Why does it take so long?

I believe intraday strategies are much simpler than positional :)

Intraday is like an atom. Positional trading is like compound. Its far easy and quick to learn intraday than positional. The biggest problem with positional is gap ups and gap downs which kills the risk reward ratio by jumping over the stoploss. Thats too bad for a trader.
I hate the GAPS...very difficult to prepare for.:wtf:
 
"Why does it take so long? (Going there!)"

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Agree. I do have different Blue Prints for market change...its not always clear which is the most optimal to choose though...dissecting is merely "which DIFFERENT blue print" under this type of market change is going to be best at this time. Sometimes I forward test for awhile to draw my conclusion. It can't be exact every/all the time...I wish it was. I do agree this must be done before going into battle. I've been doing this since 1994...that's a lot of documentation/blue prints.:D

I agree, I have almost four decades of it. Lots of mistakes and they seldom free. LOL
 
Several years additional for options traders!

http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index...ings-you-have-learned-trading-options.258256/

The biggest thing I learned is how many years it really takes to get a good grasp on all the aspects of options.

It's fairly straightforward to learn the greeks, theory and even practice, but until you have positions on and watch the market go through many different iterations of movement - it's hard to know how you will react and how your positions will behave and react.

For instance...even though you may have complete price predictability and know and understand exactly what you will do during certain moves, there may be no one there to make the market. Then what will you do.

It's amazing how often you think you've become very comfortable with what you're doing and then how quickly you can become uncomfortable again.

I trade the ES futures options - one of the most liquid contracts in the US. When we were dropping in 2007, I was actually sending instant messages to friends in Hong Kong overnight to try to talk them into taking the other side of some of my positions.

There was nothing out there. We'd be dropping like a stone and I couldn't get $10 over fair value for any option contract. I'd never seen anything like it. The feeling is one of physical pain that originates deep substernum and seems to start sucking your organs inward....because I was losing the money of others as well as my own.

You have to experience it to appreciate how debilitating it is. It changed me and the way I trade today. For several years after, I couldn't even trade.
 
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To become a successful surgeon it will take at least 7-10 years after you started your studies at the university.
To become a successful trader is much more difficult. There are more successful surgeons then successful traders.
The minimum time it takes to be a surgeon: 4 yrs undergrad, 4 yr medical school, 5 years residency, 1-2 yr fellowship, then you can get a job as a surgeon, i.e., a total of ~15 yrs after high school just to be a surgeon, not necessarily a successful one. So, his 15 years to be a good trader is par.
 
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