Trading for profit a fools game?

J

jwecme

So few people make money trading, are we all deluding ourselves that one can actually make money consistently trading?

I think if most people on this forum are honest over time they have done nothing but loose money trading. People posting their P and is a sign of lack of long term profitability as no one who actually made money would feel the need to boast about it on here especially.

Trading is a mugs game for 99.99% of people. Except of course I think I can be "the one who is different". I guess that’s why we all keep coming back for more as we think we are different. Let's hope I am right.....


ps a little bit of honesty on this board would be appreciated. 99.99% of people over the long term loose money trading. Look at all the giants of the industry. LTCM, Livermore they were the best and still ended up loosing money and their sanity.
 
Trading for profit a fools game?

Probably not. the following information can be found at http://www.iasg.com/intro.asp .


Q

Macquarie Global Active Currency Fund

Macquarie Funds Management (Macquarie) is part of the Macquarie Bank Group, an Australian investment bank and one of Australia's top 25 listed companies. Macquarie has been managing currency overlays since 1992 and has been successfully using a currency alpha strategy within its global bond funds since 1999. In 2003 Macquarie began offering this strategy on a stand-alone basis and has since won a number of mandates from large global financial institutions.

UQ
 
Quote from jwecme:

So few people make money trading, are we all deluding ourselves that one can actually make money consistently trading?

I think if most people on this forum are honest over time they have done nothing but loose money trading. People posting their P and is a sign of lack of long term profitability as no one who actually made money would feel the need to boast about it on here especially.

Trading is a mugs game for 99.99% of people. Except of course I think I can be "the one who is different". I guess that’s why we all keep coming back for more as we think we are different. Let's hope I am right.....


ps a little bit of honesty on this board would be appreciated. 99.99% of people over the long term loose money trading. Look at all the giants of the industry. LTCM, Livermore they were the best and still ended up loosing money and their sanity.
More...

Livermore was the best but had serious emotional issues - depression, mainly - which resulted in him taking his own life. Because of these issues, he was not able to absolve himself from his gambling urges at the worst possible time. Because one really succesful trader gambled his fortune away means nothing about what you (or anyone else, for that matter) can do.

LTCM isn't and wasn't the best. Far from it. A bunch of snobby academic intellectual elitests who were given a much needed dose of market humility.

If you look at the fundamental rules of succesful trading, you'll see both Livermore and LTCM violated them.

Trading for most is a fool's game. The figure you give, however, you're just pulling out of your ass - more than 1/1000 people who try to trade can make it. It's probably about 30/1000 (also being pulled out of my ass, but it's closer to the actual figure). Regardless, the fact that most can't get trading doesn't really reflect anything other than where the source for professional trader profits is. Trading is a business, and business success is hard - most people aren't cut out for it. Trading has virtually no barriers to entry - just some money and an internet account - thus a massive amount of the population who has no business trading can (and does) easily trade.

Not to mention the gambling aspect. The world is full of compulsive gamblers. What better arena is there to compulsively gamble than the stock market?

Conclusion: Most people fail, however, studying their actions shows why. Trading in a manner different from running a business is a fool's game - trading can't be a part time hobby. Trading with a business mind set, continually analyzing market information with an open mind and learning from it allthewhile extensively studying your actions and learning self mastery is not a fool's game, and anyone claiming that is can go argue with all the prosperous traders who have retired before 30 because they did what I just listed above. And yes, they're out there (though they're probably not trolling ET forums with a conviction to inspire the masses that trading succesfully can be done).

No I'm not a succesful trader.
 
I used to play around with hearts that hastened at my call,
But when I met that little girl I knew that I would fall.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

She played around and teased me with her carefree devil eyes,
She'd hold me close and kiss me but her heart was full of lies.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

She told me how she cared for me and that we'd never part,
And so for the very first time I gave away my heart.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

The next day she was gone and I knew she'd lied to me,
She left me with a broken heart and won her victory.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

I'd played this game with other hearts but I never thought I'd see,
The day that someone else would play love's foolish game with me.
 
Quote from Choad:

I used to play around with hearts that hastened at my call,
But when I met that little girl I knew that I would fall.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

She played around and teased me with her carefree devil eyes,
She'd hold me close and kiss me but her heart was full of lies.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

She told me how she cared for me and that we'd never part,
And so for the very first time I gave away my heart.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

The next day she was gone and I knew she'd lied to me,
She left me with a broken heart and won her victory.

Poor little fool, oh yeah, I was a fool, uh huh..

I'd played this game with other hearts but I never thought I'd see,
The day that someone else would play love's foolish game with me.
More...

Are you sure posting in the right forum? Perhaps next time don't open too many browsers concurrently. :D
 
Microscopically taking money out of the market is where it is at. Slowly and consistently will allow you to arrive to where you want to be. Keep a low profile.





Quote from jwecme:

So few people make money trading, are we all deluding ourselves that one can actually make money consistently trading?

I think if most people on this forum are honest over time they have done nothing but loose money trading. People posting their P and is a sign of lack of long term profitability as no one who actually made money would feel the need to boast about it on here especially.

Trading is a mugs game for 99.99% of people. Except of course I think I can be "the one who is different". I guess that’s why we all keep coming back for more as we think we are different. Let's hope I am right.....


ps a little bit of honesty on this board would be appreciated. 99.99% of people over the long term loose money trading. Look at all the giants of the industry. LTCM, Livermore they were the best and still ended up loosing money and their sanity.
More...
 
Quote from jwecme:


a little bit of honesty on this board would be appreciated. 99.99% of people over the long term loose money trading. Look at all the giants of the industry. LTCM, Livermore they were the best and still ended up loosing money and their sanity.
More...

I think your 99.99% is a bit exaggerated. Further, of those who lose money I'd bet that 90% of those don't truly work at it. I've been trading full time for 10+ years. I've seen people come and go and many would come into an office with little knowledge of the markets. Did these people approach it as a business? Not very often. Did they go home and look at charts each night? Did they read IBD or WSJ? Did they have systems to trade with? Did the really work to come up with something that worked? Did they have the desire and determination to succeed? Sadly, many don't. In the 90's many got caught up in the bull market and thought trading was like an ATM.

I've had some good years and some shaky tears. Do I make as much as I did at my corporate job? No. Does that bother me? No. Now I have more time for myself, activities, volunteering, etc.

LTCM and Livermore mean nothing to me. All I'm concerned with is myself and being a disciplined trader and the rest takes care of itself.
 
Independent trading is not for most people.

But there are no barriers apart from putting up some money. And, hell, its always a good thing if people are allowed to give something a shot .. happens in a lot of things where as usual top class winners are very very few.

Generally I don't encourage newbies because they are not going to give the dedicated time for the mission, the huge amount of study required and the preparation needed whatever intentions they express.
:)
 
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