What % of traders really make money?

I've been in the markets, on and off, since 98/99 (first got into trading from seeing a Wade Cook commercial).

The reasons why people don't make money in trading aren't groundbreaking or new...

-Lack of discpline
-Get emotionally attached to a trade
-Get swayed/distracted by what everyone else does
-All or nothing tendencies
Etc

The beauty of the trading world is that you can wait as long as you want to play the right hand. Imagine playing poker, and you can wait all day long for KK or AA, and bet as much as you want or as little as you want when the cards come?

Too many people in the trading world don't know what hand they're playing. Is it KK, or 7-2 offsuit?

Or they play 8-3 offsuit because somebody in the back of the card room said it was a good hand (Cramer or CNBC talking heads).

I'd say it's a low percent, 5-10% that make anything.
 
Quote from insert:

don't even bother you are not smart enough

think about it, do you FEEL smart, well do you punk.

If you FEEL very smart, you are probably not but its an important first step

sincerely

BV
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Only steers and queers come from Texas, Private baggerlord. And you don't look much like a steer to me so that kinda narrows it down. Do you suck dicks?

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Cheer up dude. Life is not so bad. No need to be so harsh
 
Hehe I don't mean to be harsh. I have just spent a lot of time trying to learn on here, but have come to realize that most people on here don't trade, or don't trade well. Everyone pretends they do, and love to give advice.

BTW those were some great responses. Thanks for sharing your experiences I really appreciate it.
 
Quote from jbtrader23:

I've been in the markets, on and off, since 98/99 (first got into trading from seeing a Wade Cook commercial).

The reasons why people don't make money in trading aren't groundbreaking or new...

-Lack of discpline
-Get emotionally attached to a trade
-Get swayed/distracted by what everyone else does
-All or nothing tendencies
Etc

The beauty of the trading world is that you can wait as long as you want to play the right hand. Imagine playing poker, and you can wait all day long for KK or AA, and bet as much as you want or as little as you want when the cards come?

Too many people in the trading world don't know what hand they're playing. Is it KK, or 7-2 offsuit?

Or they play 8-3 offsuit because somebody in the back of the card room said it was a good hand (Cramer or CNBC talking heads).

I'd say it's a low percent, 5-10% that make anything.
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I agree completely. You need to play your best hands and not say oh I like 10 7 offsuit since I've won with it the last two times. That's when the market hands you a big loss.

Just like when you are playing online you might be playing in a few different tables, think about stocks...you could be playing in 1000s of stocks, which is why I recommend futures. What ends up happening is you see your KK or AA equity setup but too late to play it and it can be quite frustrating. (This is what frustrated me which caused me to switch over to futures)

The last piece of advice is do not overtrade. Say its costing you 5 dollars per side, if you make 20 roundtrip trades per day, you need to make $200 just to break even. That is quite a big blind to overcome every day! (In 4 trading days this month I've made 6 roundtrip trades of which 5 were profitable)
 
There are a lot of things about poker that do not change. The faces and personalities change at the poker table, but not much else does.

In contrast, the market is dynamic and changes frequently. These changes might take years or decades while other changes are much much quicker.

For example, in December, 7 months ago, everyone was saying that oil would go to 35 dollars per barrel and that energy would be the worst sector. Here we are, oil charging up and looking like it will hit 80. Energy seems to be the best sector now.

What about value stocks? Last year everyone was saying value value value would be the place to be in 2007, but it looks like growth growth growth is it.

In the 70s, stocks had very low P/Es and high dividends. Fast forward to 2000 with all the high P/E stocks and low dividends.

The rules and guidelines of the markets always change. In poker, the cards are the same, the table is the same, etc. However, in the market, the cards keep changing, the table keeps changing. You have to be very flexible and able to make immediate adjustments to this dynamic environment.
 
MS,

"For example, in December, 7 months ago, everyone was saying that oil would go to 35 dollars per barrel and that energy would be the worst sector. Here we are, oil charging up and looking like it will hit 80."

I think it as about two years ago GS said oil was going to $100 bbl, I don't think they have changed their minds yet. Aren't they the true oil barons?
 
bagger - do not let this forum be the reason for ANY assumptions... This forum THRIVES on tearing people down. If you claim you make money, no one believes you. If you claim that you lose money, everyone believes you. It does not matter if you post charts, statements, etc. b/c everyone will say you created false ones.

My suggestion is to use this particular forum to find a gem or two scattered throughout but realize this forum is full of ego-maniacs that want nothing more than to belittle others.

And if anyone doesn't believe me, just thumb thru some of the threads here.
 
Quote from baggerlord:

..So come on, tell me a success story to encourage me to keep my interest in trading.
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you had been here since May 2003 so I'm pretty sure you had seen many ET success stories. But my guess is they are not the kind of stories you want to hear. :)
 
Hi Nkoi,
I remember your name from since I've been on here so I assume you do well. :)

And no, I don't really recall too many success stories. I have seen some hotshots on here for a few months, or even a year, and then they are gone.

It seems as though there are a few guys in the p+l thread that are super consistant, but it is hard to say for sure.
 
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