Problem is trading being an odds game easily develops into addiction for such persons. Cause if they play casino as recreational activity they are aware they just gamble. Not so in the markets.
I mean psychologically. Casino is widely known to be gambling, addictive and somewhat "dangerous" in this sense. Trading is considered to be serious occupation, but contains emotional traps in it's process (due to being an odds game), which attracts persons subject to ludomania or simply amateurs looking for easy money. Result is natural.
It's very hard even for a person without gambling problem to operate in environment of odds, cause we instinctively look for certainty and stability. I remember the times when seriously tried to find "sure" trading signal.
Well.... I see this same thing on Bigmike's vendor section a lot... Last I looked they were talking about OPenTrader and some guys Ziad and Awas who promised to show daily pnl a year ago, and still haven't done it. LOL guys doesn't take a genius to see what is really going on. Even if those guys can make money trading, they probably make more by selling training and with less stress. Even Big mike admitted that he almost bankrupted himself daytrading futures. He had made money swing trading stocks and quit his job he hated to try and trade for a living. Almost went bankrupt with daytrading, lost enough money to make most grown men cry (his words). Thanks to the success of his forum however..... he hasn't had to return to the working world, and says he has found profitability in longer term trading. Maybe I missed some but I don't know of any BM traders who have become successful and make a consistent living from trading. However I have seen a number of BM members use their forum presence as a starting point to establishing an "educational vendor" operation! Seriously I don't care any more. This is simply a crazy business/industry to be involved in. I don't ask for any proof from anyone..... now just kick back with the popcorn box and enjoy the show PS I notice people been asking DB for proof for the past 15 years LOL http://boards.fool.com/open-letter-to-dbphoenix-and-others-13149329.aspx?sort=whole#13149329 http://boards.fool.com/dbphoenix-tell-us-about-your-returns-15392702.aspx?sort=whole#15403710
Have you seen that MFBreakout guy who claims hundreds of ticks profit per day on the CL, rain or shine!? All in delicious hindsight , ouf course! Cracks me up. So many are falling for it, though! He's obviously rounding people up for 'coaching for $$$$' - he's already setting 'homework' for students after getting email addresses. Those who have a genuine edge here (like sellindexvol among 1 or 2 others whose names most wouldn't recognise) are as quiet as church mice in terms of online presence. You'd never catch them giving their edges away. They might throw a bone in a PM if you're very lucky, though.....
There was once a thread over there asking how many had succeeded in making trading their primary source of income, and no one publicly responded in the thread. However someone said (paraphrasing) "Come on guys, MFbreakout makes thousands of dollars a day!!" LOL So yes some people do believe he is for real...
And still do, though I have yet to understand what difference it makes how much I earn or even if I earn anything at all. I've provided a detailed trading plan along with its rules, which few people do. All one has to do is read it and take it for a test drive for a couple of weeks, but the trolls never do. They never even bother to read it. They'd much rather feel sorry for themselves, which is the primary reason they continue to fail. I guess they think their comments bother me, but why should they? They're just anonymous online strangers.
Mark Douglas put it best I think: Rarely do any of us grow up learning how to operate in an arena that allows for complete freedom of creative expression, with no external structure to restrict it in any way. In the trading environment, you will have to make up your own rules and then have the discipline to abide by them. The problem is, price movement is fluid, always in motion, quite unlike the highly structured events that most of us are accustomed to. In the market environment, the decisions that confront you are as endless as the price movements you intend to take advantage of. You don't just have to decide to participate, you also have to decide when to enter, how long to stay in, and under what conditions to get out. There is no beginning, middle, or end - only what you create in your own mind.
mfbreakout used to post here. He posted entries and exits at prices that had not even traded. I do not believe he can trade at the hard right edge. He is, however, a master of hindsight trading.