What are the most valuable lessons you have learned?

[ironchef]

The richest guys on ET are all vol traders.

and the richest traders in the world are market makers with the second being macro traders.

Short term (day traders) are at the bottom.

My guess is you are a vol trader?

For me I am going back to try day trading.

 

[Sergio123]

Easier said than done sir.

I have been around the blocks a few time, 2000, 2009, 2020, 2022.... Trying to guess the bottom and switch is a fool's game.

You don't try to guess the exact bottom. You just know that it's going to get better in the future after things have calmed down, and everyone is paying attention to something else. We had a regional banking failure crisis followed by a big AI boom. Imagine that.

 

[hilmy83]

The richest guys on ET are all vol traders.

and the richest traders in the world are market makers with the second being macro traders.

Short term (day traders) are at the bottom.

What's a vol trader exactly? Volatility or volume based?

Am I a vol trader if I only trade at around the open and the only way I can make money is if range expands from volatility?

 

[newwurldmn]

What's a vol trader exactly? Volatility or volume based?

Am I a vol trader if I only trade at around the open and the only way I can make money is if range expands from volatility?

Options traders.

 

[vincentnyc]

Create a trading journal for a few years. Study your stats and focus on what makes you money and throw away strategy based on your stats that make you no money.

 

[rb7]

The richest guys on ET are all vol traders.

and the richest traders in the world are market makers with the second being macro traders.

Short term (day traders) are at the bottom.

Nice try, but some stats and sources should confirm your claims.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but opinions and facts are 2 different things.

 

[vincentnyc]

Nice try, but some stats and sources should confirm your claims.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but opinions and facts are 2 different things.

only your stats will tell you if you are right or wrong and no one else. listen to what your stats is telling you.

 

[newwurldmn]

Nice try, but some stats and sources should confirm your claims.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but opinions and facts are 2 different things.

Aside from your patronizing tone:

I will rephrase. I know many people on here who have earned north of 10mm trading vol. I haven’t met one person who has done it another way.

Maybe it’s the circles I run in.

 

[SunTrader]

Nice try, but some stats and sources should confirm your claims.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but opinions and facts are 2 different things.

Yup, I know a gut who knows a guy is not umm exactly rigorous irrefutable proof.

 

[Sergio123]

It is very intimidating reading post after post from the professionals on ET discussing option strategy, pricing, skew.... Early on I tried to understand how @destriero, @taowave, @TheBigShort... trade options, studying furiously how options are priced, studying butterflies, IV, skew, sticky delta, sticky gamma... to no avail.

After a series of discussions on butterfly with @destriero, it dawned on me I should not try to be who I am not. I do not have a formal business training, no professional finance training, nor the IQ, the math skills... to compete.

So I dumbed things down and simplified option to my level: It is a trading tool, no more, no less. When conditions are right, I trade options instead of the underlying.

Yesterday was even nastier than July 20th. It's one thing to know all about options theory, and another thing to keep a level head and execute your strategy under pain and pressure. You are at a major disadvantage if you don't know how to roll and make smart adjustments and most importantly be protected.

Most people are long, but no amount of chart studying and technical analysis would have saved you yesterday.