whred: Yep, self honesty is really one of the most important attributes of the successful trader. While, C2 can't force one to be honest to THEMSELVES about their abilities -- it does encourage it. Self honesty is one of the greatest traits we must implore into ourselves as traders. I'm of the mind that about 90% to 95% of the vendors who don't have a record aren't profitable. Posting live trades on a video doesn't mean anything. A trader could make several thousand in one day and still be down for the year. Or the trader could make money every day but give everything back in 1 day. It would be virtually impossible to know if anyone was net profitable over any reasonable period from videos posted online. This is precisely why many vendors will post videos. Of course, a video could be a nice training tool. its nice to also hear about guys putting up 100k.. I say so what. They're probably trading a 20 million of OPM. The calculator below will tell unless they are worth at least 20-50 million (or just starting) then something is wrong about such stories. At one time, Dr. Steenbarger worked with some of the top ES trading prop firms. A lot of those guys were making insane money probably making 100k days according to stories. They purchased big houses and fancy cars. But, then the computers and others started to take erode their edge. From what I've read, many of those big traders ended up losing their big houses and the fancy cars and had to go out and find a normal job with no "real work" experience. You think about it.. trading is a long term game and that's where so many people go wrong. One of the reasons I offer my systems is that I don't care what type of return you punch in with a small account, you can't get rich overnight. Trading is a marathon-- not a sprint. http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm
It sounds like you are well on your way, and it's great you're taking the opportunity while you have it!
I knew a guy who was great at trading <$100K, and every time he got his account >$100K, he completely fell apart, and would end up with $70k-$80k. He did that every 2-3 years. I don't know what ever happened to him, but I would bet he still has $70k-$80k.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the NoDoji here at elitetrader does not use twitter. There's someone at twitter with the same name, but that's someone else.
Sounds like me and (play money) penny poker.. my first goal was to make $100 (starting $20 on this account).. every time I was at like $99 and some cents I'd get knocked back down. That's when I learned I set a range of goals.. reduces the performance pressure. (except I only did this over about 1-2 months)
A couple corrections if I may, I never said anything about taking numerous classes with any gurus as I never took a class with even one guru. You might want to go back and reread where ever you thought I said that. But it's no secret I was never a fan of anyone in Guruville, especially the ones who for thousands of dollars purported to teach you how to trade for a living. As for Lucias and some trading competition I didn't do well in over 30 years ago, it was actually a three year contest in the 90s. I challenged the gurus to put up or shut up and Sunny Harris decided to front a trading competition. The problem was I wanted this to be a real money contest with $50,000 and there were no takers. So against my better judgement, it became a hypothetical contest. After 4 months of the three year contest (and I was profitable each of the four months) I readily admitted I couldn't compete with a bunch of crash test hypothetical traders who threw all caution to the wind and traded their play money as if there were no tomorrow. When you trade hypothetically with no real money on the line the all important psychological aspect of the trading game isn't a factor and sound money management principles are thrown out the window. I think after the end of this make-believe hypothetical contest something like 15 or 16 lost money and the winner was someone who had never been successful with real money. He also has a checkered history insofar as he's had a couple of sanctions against him by regulatory agencies of which I don't even want to get into here.
Yes, that is different NoDoji. "Our" NoD doesn't play Ichimoku and similar things the other NoDoji discusses, AFAIK.