Don't know how to read in diagonal / read quick eyeballing a text? RIP. Ye make sure to not waste your time. Who got time to read books and articles am I right haha? Trading is not for reading, we're here for the 50X a year with an EA and get the lambos live the life!
NP noob. Clearly I pissed you off. Maybe if you struggle 10 more years you'll magically start making money.
Many professionals do take decades to develop their process and it's not uncommon to open your first fund (or to get your first independent PM gig) in your 50s. In the end, professional trading/investing is about developing a process and refining it. Some people get there quicker and some people get there slower, but developing a good process takes time. Here is a typical institutional progression. Usually, you start as a junior trader (buyside or sellside) and learn the ropes for 3-4 years. During that period you get relatively little risk-taking responsibilities of your own and mostly support the business. Then you move up and start taking risk of your own, slowly developing your own approaches to the world. Give it another 3-5 years. So there, you have about 6-10 years of professional development only to get to an early stages of independent risk taking career. Now combine this with the fact that most investors or fund managers want you to have experience in multiple market environments and we are taking decades before you "have made it".
What happens when they still don't make money after DECADES of trying, having thrown their whole life away so many years they will never get back? Just cut their wrists? Pretty sad
Funny reading some of the comments here. The best traders and fund managers have the best infrastructure (teams, research, etc.). The ability for single managers to succeed drops as a market becomes more efficient. Star traders/managers develop their edge by making marginal improvements to their idea generation process in a strategy that has demonstrable alternative risk premia. I don’t think you can realize just how hard trading is until you’ve seen the legions of highly intelligent PMs at multi-manager shops... Respect the game or you’ll never learn to play it.
If you structure your career correctly, even if you lose your alpha or don’t have it in the first place it is not a disaster. These guys were getting paid something all that time and they gained other skills and connections. For example, some of the sales coverage or PB representatives are former (failed) PMs/traders.
Few things I do to improve my trading: Make a trading plan. Make a record of each trade and review my efforts. Practice with amounts that I am okay to lose. Not follow people’s opinion blindly, rather do trades that fit in my plan and work for me. Try to cut down on emotional stress while trading
To improve my trading I focus on analyzing bad trades, backtesting strategies and emotional management.