Look at all the stories of overleverage and terrible risk managements. Don´t need to look elsewhere. Susana
Haven't been in this game for that long now and I have made money as lost some money but if I have slightly mastered one skill it is reading between the lines and get this hunch on where the markets are going. When I get behind my computer and check out what the european markets are doing, what the financials are doing, how is gold acting, gold stocks, US stockmarkets opening, Yen VS other currencies, $ VS Euro, Swiss Franc VS Ausie dollar, oil, oil stocks etc etc The thing is the correlation between all these factors can prove to be relatively supportive in achieving your goal of making some money here... Think of it as your girlfriend being angry but she says she is not... You just know she is because you know her that well. You can read between the lines and the same aplies to these markets at least this is how I see it. So try to get to know the markets as if they are your girlriend. Also try to read about the world of financial economics now and in the past. Great depression, the seventies, asian currency crisis... What went up, what went down, who got rich who got poor, how did they try to solve problems then and do you see them making the same mistakes today... They say you can learn more about the economy from a town hooker then from the head of the FED so there is a lot more to this game then just GDP numbers coming out next week... A lot of great people sharing their wisdom on economics online... Find out which ones are worth a listen and which ones are not... Also there is a great archive of historic asset class performances to be found... The nights I have spent to compare 1950 to 1960 sugar with 1950 to 1960 corn you wouldnt believe it... Geek alert! Anyway best of luck.
Re: Cutten I knew somebody would mention that. I agree with you, actually. But to have lost money in the stock market and complain that the system is rigged is NOT the same as being a trader and busting and complaining of the same thing. If you're on the outside looking in (a passive investment strategy in a retirement account), I just can't say "hindsight is 20-20" to them. Compare that to a trader swing trading with DRYS or a solar company, etc. He should have a higher understanding of markets. If you spend your days trading in the market, you are a part of the rigged system - whether you lose or make money is another matter. One style (buying and holding) is (albeit false) based on the conventional wisdom that stocks are where you should put your retirement money. That is a philosophy that many, many pretty smart people have advocated. I'm not saying that those retirees were conned; you're completely right about the asset allocations. But buy-and-holders had a more historically-documented and intellectually (maybe) defensible approach to building wealth than trading stocks.
There is an interesting overlap between trading for a living and starting/running a successful business. This includes avoiding excessive risk, proper capitalization, having a business/trading plan and being passionate and disciplined about ones product/service/strategy. Tons of business start-ups fail every day and so do many traders. I'd bet the two biggest reasons for both are a) severe under-capitalization b) unrealistic (=overly optimistic) expectations
what has capital to do with it ? its only a difference in digit thats all, making or losing 80% on 10k or 80% on 1M , its both as hard or easy
tickmagnet, sorry to tell you this but <B>you will never make this money back.</B> There is no making money back in the markets. You either learn to make money or you don't. Period.
Capital is huge. If you have considerable capital, you will have the luxury of employing far safer strategies while enjoying decent returns in absolute terms. If I had 400K I would trade forex way differently than I do now. I could use 20:1 and still make excellent returns.
That's why I said "trading for a living". My point was not how hard or easy it is to lose or gain large % amounts, but the simple fact that most beginning traders that try to make trading their main profession are simply under-capitalized. Just like most start-up entrepreneurs in brick & mortar businesses. It's incredibly hard and risky to try to make a 30k investment into a 12 month 100%, 200% or 300% gain in any brick & mortar business (think restaurants, real estate, lodging, nail saloons, etc.). It is beyond me how some think trading is easier and lower risk than any other business.