all the wins and losses combined off traders = 0. now, even if we ignore this fact, getting a fixed price in a volatile market due to speculators is that really value? WIthout speculators the market wouldnt be volatile (example oil 2007). My 2cents.
tHE MINDSET OF A TRADER IS LIKE IN POKER. BE BETTER THAN OTHER TRADERS. because you need others to lose, in order to win yourself.
It is not really the same because in poker one has fixed odds. Nobody knows the true odds in trading. I've thought about this myself somewhat. If it really is a competitive game, and sometimes I feel like it is. But, for the most part I don't because even if you know what to do then most others don't. Even if you win all the time, you can't prove the future thus you can't prove you have an absolute advantage. You never know if you will continue to win in the future and no one else can know that either. Basically, in order to be a competitive game then we have to assume that both players know the perfect action to take. We've seen often that neither side knew the perfect action to take. For example, a short may cover and a long may buy but the market heads even lower. Neither trader took the right action given complete information. I think if you are feeling like the game is too competitive then you maybe are not approaching it in a your own unique way. There is a need to be competitive though with oneself.
honestly, the comptetive edge and desire to win are...HUGE...you have to have such discipline of steel that if you blow your account 10 times you'll be back...because you will win!
I started transitioning into day trading this week and all I can say is... Wow! Before, I was losing +$200 to several $k's per trade swing trading w daily charts (if things went wrong). Now, I'm churning out losses at around $50/trade. Big improvement! :eek:
Facebook founder Mark was obsessed with programming since childhood. He used to develop software programs for his father dental clinic PC. That story is right about gates. Gates and Allen brain neuron circuits changed with so much of programming practice before finding Microsoft. Skills are transferable whether one build windows or buy or sell DOS. Basically 'practicing programming' was one great skill where they both put great number of hours starting from teenage.
My suggestion: One should get a full time job, work 20 hours a week in practicing trading skill. 20 hours a week for 10 years will translate to approx 10,000 hours of practice. After 10 years, start trading business by going live with one contract. Then expand the trading business by trading more contracts while holding full time job for next 5 years. Now after 15 years that is by 2026, you are ready to quit your full time job and trade full time and enjoy life. Problem is most of us start trading like in late 20s, so giving 15 years of practice means money starts pouring in by mid 40s.
Coming from an entreprenual background Having started and failed several businesses and am currently in the process of running one. I have to say that starting a viable businness with limited capital is VERY HARD. You have to find a niche and improve your edge in that area. And even when things are going well, you can suddenly find yourselves upside down due to client payment delenquincy and new regulatory changes. And as I've started day trading, I've found ET and stocktwits.com have helped me the most. ET is like the counter stocktwits, Negative vs Positive sentiment. After a loosing streak of unsystematic trade, here are my latest day trades. USD +AKBA 2014-03-20, 14:43:25 - 70 24.0900 26.6950 -1,686.30 -1.00 1,687.30 0.00 182.35 O +AKBA 2014-03-20, 14:51:52 - -70 24.7500 26.6950 1,732.50 -1.04 -1,687.30 44.16 -136.15 C Total AKBA 0 46.20 -2.04 0.00 44.16 46.20 +ISR 2014-03-20, 06:39:14 - 600 2.8500 3.3000 -1,710.00 -3.00 1,713.00 0.00 270.00 O +ISR 2014-03-20, 08:00:16 - -600 2.6500 3.3000 1,590.00 -3.04 -1,713.00 -126.04 -390.00 C +ISR 2014-03-20, 08:10:07 - 600 2.7800 3.3000 -1,668.00 -3.00 1,671.00 0.00 312.00 P;O +ISR 2014-03-20, 14:02:09 - -600 3.2700 3.3000 1,962.00 -2.64 -1,671.00 288.36 -18.00 P;C Total ISR 0 174.00 -11.68 0.00 162.32 174.00 Total 220.20 -13.72 0.00 206.48 220.20 USD +ECYT 2014-03-21, 08:44:04 - 100 31.0000 28.1700 -3,100.00 -1.00 3,101.00 0.00 -283.00 O +ECYT 2014-03-21, 09:03:21 - -100 38.0100 28.1700 3,801.00 -1.08 -3,101.00 698.92 984.00 P;C Total ECYT 0 701.00 -2.08 0.00 698.92 701.00 +MNGA 2014-03-21, 08:40:11 - 600 1.8600 2.4000 -1,116.00 -3.00 1,119.00 0.00 324.00 O +MNGA 2014-03-21, 09:22:56 - -600 2.0500 2.4000 1,230.00 -3.03 -1,119.00 107.97 -210.00 C Total MNGA 0 114.00 -6.03 0.00 107.97 114.00 Total 815.00 -8.11 0.00 806.89 815.00 Altough the basic principle definitely applies to note most of the advice on ET is geared torwards commodity and FOREX, anny input on NASDAQ small caps day trade ? But I really appreciate all your guys input so far in this thread. And I again i thank you, you guys are the best(in a trolly kind of way) SO shout out to unquestionably, dead dog, kingfisher, coolweb and all you guys in this thread. Altough it seems I'm a few years late in joining the discussion, I hope you guys read my thank you message. Cheers Adrian