I agree with this. Most of my profits come from riding big trends after those rare breakouts or reversals. I learned to trade by scalping though, so I'm used to limiting my position size. When I've caught a real move, I'm hesitant to take on anything more than 4,000 shares, even when I can see that kind of size is possible, just because it feels so unnatural. Think it was Soros (or Druckenheimer?) who said you can never be enough of a pig when you're right. Something I have to really work on. I think Douglas is talking more about class/religious/social norms some people have internalized that associate excessive income with bad character. I think a lot of people have a ceiling on their earning potential simply because of who they are, and what they think is "normal" or "good."
Hey, guys? GUILT? Get with the fucking program here. Send your profits to a childrens charity if that's the way you feel? As for taking money from the market.............don't get me swearing.
What kind of $$$ do you net out of the market annually? I think there are definiely things holding some back that have to do with guilt because once you make enough to live comfortably, its hard to "justify" making more. Of course I know it sounds crazy but the human subconscious is powerful and if it thinks you have enough, its hard to convince it otherwise.
If you don't believe class, culture, the subconscious, etc. affect decision making then you're lacking some pretty basic education.
What is your current level of success in the financial markets? You havent answered this question yet.