It seems the key rules to beating the market are these...

gme from 30 to 650 might as well have.

 

Dude, first things first. TQQQ gives you x3 return and you can’t lose more than you invested (unlike futures). But there is no free lunch, and so it has a cost or “time decay”. How much exactly? I’ll tell ya not one but two ways how to compute it.
1) look at its actual performance over say 5 years, divide that by 3 and then compare it to the plain QQQ return - you will be behind, by a lot
2) being able to leverage x3 without ever a margin call ought to cost about as much as constantly buying out of money puts, at strikes 33% below. Those puts are not expensive but buying them year in year out will cost you, 3-5% a year by my reckoning.

 

Have you looked at the returns of TQQQ?
last year 82%, year before that 107%, the year before that 155%

Even with TQQQ hovering around $50 now, for every $1 you invested 5 years ago (let's say the open on first trading day of Jan 2017) you'd have $10 now (and that's even after this years -year to date- 35% decline).

 

Cherry picking

How would TQQQ have performed during the 2002 and 2007 bear markets then Nasdaq 100 went down -60% or more from it's ATH?

 

Sometimes we over complicate things, keep things simple is how I have made progress.

 

I think there is real insight and skill in placing orders in advance of tops and bottoms if you can read where price may go as it approaches those areas. I still don't think it is necessary however.

 

You got that right. My trading results dramatically, improved once, I simplified my trading system. The more complicated something is, the more apt for you to make numerous mistakes which are very costly.

 

you left out short selling. I am a short sell specialist. But for whatever reason very few traders and even less investors will short. I personally increased my results BIG TIME when I added short selling a few years ago, even in the raging bull market.

 

For me the secret to trading is not to lose all your money. The longer you stay in the market the higher chance of being profitable.

 

Trading tops and bottoms wheter it be by simply pattern Trading with double/Triple tops/bottoms or Supply Demand taps best way ideally to pull profits from the market