see.

 

[Claudia Costa]

Markets can be profitable if you have the right knowledge and strategy. One can progress from the market and use leverage to their advantage.

 

[maxinger]

there are no career opportunities in trading
there are career opportunities in other areas

You started as a trader.
You ended up as a trader or doing another thing.

There are career opportunities in other areas.
Let's say you started as a technician.
Then you might be promoted to an engineer.
Then Junior manager.
Then senior manager.
Then General manager.
Then CEO.

 

[robmachine]

Markets can be profitable if you have the right knowledge and strategy. One can progress from the market and use leverage to their advantage.

I agree with you. If you want to know the truth about if there is career in trading, you have to study the marked and invest a lot of time in building up an profitable strategy. You have to learn how risk management works and you have to fail many times.

At the end you can give yourself the answer if there is career for you in trading but like with every other career you have to be very patient and work hard to become good in what you are doing. Not everyone can be a good trader like not everyone can be a professional musician for example.