I second that patefern!! Hey murray, seems like you might have some good things to pass on to us occasionally, but your sentence structures are pathetic. Take a look at almost every other post around here and take your writings to a little higher level. I like hearing from you, but could you consider more clarity? O.K....Enough for English class....Now back to our regularly scheduled programming....... BSAM
limiting beliefs. What do you provide? Nothing really. But do you have to provide to feel fulfill? Then use the money you made, to make a difference. Think of it this way, if you "Decide" to contribute a certain % of your profit to whatever cause that you believe in, for example for orphans or some education programs or whatever, then the more you make, the more you can contribute, the more you can make a difference, the more you will feel fullfilled. Sometimes, maybe you are not cmofortable making that much money, you feel a sense of guilt, a sense of all this money is going to change me and alienate me from all my friends and such. There are a million of reason that our own brain can come up with to convince us to go back to our "comfort zone", not to push the envelope and not to take more risks. Try reading "Unlimited Power" by Anthony Robbins and listen to his tapes, it will help you.
Have to agree with stockkbroker. In order to be able to help other people through charitable giving, you need to have the money first. Ain't much you can do for others if you're broke.
As silly as this kind of moral handwringing sounds, I know it can have very adverse effects on careers, and not just traders. Many successful professionals hit some sort of career wall just at the point they seem to be achieving lift-off, and the damage is often self-inflicted, eg drugs, marital problems, "burnout", foolish mistakes, mid-life crises. The reason often is a subconscious fear of success, produced by inner feelings of inadequacy, low self worth or guilt. To cope, the person self-sabotages their career, hence no more pressure or guilt. For traders it can be unusually graphic in that we tend to run into a wall defined by account equity or trade size. Ask yourself: " Is there some invisible limit I keep bumping into?" If so, a good investment may be a few sessions with a clinical psychologist.
The more I think this through, the more I believe it all comes down to personal self worth. What 'value' does a Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods provide? Entertainment, perhaps? But they can earn huge sums because they have worked harder than most and truly become masters of their craft. They truly believe that they've 'earned it'. Once we survive beyond the 'newbie' stage, I think all of us know what the correct mechanics are to be successful. You 'know' when you're in a bad trade. You 'know' when you've broken your rules. You just 'know'.... But why did you do do those wrong things? The opportunity's all right there in front of you, laid out for your taking. You can choose to give yourself as much money as you'd like. It's your psychology that holds you back -- or frees you to move forward. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. I've got plenty to think about now and some issues to work through. I'll shut up now... ;-) maybe that is my problem -- I think too much!
I agree with Stokkbroker...if you're having moral issues use the money you make to help the less fortunate... There's a good lin ein the movie "WallStreet" that Hal Holbrook says to Charlie Sheen....something about how the wealth they create eventually helps industries grow...blah blah blah as for myself...I grew up with nearly nothing...and I've worked hard for what I have, and when I can I give to charities, homeless etc...even do some volunteer stuff around the Holidays.
There are not all that many jobs where you can look at yourself and say the world is better off today. I know in my old job I frequently tried to help people and I always tried to do the right thing and yet people didn't care. Most if not all would have preferred I do everything for free all the time. So for me trading is the right vehicle. Now what does tick me off is when Warren Buffet makes statements about short term traders being inferior to investors. I wonder what makes him so good for society. Is it because he bought KO cheap, held it for some years and then sold it for dear? Gee Warren society thanks you. Sorry I will get off the box now. Do you think WB reads this board. Maybe he can respond with the tag line Warren Buffet "not an alias". (just messing around Don, no harmful intent).
To elaborate on Madison's comment. I came from Eastern Europe and I know how an economy works without the proper pricing mechanism. It doesn't. How about the shortage of toilet paper? How does it sound? Conclusion, if I make 1M a year participating (trading) in the market place as a consequence there is just the right amount of toilet roll for every @#$hole in the US I feel I deserve the money.
you might consider yourself just as an ordinary merchant. other merchants buy and sell cars (or whatever stuff). you buy and sell stocks, futures, ... if you want to sell a contract - you sell it to somebody who wants to buy it from anybody. if wou want to buy - you buy it from somebody who wants to sell it to anybody. you take part in a market - like any other merchant does. so what? every trader also pays taxes, health insurance, ... (and of course feeds his broker ...). and if you - as a selfemployed trader can make a living - somewhere out there is one less unemployed - because you did not take his job. enough benefits - imho we could also say that every merchant is a speculator somehow. maybe you also want to check out this nice article: http://www.ruthroosevelt.com/article_attitude.html good luck!