Why are there so many losers?
- Thread starter AshanD
- Start date
Which is so essential in the data gathering phase of the trader's learning curve...but then later on can be a killer! So many of my consulting clients are entrepreneurs who have capital to trade with because they worked their tails off in another business. They take that strong work ethic and need to feel busy into the markets and get whacked. I have helped many of them instantly increase their returns by simply decreasing their trading activity. By cherry picking out the most perfect setups from the endless stream of valid trades they find, their win/loss ratios as well as average risk/reward rise dramatically.
Personally, I trade rather infrequently when compared to the rest of the active trading world. When I did a real time trading forum, I would get grief all the time for not giving enough traders...being "lazy". Quite the opposite, I am finding and passing on 9 out the 10 valid entry points I see. In daytrading the E-Minis, I want to find the one spot in each session that has the potential to deliver a big move, and will pass on the myriad opportunities to grab a point or two.
Why? Simple experience. If I grind it out a few points at a time, the edge is thin, I am mentally tired at the end of the day, have tons of commissions to pay, and will not really make that much more at the end of the month for this increased effort. I have had too many months where I worked like a dog to make 30 ES points daytrading, with all the drawdowns and frustrations of the whipsaws, only to realize that the 3 swings I took paid me 28 points in profit, and never induced much stress at all. I would rather trade those swings with greater size, and then have the rest of my days free for research, relaxation, writing,
whatever!For those of you still striving remember... Once you "get it", you have to be trading a style that allows you to...
1: have a life
2: have time to enjoy the fruits of your hard HARD work.
Otherwise why bother? Trading is freedom... don't do the work to obtain that freedom, then cast it off to become a market slave!
P.S. thanks Nkhoi! That's great to hear...
"The Lord made a loser so a winner could win.
That's the spot he put in.
Yes losin', it's an easy game"
- Ian and Sylvia
That's the spot he put in.
Yes losin', it's an easy game"
- Ian and Sylvia
I suggest you follow my advice as below as no one knows you and maybe you can be one of those rare people who can make money in this market. Here is my prescription:
1- Study for a month and don't do any trade and only do a hypothetical trades to see whether you can make money or not. Write down your orders because I have seen many people say" I think stocks A,B, C, D are buy and when only stock D flies they forget about their losing stocks (A, B,C) and think they are genius.
2- Find a broker that meets your trading size and the commission does not eat up your profit
3- Instead of trying to make 1500 a month out of 5K, try to make only 100 out 5K consistently for 3 months and after you did that come here again and post a thread that " Hey I did it and now what" and I will come to give you my second phase of advice.
Don't look at how much I or your neighbor are making out of 5K, You should show that you can make only 100 a month. because if you can not make 1500 you might say well may target was so high and I lost but now your target is only 7% of your wish target. By the way if you can make 100 a month that is 1200 a year and it is 24% a year and you can be a star fund manager !!!
1- Study for a month and don't do any trade and only do a hypothetical trades to see whether you can make money or not. Write down your orders because I have seen many people say" I think stocks A,B, C, D are buy and when only stock D flies they forget about their losing stocks (A, B,C) and think they are genius.
2- Find a broker that meets your trading size and the commission does not eat up your profit
3- Instead of trying to make 1500 a month out of 5K, try to make only 100 out 5K consistently for 3 months and after you did that come here again and post a thread that " Hey I did it and now what" and I will come to give you my second phase of advice.
Don't look at how much I or your neighbor are making out of 5K, You should show that you can make only 100 a month. because if you can not make 1500 you might say well may target was so high and I lost but now your target is only 7% of your wish target. By the way if you can make 100 a month that is 1200 a year and it is 24% a year and you can be a star fund manager !!!
24% a year? i hope you never become a fund manager.
Fund managers make 24% of the trading capital, not on
the trading equity.
If he makes $1200 in a year, that's around 2.5% return
, better put money in bank CD than to trade.
Agree 100%. So many of the responses to the type of question asked are "defeatist" type answers. The washout rate in small business startups is like 95% in the first couple years. And there, just as with trading, it's often necessary to pump more capital into your business (or trading). The reason some people do add additional capital to any business venture is that they believe they will succeed and see signs of moving in the right direction. Also, they're perseverant. Most traders I've seen over the years expect success too quickly. Many take big losses early on and are psychologically devastated. Confidence wanes and they decide they've lost enough money and throw in the towel. It's not about making money early on IMO; rather it's about executing profitable trades and developing confidence that you can do it. The money will come with time (and as you up your size).
Why are there so many losers?
Hey dude, very simple:
There have to be in order to pay for the juicy profits of the few winners.
Hey dude, very simple:
There have to be in order to pay for the juicy profits of the few winners.
Hahah
I still consider myself somewhat of a market loser because I can only seem to pull in 9-10k a month the way I currently trade. Yes, that may sound like a good living and by most accounts it is, but knowing how much money there is to made each and everyday and knowing that some are really hammering it out consistently, really puts things into perspective. My buddy, who is a few months older (26) averages between 25k- 50k a month and just seeing that makes me realize that if I want to be a true winner, I have to become a much better trader. Fortunately, there is always room for improvement in this business.