Why do 98% of traders fail???

Is it possible that everybody losses in trading.......eventually? Maybe good trading results are just a lucking winning streak. I hope this isn't the case otherwise I've wasted a very long amount of my time on it.

It does strike me though, that if there are no trading books out there that can teach you how to trade, why is that the case? If you want to gain knowledge in anything then you need to read. You cannot be good at physics without studying physics, but with trading there is no REAL knowledge there (apart from economic theory) to help you make good trades.

Maybe trading is more like learning a sport, i.e. getting an inherent feel for something, where experience is the only factor. In such a case trading is obviously less a real subject than a game against a constantly changing opposition.
 
Why do 98% of traders fail???

Simply because they remain focused on the unimportant and wrong things for 98% of their time.

This stems from bringing a closed mind full of incorrect preconceptions to the table.

The markets will tell what is important.

regards
f9
 
does reading a "good" trading book make you a better trader? there are tons of trading books with "good" reviews some more recommended than others.

are these books teaching the wrong things if still 98% of traders fail?
 
reading a good book will not put you into the good trader category. because there are other things to be discovered, like what personality you are (patient? risk aversion?persistent?disciplined?....), what suit you most well (scalping?swing trading?phading?trend follwoing?chart pattern trading?news trading?....), what you should avoid to backfire you (for example, revenge trading).... all those things put together, then come out a good trader (he may be Warren beffut who buy and hold, or three tick scalper, ....but they all made lot of money and succesful). In a word, you can not copy others to make you successful. most people read too many books, listen to too many semiairs, they just can not find themseves, or find something unique to themselves (EDGE), they try to copy whatever others do, that does not fit them, of course they lose. to be honest, no one can not copy Warren buffet, since most pople have not have the vision he has and most people can not lose (they are inpatient) easily influenced by the daily fluctuations!




Quote from bstay:

does reading a "good" trading book make you a better trader? there are tons of trading books with "good" reviews some more recommended than others.

are these books teaching the wrong things if still 98% of traders fail?
More...
 
I belong to a trading network where you can see the traders results in %age terms and also hear what they say about their trades, strategy etc. This is quite good as you can see who is succeeding and who is failing.

1. The Dreamers. There is a fairly constant turnover of under capitalised idiots ie no idea of what they are doing and lose their money real quick. They would be better off betting on sports and would probably learn a lot from doing so.

2. Super Trader [not]. Then there are the super traders [risk takers] make a lot of money real quick, big swings in account, don't like stops. Usually get liquidated and blame the firm as their position usually comes back into money shortly after liquidation. Conspiracy, I told then the money was in the post....

3. Perserverers. Then there are the perserverers who bet realively small amounts don't lose or win much but keep trying becasue they can see the prize at the end of the tunnel [I fall into this group].

4. Pro Trader. Then there are the sucessful traders or should I say trader. There appears to only be one who has made enough money in both of the 2 previous years to make it worthwhile.

I don't have the exact numbers so can't give any reliable estimates of percentages for each group. But the groups get smaller from 1 to 4.

So in my opinion most traders fail becasue:

1. They are idiots
2. They take on too much risk
3. They give up before they master it.

I havent mastered it yet but I'm sure I'll get there. PS I have already made the expensive mistake of taking on too much risk.
 
All of the previously stated reasons for failure are valid, of course, but currently the biggest reason is plain and simple difficulty in finding an edge. With bots and program trading taking over the markets, it continues to get ever more difficult to actually have an "edge". Even when emotions are driving a market due to some news or something, the intraday dynamics are still driven by the bots, index/ETF and stock equilization, and general program trading, so finding consistent profitable setups (an edge) and entries becomes ever more difficult. When big brokerages trading zillions of dollars go belly up, it must not be the piece of cake to make buckets of money any more that it once may have been.
 
Quote from smoss:

All of the previously stated reasons for failure are valid, of course, but currently the biggest reason is plain and simple difficulty in finding an edge. With bots and program trading taking over the markets, it continues to get ever more difficult to actually have an "edge". Even when emotions are driving a market due to some news or something, the intraday dynamics are still driven by the bots, index/ETF and stock equilization, and general program trading, so finding consistent profitable setups (an edge) and entries becomes ever more difficult. When big brokerages trading zillions of dollars go belly up, it must not be the piece of cake to make buckets of money any more that it once may have been.
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correct. They get sidetracked by garbage like Elliot Wave, Gann, Fibonacci, technical indicators,

they don't want to invest the time needed to understand how markets and prices work.
 
does this thread need so many responces on why?.. Well heres my 3 cents: :)

People dont take it seriously plain and simple. They look for the magic bullet that tells them when to buy/sell without using any brain power of their own. They fall victim to the bullshit "systems" from "gurus" (failed traders that got rich from selling crap). Or like myself, they struggle for many months finding the perfect indicator, trading time frame, the right market to trade, the style thats best for them, and so on.

Then you have the books, online message boards(cough/cough), chat rooms of people trying to give their expert advice only confusing beginning traders even more.

You got losers teaching losers. A continious cycle that will never end. In the mean time the professional 5-10% enjoy taking their money and spending it on their penthouses, private jets, and european sports cars. No one really cares about their success (family included), and the only "help" they do get, is most often bullshit anyway.
 
all wrong.

they start playing double or nothing and max. 10 leverage and going overnight when the market has changed...no volume illiquid market.

volatility has increased.






Quote from TraderZones:

correct. They get sidetracked by garbage like Elliot Wave, Gann, Fibonacci, technical indicators,

they don't want to invest the time needed to understand how markets and prices work.
More...
 
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