So what about the guys in the pits or prop firms looking at a DoM/Level II/etc.? I know several traders who have been consistently profitable using these.
You seem to want a lesson from me so I will give you my words of advice and hopefully you will follow them and be a better trader. Look at when i signed up for this site: October, 2001. I've done 345 posts after this one. So about 30 posts or so a year. You signed up 2 months ago and you've done 1200 posts. I love this site and would not want to say anything to dissuade people from using it. But here is what YOU should do to be a better trader. A) Stop posting so much on this site. A thoughtful, good post takes time. B) Read more books on trading and investing in general. Read about every form of investing, not just one. C) learn software so you can effectively build models, test them, and understand more about quant trading. If you want to test a TA idea, you can. D) Read books about business in general. If you are smart then your time is better served coming up with new business ideas than posting on this site. read "the essays of warren buffett". Read history and relate it back to trading. Read "famous first bubbles". E) you keep asking me questions. Its worth it to explore and find answers for yourself. This is how you really learn. F) trade in very small amounts. The best risk-management is position size. I hope you are not trading large. All the questions you are asking I've answered in other venues, including other threads here. And, including in this thread. I would suggest treating your girlfriend to lunch today instead of posting so much on this site. That will make you happier.
I don't believe it. I know 100s of guys in the pits and prop firms. They were consistently profitable but its harder and harder every day and i know basically nobody consistently profitable now.
Hmm... I disagree as I've observed these traders, but will not dispute the point since the pit has indeed been shrinking, and so have the number of props. I'll take you at your word. In that case, would you say that retail trading is headed the way of the dodo, and we should quit early before the robots take over?
So what advice would you give a trader who is just starting at a major bank, hedge fund, or top prop firm. They should just give up? Or stick to HFT, that's it?
Not exactly. I just wanted a yes or no answer from you to a very specific question. This is my third user name. I've been around ET since August 2002. Read well over 100 books on trading and the markets since the mid-'90s and started trading in the late '90s. Probably took more than twice as long as the next slowest person here to get traction, among those who actually got traction. No disrespect, but you still didn't answer yes or no to my specific question.
You've asked me over ten questions and i answered them. Anymore and its a lesson and I have to treat it as such. I'm proud to say I've stuck to the same username all along.
He did answer your question. He told you to get into true quant testing, you can test any TA idea you want that way. That's what i did and what others have done. If you can't develop software try using something from the market. There are also numerous discussions on non-elite forums from very experienced quants on that subject. The answer in general is: there are some hard-to-find patterns still around but you better brush up on your portfolio management skills if you want a quality synthetic risk curve to exploit them.
I specifically asked for a yes-or-no answer to a yes-or-no question. Thanks anyway, but I was looking for his opinion, not yours.