Do you mind putting the link ? I would like to buy a sets of it - as I need some material to keep "friends and family" - who now want to give a go at trading- busy.
Thank you, LF. Best of luck to you as well. In my view, trading is not a pipe dream, but one has to be ready to learn, make mistakes and learn again. And again and again. And there is no guarantee of success unless one is truly on the right track. Ego stops us from admitting our mistakes and learning to become better. Instead most people prefer to rationalize their failures. BTW, I am very thankful to a few people on ET, but they always were honest, admitted it look like 10 years (for some of them) to get consistent. No illusions were presented to me.
Thank you. With pipe dream, I referred to people being honest and upfront here on ET. As for profitable trading, for most people it probably is a pipe dream, both since they're not trading material in the first place, but also because they don't even know where to start or what to study. You can't just work hard, you need to work smart as well. I spent probably thousands of hours myself of study before I found something I believed in and could then start to study almost from scratch. It's perfectly possible for people to go in circles for years in this way. That's different than a lot of other fields where the 'science' is laid out for you and it's just a matter of putting down the hours, getting a grade and getting a job. Or even starting a business.
I have been on hunting & fishing message boards where the longest threads are always centered around "you didn't take that record book animal legally" or "you can't beat that guy in a bass tournament because..." I have been on body-building message boards where the longest threads are always centered around "you can't grow legs-arms-back using xzy tactics" or "you can't beat that guy in a contest because..." Those same tired-mantra thread topics repeat themselves over and over and over again, year after year by the same small cast of characters with a few new ones added to rekindle the flames. And I suppose golfing message boards, football or baseball message boards, ball-washing message boards are all the same. ET is not unique to the negative bitchfest concept: it is universal amongst men inside and forum. Just go visit other venues if you doubt that in the least. While I sit here watching various FX positions and ES short position all at work, I can surf any message board on the topics above and pretty much read the same regurgitated shit, over and over again. Some things will never change, human behavior being top of that list.
I see. Speaking of failure in trading and any other business, there's mostly same reason: lack of skill. But how to gain skill in trading? Either learn from someone who's "for real" and (most importantly) is truly motivated to teach you or start from the scratch by watching various market data until you see recurring patterns yourself. Can probably take years and possibly never happens at all for some people.
How true. That's why I've insisted this time that those who say they're interested open and maintain journals in order to get anywhere, yet out of all those who initiated them, only about eight are seeing them through. Their choice. The market is the best teacher after all, and only the market and one's own efforts can tell him whether or not he's on the right track. Though sites like this give the impression that trading is a team sport, it is essentially do-it-yourself. Rationalizing failures? There's plenty of that here as well, but the journal helps to prevent that, which may be why so many sputter out. I don't know your journal. Sorry. But you seem to understand what personal accountability is all about and that's a big hurdle. It'll get you much farther than blaming others for your shortcomings. The atmosphere at ET is considerably different than it was a dozen years ago (though there are still a few trolls under the bridges; that appears to be unavoidable), and Magna is great at keeping the journals clean. Think about giving it another shot. Game's journal, for example, is virtually troll-free.
Yes. That's why I have to admit large message boards are probably not very effective from the perspective of constructive professional communication, unless they are heavily moderated to keep topic strictly in the trend.
Yes, not going to say journals are completely useless for everybody. Just for myself I found more optimal ways and concluded too much public exposure is not that needed in relation to my personal trading results.