A lot of those market wizards were making big bets in very volatile commodity markets. So they lost big and won big. Way more info available today on how to trade, and with such liquid and easily accesible markets, if you are smart, it's pretty easy to limit the learning curve to just a slow bleed.
That's a good answer, and I expected at least one response in this regard. Even so, I didn't think it could be done so cheaply by such a large proportion of the respondents. I guess that I'm inadvertently projecting my own limitations, because it cost me more.
Thunderdog - Do you feel like sharing with us how much capital you went through? I don't think 10-20K is that far fetched if you're trading 100 shares or 1 lot at a time. P.S. Good idea for a poll.
I guess it would help to know if those who lost big either: a) Knew they did not have an edge b) Did not know they did not have an edge c) Were sure that they had an edge while they were in the process of losing those large amounts Although maybe someone could argue that even with an edge, a trader can do as much damage by committing typical mental mistakes, such as missing trades out of fear, or exiting early/late, jumping gun etc... Probably the guys who turned it around had both things going for them, they likely started out with no edge, then realized they needed one, got one, then got over the mental hurdle... Takes a special type of fortitude hang in there huh
I dropped about 50k in index options trading before I turned the corner. I tried index futures and 10 year bonds after I got the options worked out. In futures I was profitable right away and haven't looked back. My conclusion, profitable options traders are MUCH better than futures traders.
The best way to learn is by mistakes and bad calls. Therefore you know what to look for so you do not make the same mistake again. I do not know how someone could start trading and making more for day one month in and out without loosing some dough. Nothing is a better teacher than experience and mistakes.
Alot has depended on luck. Many of the traders who started 5-10 years back would have run smack into a huge IT bull. Doesnt take alot of brains to make money during a big boom and a good proportion of trend following strategies would have made craploads on the nasdaq during that period. buy and hold itself would have yeilded 20%+ and so many traders probably became net positive immediately. The windfall from the IT market would have paid for the "tuition fees" that would have inevitably occured later but these traders would probably still remain net positive despite those ddowns