Why Is The Obvious Not So Obvious?

Vindago said:
I have read (just first reading, I can already see it deserve further readings) about half of it and I find it interesting and informative.
I deem myself very lucky in my path to trading as I stumbled on this thread as I opened my trading account about 3 years ago and immediately decided to avoid the usual path of reading books about TA, FA, etc. to this day I have read none and thus I had to find my own way into profitability.
While I still followed the usual (necessary) path of loosing big money in the first year (about 40K) as I over-leveraged and over-trade without really having a clue about what I was doing...
Then I realized (better late than never) that I did not have a clue about what I was doing and decided to stop trading until I figured some things out (I only paper traded for about a year).
once I figured some things out and became consistently profitable on paper trading for several months (I think it was 9 consecutive months) I decided to go live again, very prudently, since then (March 2016) I have been consistent and profitable and of course things are getting better with time passing as I fine tune my trading method and reduce more and more the impact of my mistakes.

so thanks for luck and TFF and this thread I had an unusual path which likely account for the unusual short time I took me to be consistent (I read all the time on this forum of traders going 10+ years before reaching some consistency).

as the content of the book goes (so far into my reading) I kind of figured it out form this thread and from my thinking, now the book is giving me a good detailed explanation about the finance world, while I think that it might be a bit outdated on some aspects I agree on the overall depiction of the financial markets in it.
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Yes, the book validates your suspect thoughts, and explains why things are the way they are. 40k was a bit much, so you must have been very stubborn, and obviously risking way too much thru over leverage and over trading.

100 pennies will always make a pound, but how much the pound will be worth is a different story :)

Happy to see you got sense and decided to use your brain, after all, if you stay a fool all of your life, then you really are just wasting your time.
 
Some years ago I used to think that giving up a "normal" job to daytrade was a wise decision. Today, I am happy to say that I now know and understand why it is a ridiculous and unwise decision, especially if the normal job pays good money. It is easy now to understand the why, which is the reason I gave the deserving few the PDF. If for whatever reason, after reading the book ( I suggest you buy the book, as reading a book is different to reading a digital copy) you fail to see the realities of the financial markets, then I really think you should consider parting with the trading world, as the odds of you becoming just another stat are very very high.
 
Hmmm, I actually just did that (quit my job to day trade) few months ago and for the time being I am pretty happy about my choice. Of course I came to hate my job as it was killing me (literally) and I have some financial security so even if things should go wrong with trading I will be covered for some time.

while I totally agree with what's on the PDF I still think that it is possible to make decent money trading, the key point is not to expect to become a billionaire in 2 years. Just make little money every day keeping risk under control. Time will tell if I am right...
 
Vindago said:
Hmmm, I actually just did that (quit my job to day trade) few months ago and for the time being I am pretty happy about my choice. Of course I came to hate my job as it was killing me (literally) and I have some financial security so even if things should go wrong with trading I will be covered for some time.

while I totally agree with what's on the PDF I still think that it is possible to make decent money trading, the key point is not to expect to become a billionaire in 2 years. Just make little money every day keeping risk under control. Time will tell if I am right...
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Of course it is possible, once you fully understand what is required and know how to go about it. Knowing and doing are not one and the same, and unfortunately this reality comes too late for many who try. At least you had a good start with adequate capital and adequate reserves, which is a must if you decide to go full-time. I laugh when I think of a post someone made on this site some time ago, trying to justify using credit to fund trading and living expenses. No need to be genius to work out what transpires.

Be careful with the small winners, as they are for to pay the bills. You must be willing and able to act correctly when the time is right, as when Madame Luck arrives, she might not hang around for too long. A missed opportunity is also a loss!!!
 
well, once upon a time I looked for the one (or three) trade that would make me the daily income, now I rather take what is one the plate often and of course when Madame luck comes my way I welcome her, but I do not hold my breath waiting for her as I do not really need her.
I am happy with what I make day in day out and that (consistency) is really the key for me as once that is achieved it is only a matter of capital. I can't stress enough how the "100 penny makes a pound" say has been true and pivotal for me to remove from the equation some of the psychological shortcomings exploited by big money...
 
Yes, but it is far easier trade 100 shares than it is to trade 1000. If you can really remove the mental barriers associated with losing, as in you will easily lose $100 but not $1000, then you really are getting somewhere. This is why adequate capital is a must, as if you have a few hundred $k then losing 1k is not a big deal, but if you only have 10k then it becomes a very serious issue.

Anyway, risk is only bit of the equation, as, unless you get better at what you do, then you can not expect better results, unless of course one has remained to be a fool.
 
Yes, true, I guess I need to clarify one point: when I said I brought risk under control I meant that I moved from "I do not have a clue about what I am doing" to "this is a low risk entry point, I expect price to move this way, if it does I will get out when I see sign that the trade is not working anymore (and I do not care much if I take 100% of the move or only half of it as in any case I will have banked some profits), if instead price start going against me, well then I get out fast and move to the next trade"

so I guess I got better at doing it as I am way more often on the right side of the trade than on the wrong one.

of course there still is a lot of space for improvement but, hey, I have been in the game for less than 3 years...
 
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