Your thread about how using stops is a mistake makes a little more sense in light of these statements. Obviously if you're going for the big home run, you can't be using stops, right? That said, Soros says the same thing - when you're up big, press your advantage.
Wow chew how many more of these "controversial" posts are you going to litter the site with? x is for loosers y is for losers blah blah blah Bore off Loser!
Nothing wrong with going for big ones when the opportunities arise. Of course the chance of blowing up increases too. There are people out there making six-figure incomes with just $25-50k account just by being consistently making money just about every single day that they trade. Those that can make 100% or even more of their account size on an annual basis, consistently making money is not a small feat. Of course, as the account size gets larger, the % growth can't be kept up and will decrease, but still, check out these guys' accounts after several years and see if they are still considered "pikers" when their incomes go from six-figure to seven-figures.
To clarify, I'm not arguing against trading more in a more fertile environment for a method per se, I'm saying being consistent in whatever it is you do is more important than the edge (assuming you have one). Why? Because the human mind is horrible at detecting patterns in randomness and usually picks the worst time to change. Anyone who has been trading long enough knows what I'm talking about. In response to RM's post, I'm actually agreeing with you, if you stop trading in a more fertile enviroment (ie there are more setups) that is INCONSISTENT. I don't think MOST trader's methods would have a even distribution of opportunities forever, btw. (ie excluding say seasonal or day of week or something like that)
i think the best traders grab the "low hanging fruit". a few times per month you can make a biiger swing on certain equities but by and large,the small gains are the way to go for most. remember,the market wants traders to change their profitable systems of scalping and hold onto positions loner;this way the market gets back its profits and traders go into a tailspin.
The best trader I know is extremely consistent. Every single day he's up $4k-$7k. He'll have maybe one down day/quarter. A couple times/quarter he'll put up $100,000+ days. Another extremely profitable trader in my office will swing +/- $40k daily, with the monster days mixed in. They both make huge amounts of money, but as a new trader I'm trying to emulate the first guy.
there is a huge difference between consistancy being the RESULT of trading and consistancy being the GOAL.....for most traders it is the goal and that's why they trade every single day and try to time every 10 cent move.........death by a thousand cuts.........then when you nail a trade that's good for 100 points, you end up flipping it for 10 cents out of habit. like rm said.........why go dumpster diving for 10 beads everyday when you can just go to marti gras and pick up thousands. and i disagree with the assumption that guys that go for homeruns have huge losses or have wild swings.......that doesn't have to be the case if you have the discipline to stay side lined till the free money trades present themselves.
Why assume that consistent traders only go for certain $$$ every day??? My definition of consistency is making money just about every single day, regardless of what the market does. Some days you make more, some days you make less, but you don't quit just because you hit a certain amount. Maybe some people do, but many don't. Why would you stop trading when there are opportunities one after the other? If it's a Mardi Gras, you keep picking up beads and never stop with just 10. Also, consistency doesn't necessarily mean you go for a fixed gain on each trade every time out. Sometimes, you take a quick gain, but sometimes, you let it run for a big gain.