OK, that's all very fine and nice. Regardless, money cannot "disappear" in trading. For every time somebody loses, somebody else is likely making money. So how can anybody claim that it's not possible to make money in this game? Makes no sense to me. A whole lot of gibberish from frustrated losers if you ask me.
If you doubt that one can trade for a living then why are you involved in this website ? It must be because you want someone to show you that trading can be a source of income to make a living off of. Or you have nothing better to do and have some internal conflicts. I would guess to say that you actually want someone to prove you wrong, which would prove that one can trade for a living. I recommend tuning into http://www.thestrategylab.com/FuturesTradesChatRoom.htm and learning from Nihabaishi (spelling might be off) for just one successful trader. I would only go here if you are a serious student of trading though. The room is strictly enforced by rules for serious traders.
Scientist, Gary Smith did make it. . As for looking for quick riches he stresses it took him years before he got on top. I think he is just sceptical about the claims of many traders, and he has been in the business for years so might know something.
OK, sorry if I got something wrong here. I'm still not getting the point on this issue I guess. What's the point here?
Ha I just edited my post - but I see you qouted the first version. I think what Gary is trying to say is not so different from what you said in your post: it takes a hell of lot of work to succeed in this business.
Yeah, everybody's Mr. Clean - Above Reproach is a penny stock tout. Can you guess which weekend Gary went on Fox and picked CMGI?: http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/intchart/frames/frames.asp?symb=CMGI&time=&freq= Geo.
And Samson77 for instance would probably be one of those "few" traders who do this successfully. And how about Jai Ramoutar? NihabaAshi? AMT4SWA? Cutten? Girlpower? velocity_trader? Trade4Succes? nitro? Aaron? Ken_DTU? BrandonF? Marketsurfer? Riskarb? ChartingMarkets? praetorian2? dpanic? That's way more than 10. IMHO these people all know what it takes to be a successful trader and they have the right attitude. Most likely most of them are doing this successfully. Trading isn't even rocket science. Let's face it: A "dumb" person can do it with the right attitude, seriously. What does it take to succeed at day trading? Well, if you don't get active volume trading together, why not develop a simple system that does 2 or 3 trades a day with a hit rate of 50% and an R:R ratio of 2:1 or 3:1. If you can't develop a system with a 50% hit rate and an R:R of 2:1, then you're either not sufficiently educated, or just plain stupid and simply unsuitable. And if you can develop, but can't trade a system like that, then that means you have a problem in your head. Which doesn't mean successful trading isn't possible. It only means that you have a problem in your head. What a silly kind of argument, really. I wonder what all these losing traders do all day if they can't even get a simple system together. If in doubt, KISS.
Well. It does take a lot of work if you want to be a top-performer. But if you just want to make a living, all you need a simple system or two, a realistic amount of capital, and the right mindset to execute your trades without hesitation. As I said in the above example. 50% HR and 2:1 RR is enough to make money. Even less is. The rest is just in your head. It doesn't require THAT much work. But, if you want to really want to kill it at this game - then yes. You need to do $hit-loads of work. On the other hand, how long should it take? And how much does it depend on sex or age? nitro just pointed out on the other thread that there's a 23-year-old girl at his prop firm who's been the best trader at the firm, beating the other guys with year and years of floor & screen experience. He further pointed out that most women traders in the firm have been "best trader" at some point, but then aren't as credit-hungry, and often rather just "make a K or two by 9:00am and then go shopping"...
When you see the daily blotters...you will know....if you do not see these...you are hoping...guessing.....
One thing is missing from the thread that traders are using numerous techniques. DT is just a small segment and arguably not the most respected. He (Smith) challenges the SP500 daytrading system peddlers and justifiably so. There are 1 winner on about 10 traders, out of that one maybe a small percentage is a DT, the rest position, swing whatever traders. He hates the system peddlers but he was one himself. So take that with a grain of salt. Read his book, it is refreshing from the myriad of crap out there...