Speaking of stand-up guys! On that note, allow me to humbly opine that any aspiring trader would be well advised to read 1R's journal. How's it going 1R?
You can get a pro as a mentor by offering some service of value to them. For example, it is rather tedious grunt-work to calculate portfolio risk on all positions each day, double check statements, fill in tax forms, open new brokerage accounts, check all markets each day/week/month for patterns, run through trading checklists, scan news, implement mechanical aspects of a system etc. A novice who is willing to do all that diligently, would probably be able to get work with a successful pro. Also bear in mind most successful traders don't use fully mechanical systems, they use experience and pattern recognition with some subjective element too.
It think it's possible to find good mentors, and I've certainly managed to connect up with traders significantly more successful than me. But you have to bring something to the table. I've never been asked for anything, but have offered (and delivered) a variety of things in return, such as custom software, back-testing of systems, validation of models etc. That way everyone learns something and everyone gets something out of it. To this day is share ideas and chat with other traders throughout the day. If nothing else, just seeing how they operate and sit through the ups and downs is a great inspiration. btw: compared to the successful traders I work with, I still consider myself the "student".
I don't believe in "systems" to trade the markets. I find that doing your own in depth research, combined with many years of experience watching price action is what is truly needed. This year proves that quant traders blow up just like any novice. The guys that have stayed in the game are the ones with a historical knowledge of economic crises, and a deep study of economic theory applied to the current regimes in place.
===================== Don't know about thier personal lives; bu the top traders that gave Jack Schwager all those [free]interviews,certainly were generous to do that. Most probably its not even the difficult part finding top traders who will share;see 1st paragraph. Assume a trader can read, even if thats not a favorite way to learn. Sloppy trends as derivatives do ,adds to the complexity; leverage does more harm than good till you learn to trade. Leverage certainly adds to the excitement,thrills....... Besides, really if some make some money [briefly.......]with insane leverage; its simply too easy, to wrongly assume thats a workable business plan.
Maybe a bit off the original thread title: In my experience I need to have a "system" to trade. One can choose to automate the system or trade it manually, but unless there is underlying methodology with a statical edge, I don't see how anyone can make money over time. For me, automating has proven better; but that's probably mostly a personality and scalability issue.
I got an offer in the mail recently from Ollie Velez to make me instantly rich for only $6000. Ya reckon he is chargin' enuf that it's the real deal?
Fibonacci trading doesn't work. That is why it is free. Fib levels are not more significant than any other level. Studies such as the following: "Our conclusion must be that there is no significant difference between the frequencies with which price and time ratios occur in cycles in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and frequencies which we would expect to occur at random in such a time series. In our introduction, we noted that empirical evidence from academic studies suggests that not all of technical analysis can be dismissed prima facie. The evidence from this paper suggests that the idea that round fractions and Fibonacci ratios occur in the Dow can be dismissed." http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/resources/Magic_Numbers_in_the_Dow.pdf If you have a real edge, then thinking people sell it for $50 a week says little for your personal level of knowledge.