I'm laughing at myself... I have to admit up front that if the conversation turns to options strategies and spreads, I'm toast. But I can suggest some other participants in those arenas for you to contact. You know, I'd hate to leave you unfulfilled.
One of the reasons I came to Elite Trader was to look for affirmation that someone can be profitable from trading. What I found out was that everyone struggles at times, but that the seasoned traders who know how to deal with the emotional downdraw that trading can present will eventually recover. Then I noticed a lot of people outright lieing. It is easy to tell when someone is lieing because generally if the claim is grandiose, they are probably full of shit. "Where there is smoke, there is fire." So, yes, I guess you could say insecurity led me to try and blow sunshine up my own ass by reaffirming the fact that others can make huge money in the markets. Then I realized that it doesn't matter what other people do, it only matters what I do -- so that is where I am now. I am programming my own trading program, working on my system and trying to get my emotions ready for when I start trading. What someone else makes has no direct effect on me because I'll either view that as a goal or determinate to my own system and that is retarded. It seems like a lot of people are chasing the tails of bigger dogs hoping to have some form of inspiration come down upon them, when in effect the only thing they'll wind up doing is stepping through a lot of shit. So screw everyone else, do your own thing and be your own leader.
Wow, that's good news and bad news Brandon. The bad news is, that means most of the guys here aren't making any money. The good news is, it means I'm not average. What I am is still open for debate, but I know I am not average.
Personally, I grimace any time I see media coverage that even acknowledges daytraders still exist. I would just assume the rest of the world think that daytraders are an extinct species. Then maybe the SEC will just leave us alone. Harvey Pitt and his boys have been playing way too much in our sandbox.
Amen to that cheeks. There was a guy about two years ago that had an office across from me. He pointed at me one day and said, "you guys are worthless. There ought to be laws against daytrading." This was when I actuallly did daytrade. Later I found out he was holding MSFT at 60 which he had bought at 100. This knucklehead was blaming daytraders for a 40 point decline in an overpriced stock. Now I don't know about you, but that seems like some pretty powerful daytrading to me.
What many non-traders fail to real to realise is that the biggest daytraders are the investment banks themselves, only it's called "market making". It's not as if market makers make markets as some kind of benevolent gesture to provide liquidity for others.