The barriers to entry are much higher in construction. You can buy a toolbelt but without getting a client you really aren't in the construction business. However, an Etrade application is a click away. Any real economy business has higher barriers to entry. Secondly, once you establish yourself in a real industry you are likely to have some recurring business model. Unfortunately trading is not as recurring. Trading is definitely a less stable business model. This is why publicly traded trading/market making firms have lower PE's than real economy firms. But trading very clean and very leveragable, which real economy businesses are not. If your strategy really works it's easy to x10 it. It's much harder to x10 a successful real economy business.
From his story, it sure sounds like he was lousy....just didn't realize it soon enough. A 'very good' trader doesn't find himself blowing up 6 months of profits (and then some) in one bad month again and again, they just don't.
jesus h christ guys, these sob stories are so avoidable. Trading is not rocket science. Yeah, I lost money in the beginning but not enough to put me in the poor house or declare bankruptcy. Like anything else, I stuck to it and developed discipline and now I make a nice living relatively stress free. If you had one ounce of discipline and followed some fairly simple rules and were emotionally mature, you could have avoided a lot of heartache. To each his own, but for the emotionally secure, mature and stable individuals who are thinking about a career in trading... it can be done. Hell, if I can do...(and I'm not the brightest bulb, but I'm not a gambler either) then anyone has a good shot at it.. it all depends on how bad you want it and how quickly you can adapt. If your not pulling the trigger on losing trades, hoping to get your money back, then your a loser. It's really that simple. There is no way in hell you should be losing that kind of money if you followed a plan with rules. It kind of frustrates me to read these kind of stories from people who have no business trading in the first place and have no idea what it takes to be successful attempting to advise and discourage those who take this business serious and treat it with respect. The best that can be said about these kind of stories is don't do what this guy did. Thats a far cry from telling someone they shouldn't trade and can't be a successful trader.
Hey Samus, fireplace, sniper and anyone else out there who would like to chime in, please see my previous post (regarding my trading plan). I'm trying to build a solid basis over time while reminding myself that the profits I'm taking are much easier b/c I don't need them to survive. That being said, I value my $$ and I do what I can to not only keep them but watch them grow. Fireplace in particular, you seem like a positive but realistic guy and I'd really value your opinion (along with everyone else). what do you guys think of my approach? Any feedback is greatly appreciated
It sounds like you have a solid plan in place, I personally am not nearly as diversified in my active trading as you are. Your goal should be to always remind yourself of your trading plan while trading each account and keeping in mind what each account represents. The futures acct sounds like it may be the riskiest for you? If so, make sure you keep your risk where you can handle it as futs mkt can be painful when you are on the wrong side. Sorry, this response sounds kind of generic but your post didn't strike me as someone who needed too much help....sounds like you thought it out pretty well
OMG WTF this thread is so depressing. It isn't the stories of losses that are depressing, it is the failure of people to stop trading if they are losing money. This is no different than running any other business. If you are losing money, you stop what you are doing and rewire your operation. Or get out before you bust out. Yes, trading is difficult. But it is IMPOSSIBLE if you don't clearly know what you are doing and why, and if you can't stop doing the same bad things with the same bad results, day after day. I regret the OP didn't realize his dreams. But when I read of somebody trashing a 600K account, well, sorry, but that ain't trading. That's just tossing dice everyday.
Thanks, that's really appreciated The Futures acct is my wild card but I do enjoy some active trading and its not a large sum of money - enough to trade comfortably but not enough to hurt me if I blow it (not my plan though) If you don't mind my asking, do you focus solely on equities? Always curious to see what area people have success in. BTW, no apologies necessary - happy to bounce ideas off people when I can! cheers
Not to kick anyone when they're down... but the only way you can lose the farm is if you bet the farm. Just saying.