Who cares if he is or he isn't? Remember, people can't let you down unless you let them. They can only let themselves down. So the question if trader XY or Z is "real" or "not real", while probably being the most common question on ET, is actually completely superfluous and unnecessary. Until you realize that it doesn't matter what other's do or don't do, you will never be able to focus on yourself and actually achieve something. Let's leave this with the question whether he's still alive or not, and if so, if he's well. That's the most important thing. The rest is smalltalk. Scientist.
Just got off the phone with AMT. He had a minor car accident, but he's doing alright. No blow up; no nothing as some thought. As a matter of fact, he's been playing the market on the Long side from the 1100 mark and his account is better than ever! -Fast
Yes there is a logical and emotional progression in any trading education. At phase 1, it is all outward focused: They did this and they did that. The market is some nefarious conspiracy to stop me out and take my money. At phase 2, it is I did this and the market, or they did that, so it is a competition between self and the outside world. At phase 3, it is a competition of me against myself. I did this when I should have done that, or I went against what I knew would happen. This is the domain of regret, fear and greed. At phase 4, we finally get a shift toward some of the real issues. It becomes the market did this and I did that. We start learning what it is exactly that is making us act as we are acting, and we start taking responsibility for our actions. The market stops being "they" but rather becomes more of a vehicle. We start realizing that we are in charge of what we do, and we are not in charge of what the market does. We still oscillate between competition and cooperation between us and ourselves and us and the market. At phase 5, we move into the harmonious trading zone. The competition is gone. Here there is only the market, and we exist in the midst of it like a drop of water in a rushing river. We don't compete against ourselves or the market. We are in a state of flexible cooperation. The main thing that bumps us out of this state is pride: belief that somehow we can determine or affect the outcome of the flow of the river, rather than accepting our role as passengers in the flow. Staying in phase 5 is the goal, and where most of the attention of a trader should be spent. It is conceivable that there is also a phase 6. It is conceivable that there is an even more enlightened phase of trading than phase 5.