Back in 2014 I thought I had it pretty good building long stock positions in big oil (BP, CVX, RDS, BPT). I was collecting dividends and writing OTM Calls and selling CCP to increase the yield. All was well until oil fell out of bed and my positions got way underneath my entries which killed the option play. After seeing my portfolio of big oil get slammed, I felt strongly that I needed to learn how to trade the market in both directions and limit my downside capital risk. And so began my great journey. I convinced a friend of mine who was a retired software architect to come on board and together we will walk the path and make $1000.00 a day look easy. Sound familiar? In that time we have slowly learned through trial and error but built several original indicators that are based on volume, order flow and linear regression. We have taken these tools and built two automated systems with Easy Language to trade the ES. The systems back test well and if they did a fraction of the simulated returns I would be part of the 1% not the 3%. That said, the real market is very different place than the sim market. Especially when it come to the algos. We are still working on solutions, but so far both systems loose more money than they make, although it's thrilling to watch the machine trade with no human emotion. It's very cool and I see why everyone tries to get there using an algo. On the discretionary side I have tried to become an expert at trading AAPL with options. It's all TA, intra day/multi day directional. I have a good win/loss ratio but I am plagued with small wins one large loss syndrome. Maybe I can fix this but I have stomped on 6 months worth of profits/work with one bad trade. That is some serious water to carry and keep believing. Fortunately for me, or I guess I wouldn't even contemplate this otherwise, I have other income and I don't rely on trading to live. I got involved in this to learn a better way to manage money. I have learned a lot and I definitely see a price chart with a lot more depth and understanding than I did even a year ago, but as it stands now I am still part of the 97% and that's not what I'm here for.
Here's my 2 cents after having traded full time for 10 years exactly this year: In reality trading is simple and it can be easy - if only we made it simple and easy. But our heads are filled with so much junk - beliefs, thoughts, stories on loop we keep telling ourselves, stories that are totally false and not even important that only the 3% that actually can keep their minds focused on the trading process can do this successfully. But it's the same for successful traders, about 4 out of 10 or 5 out of 10 trades they put on goes against them. The difference is they only wager a very small amount of their total equity on that one trade. So when it goes against them, they don't lose a chunk of their equity or more importantly lose their self confidence. When the trade goes for them, you better believe they take every single dollar the trade provides, never ever booking a profit early. Because they know giving leeway to your losses or cutting your winners short are the two sides of the same coin that breaks the most important rule of trading. So then they trade a well tested method that they have actually developed after thousands of hours of screen time - a method that they actually trust and know on a cellular level makes more money than it loses, but the difference is there is no rush for them, the successful trader has the infinite patience and wisdom to wait until his edge or signal actually appears on the chart and when it does he takes the trade knowing that this is his only opportunity to make money and he does this over and over - maybe twice a day or maybe once a day or maybe once a week. He is disciplined to the core - he never ever breaks his rules because he knows if he even breaks his rules once, then his well tested methodology that he trusts is no longer in play and he is trading randomly which will lose. He never forces a trade, he is not impatient. You need to put in the thousands of hours of screen time and need to make all the mistakes one makes and learn from them and then develop the wisdom and patience and trust that is needed to succeed in this venture. Good luck!
There is no point working more than you need, die 1mil in debt, leave the debt to someone you hate, got to spend it or why bother.
Honestly you have said it all, but you seem to miss the points in your own words. The market is all about consistency and hard work.
That’s pretty funny. So, instead of worrying about dying broke, the thought of dying with a quarter in my pocket should scare me. “I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted.” – WC Fields
That's why I'll never understand billionaires, that have no chance of spending it all, but they work full time and scrimp and save as they want MORE!! ( Not that I know any, but I know Millionaires like this )