Is'nt it good to be sick - I can sit and chat on the internet without a worry in the world. In any case, I meant to say that I have yet to hear anyone making serious money (we are not talking 100K a year) trading their OWN money. As soon as someone opens a hedge fund - well, they are most probably not trading their own money and it is likely that they have some X millions under management. They are a corporation then. Otherwise, as you probably know, most liquidity problems persist longer then the traders can stay solvent. I have seen someone trade options from their home and make a good living before 9/11 - he was writing deep OTM puts on S&P500
I wouldn't disagree but many MM on the floor never make that kind of many either. Also, there are some very good reasons that the business has been trending, sharply I would say, towards large groups and banks. This is not easy and there isn't a lot of edge.
It doesn't "get you" if you manage your positions well as any good trader "should" ... such that those 20-25% are not elephant-sized losses while you took 80% of bird-sized profits! :eek: Ice
In a general sense you are probably right (allthough I personally know one big exception to this), and the example you are giving is rather typical I'm afraid of some people looking for a quick buck in options. But then again more than 95% of the population never make that kind of money in any job.
All the best traders I've run into all plead poverty. Our exchange (the wonderful Minneapolis Grain Exchange, the greatest exchange in the world) had a members' dinner.... free drinks and all. So what did these guys do after? Go to bar and drink some more. Naturally the talk got around to how much people made. One BSD after another swore they were barely making it. Then some Einstein got wondered how it was possible that no one was making money. Everyone chuckled and stopped asking how much money they were making. A real trader will never answer that question straight.
The funny thing is he mocked Metooxx for being pithy. Whomever Metooxx is, he advocates finding a low tax scheme to help multiply your profits. It seams like very sound advice. Depending on how the current tax legislation comes out(plus my end of year P&L), I may follow it.
Puffygums said "A real trader will never answer that question straight." Interesting reply. It's always been my opinion that most people aren't successful at trading and instead of not telling the truth, they simply opt to tell you nothing and let you draw your own conclusions. But you are talking about people who you feel are successful. Why do you suppose they would not want to discuss it? Human nature typically demonstrates that when someone does something well, they want to tell everyone. Not to mention the fact that a successful trading record is a very valuable thing. Why do you suppose real traders do not discuss their results more candidly?