Trading is not like gambling..as to be successful at trading requires a lot of skill and concentration..pure gambling is a game of chance and requires no skill what so ever!
In my time on this site..I have not seen any post by any person to lead me to believe that they have acquired this immense skill (the closest I have come to it was reading some posts by a member called
@Redneck, as he appears to be very close)..as for the concentration part..that we can never really know about another person unless we actually sit down beside and trade with the person!
If you are trading options without using IV's, then you really do not know what you are doing..and this I know as I used to do it myself. Of course you can still make money..like your GILD trade..but you are gambling..it was pure luck..and if you wanted to own the stock..would you not have been better off selling some puts to reduce your cost basis..instead of buying some calls!!
You should not "like" every person who replies to your post or question..and that goes for me also..you must ask yourself if you are really learning anything from the posts..if not then do not be afraid to say it straight out. I will tell someone exactly what I think of them..as I have no reason to do otherwise..if someone gets offended then that is their problem..as one should not be talking about things as if they know a good deal about same..and really know very little. To me..and a very small few more..it is very obvious who knows what..in fact..the minute a person opens his/her mouth we can tell "exactly" what they do not know!
So Mr ironchef..you need to ask yourself a few questions..do you want to stay an average trader/investor..who will more than likely do OK when the bulls are in control..or do you want to become a very skilled trader/investor..who really does not worry too much about what the markets might or might not do..and knows
exactly at all times how much risk he has taken on board..and what he needs to do
if/when the shit hits the fan
The next time someone says they know how to read charts effectively..then just ask them to post a screenshot of an instrument they are trading..and if they refuse..then it should be very "obvious" that they are trying to hide something..like maybe they don't really know that much about chart reading skills