And what does $500K have to do with anything? Who cares if Joe Schmoe who works at Goldman makes $500K? He has a $1 million mortgage. I get up at 7:00 am, run 5-6 miles. Trade part of the day and enjoy life. Does the Goldman guy have unilateral choices where he can knock off any time he wants? Nope. Do you have ANY comprehension of quality of life versus quantity of life? Money means zilch to people who have achieved success. Why are you obsessed with people making a "fortune". Do you not realize people, who are intelligent and resourceful, can leverage their accumulated assets? That by doing so they outperform the working stiffs, whether they be the Goldman trader or the guy working atypical 9 - 5 job.
If the rich WS guys have no interest in bragging why are you so obsessed about repeating this drivel time and time again. It is you who doesn't comprehend what you speak of. Ask yourself how many make billions (your choice of words). You can count them on one hand. No different that professional athletes. And FYI -- you can find a proportionate number of independent traders who achieve the same level of success monetarily.
Hmm let's see how anyone can deny the facts: 1) Arrogance/big ego. ( So what if over 95% fail at day trading ? ) 2) Believe they can predict the future aka where the market will go in the next minute/hour. 3) Gambler mentality. 4) Living in a distorted reality. (One day it might) ps: and don't ever say that a day trader can not be consistent they get really upset.
dom is depth of market. I would not take too seriously people who use jargon/acronyms on chat boards. "Most professional daytraders will trade only from the DOM" only?
I'll start -- I don't have an ego. As a trader I realize one has to be humble. Predicting the future? Over time one can get a feel for what the market will do. Perfect example today. Anyone who had a clue knew they'd try to run it to 11,000 near the close. So you went long into the close. Not rocket science. Gambler mentality? LOL. How is trading any different than someone sinking $100K (or $500K) into a restaurant or some other venture? Get a clue -- life is a gamble. Distorted reality? Huh. As a trader you see the REALITY in front of you day by day. You know you need to make money to pay the bills. Reality to a trader is much more apparent than to a person working a 'secure' corporate job that takes things for granted. And I base my reply on FACTS. 14+ years of trading and making a decent living are what I draw my knowledge from. You guys who shoot from the hip really lack a lot of credibility. You post generalizations. You assume if it's tough no one can succeed. You couldn't be more wrong.
Everyone has an ego except you. You can get a feel of what the market will do ? If you could actually do just that, know what the close would be day after day you'd be a millionaire. Some people life is a gamble no questions about it, but trading is not gambling. The distorted reality is when a day trader wants to double his money in a year with a discretionary approach. He is going to be against the major institutions and they algorithms... but hey, as long as you can "get a feel of what the market will do" you'll certainly do well.
According to some statistics, 95% wanna be day trader failed. But I take this as very positive number. 5% made it.