Yikes... I guess I hit a nerve. Seems to be a recurring theme with you, bill. Fortunately, I have nothing to prove here. Good luck with your path in life Bill. Hopefully, things work out for you.
I believe that trading requires only some core abilities such as the ability to recognize a few patterns and to follow rules really well. I believe that in a very short period of time I could teach a new trader to trade much better than me. If someone already had some trading experience under his/her belt, I think it might be far more difficult to teach this person. I'm stubborn and opinionated and have trouble following my own rules consistently, and as a result I produce a fraction of the profit I'd be producing without these defects. Also, many successful traders told me they blew a helluva lot of money in the learning process, so there's some proof that you don't have to have "it" as long as you "get it" before your account is FUBAR.
No, my post was supported by facts. In terms of what civil engineers do as well as architects. It's also a fact that both go to college to get a degree in their respective majors. Your error -- was stating that a trader is either born with the ability or not -- that is false and not supported by any facts. I know many people who pursued trading; some succeeded and others failed. Not a single one of them was pursuing trading as their initial profession; all came from other fields that ranged from stock brokers to optometrists to mechanical engineers to small business owners to house wives. What about some of those in Market Wizards, who failed early on and later achieved success? If they were born to be traders why did they fail at various times? Traders grind away and learn every day. Traders have to adapt over time to remain profitable. Hard work is key for many, if not most, successful traders.
Hi Mike805, what kind of an enginner were you? Why did you decide to leave a high paying field and become a trader?
This is an interesting thread, I went over all posts. The thread is about consistently profitable traders. I think Bill talked about consistent profitability. He said that requires talent. I say it requires a lot of talent (and hard work to go with it) I think some of you did not even read his post carefully
Consistent profitability requires a statistical edge plus the ability to follow rules...consistently. Any technical trading book can provide you with statistical edges. If the ability to follow rules consistently is a talent that you either have or you don't, then trading requires talent. But I believe this ability can be learned, though it might take a lot longer for some (me) than others.
There is no such a thing as a statistical edge in trading. You are a dreamer. The longer term expectation from trading activity is negative. I suggest you read this book http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~lharris/ABSTRACT/Zerosum.htm Traders lose to long term investors and insiders. You are totally misinformed if you think there are statistical edges for you to discover and become rich.
Wow. How do I pay rent on my office and salaries then? I guess I have been very lucky for tens of thousands of trades for over 10 years. Lucky me, huh? And some of the people who have worked with me continue to be lucky just like I was... good thing luck can rub off on someone else too, huh? There absolutely ARE statistical edges to exploit. They are not as big as people like to think, and it is not as easy to find or trade them as you might think... but they are there. And that's not a "book", it's a working paper. On the other hand, that guy did write a book that is required reading for everyone I've ever hired...