This post is about providing traders a foundation in knowledge that they need in order to compete. It does not tell them how to generate excess returns, but it does give them the right information for them to build a good process. In my previous roles and current trading, I generate absolute unlevered returns averaging high single digits targeting a market beta of 0 and a 2.5+ Sharpe ratio. If you are far less informed than the average analyst or fund manager, how exactly are you going to outperform?
This is true but in this case you are probably the weaker link in the crowd -- e.g. your market knowledge is less than the average. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
That's the beauty of the markets. You don't have to know why the market is moving to make money you just have to know that it is moving. The stronger links have a rational bias and the markets tend to be irrational from time to time. Us weak links are more concerned about making money than being right.
I'm saying skill. I've been doing this since 2002. The reason I'm saying skill is because I could lose money on purpose if I didn't follow my system. But it could be luck and I'm overconfident. The next 20 years will tell. It's not impossible to flip heads 20 times in a row.
Then maybe you misinterpreted the purpose of this post. This isn't teaching/training a process type of a thread, it an educational reference to serve as the backdrop that a trader should know off-hand. For example, knowing that there are 13 lit exchanges may not add material value to your process. But if you are trading equities, then you should know it, and knowing it will prevent you from saying something stupid/ignorant.
There’s always someone on here who says that the only thing that matters is pnl. Pnl is the result of a strong process. If you don’t need a fundamental understanding of finance and economics to generate a robust process then good for you. I found my edge in understanding the stocks I trade fundamentally. I’ve done okay over the last 10 years. To say: “if you haven’t beaten the SP500, with this knowledge then why should I learn it” speaks to the naivety of the person making the statement.
Again as long as I'm making money, the objective of my trading, I don't need to know how many exchanges there are. As for saying something stupid/ignorant that's one of my super powers.
Lol this thread it not a great fit for those who prefer to be ignorant. Your returns are likely time varying and primarily a function of beta, indicating little to no skill. Furthermore, "buy & hold" on your stock picks would probably outperform your active management ex-post, and indicate negative alpha. This probably goes over your head, because you're not a serious trader, or very skillful, nor you desire to be, which is why this thread isn't for you.
What I find interesting/comical about some of these people talking about "gotta outperform the s&p" and "gotta be different" is they always got something to say about the info presented (not the people in this thread specifically - its a mindset), but do not see the flaw in their "great" logic. Which kind of shows that you might need to take a look at the info. You dont need to be different to make money trading. Get a 100mil portfolio and we can start talking about being different to gain good returns in the market. Until then, you would be a complete moron to swim against the waves of institutions. Ya sure you can make money, ya sure you might be able to do it with some consistent basis but is completely a waste of time and energy that has to do with peoples' ego (im convinced) than really making money. And until you get your piker acct up, you are a retard for worrying about such trivial bullshit. S&P is a shitty benchmark and so is the cousin to that thought - "if the institutions are/arent doing it then why would I". What works for a 5k portfolio will not work with a 500mil portfolio and vice versa. You start getting into the law of big numbers at that point. I can throw money at a stock and make money (buy and hold) and outperform the s&p. Fuck, Im up 50%+ on NVDA and ENPH alone. And then saying you dont need to know certain things to make money. Ya, that may be the case, so you are OK with being a rich idiot? Suit yourself. That sounds like the same type of person who will lose a good chunk of their dough "investing" in a "business" and they thought they did great "due diligence" because having money is all that matters and they didnt need to learn anything. But then will blame the savy and intellectually superior con-artist in court saying the wool was "pulled over my eyes Your Honor". Like i said, comical.