I find it funny how the old timers just can not belive the numbers being put up. They're still stuck in the day where making 30K USD a day was the high life. I know a couple of 20 something who average that everyday. There are many lone wolf traders out there who make more in a day. You'll never hear about them because they keep their head down and ther business to themselves. As for negative days not being posted? Posting a loss demotivates the person, why dwell on a loss when there is tomorrow to trade. When you notice a regular poster miss a day, take it as him having a bad day. Being able to post numbers every day is a big motivational tool, maybe you should try it.
I discovered the P§L thread early this year, it has really eye-opening and inspiring... If there is one thread to follow on the internet, it must be this one. Before watching it, i didn't knew that it was possible to have a 3 month homerun with no losing day like Szeven is making. More than the profits made, the consistancy they have is incredible. I'm working harder and harder hoping to reach this kind of results one day, and my results constantly increased this year. It's also great to see that it is possible for retail traders( thanks not4kids for example ), as others are mostly prop. God Bless Szeven, Lescor, EricP, MBA, not4Kids,Dustin, RedInk.... for sharing because voluntarily or not, they give indications on their trading and are quite exposed... Thanks again, you're my heroes.
Got this PM just today (I deleted the ET'ers name). I've come to look at it this way, the more PM's I get from non-believers, the more I believe that I've become a successful trader. That being said, I knew when I started posting on P/L thread the first of this year that I would be opening myself up to a certain "risk." For that reason, I created an alias. I have 1 other ET username that better identifies me and I have been an ET member since 2002. I don't post very often but I contribute where I can. The "risk" I'm referring to is security primarily. I'd hate to have a criminal find out who I am, where I live, etc. Google tells all sometimes! Am I paranoid? Perhaps. So some skeptics don't believe me. So what. That's their problem. I post P/L for my own discipline, nothing else. If it helps inspire others, great! Some traders definitely inspire me by their results. My results are real to me and my bank and that's all that really matters. Personally I believe everyone's P/L that gets posted. Some trade $5000 accounts, some trade $5 million dollar accounts. We have no idea of most people's trading capital. A $500 gain by a poster is very believable right? A nice 10% day to the $5k guy! But a $100,000 gain is not? That's only 2% of a $5million acct... Makes the $500 seem a bit suspicious!
I just wanted to say I get a lot out of the real P/L thread. 2 people who are inspirations are dustin and mba. those of u chiding mba,remember back in january of this year he was posting losing days for weeks straight.I mean everyday.Let me say it again, he was posting losing days for months.Where have u guys seen somone do that before? My one question about mba is why hasnt his incredible success gone to his head yet and brought him down to earth. just a thought blackguard
If you need to see others doing well in order to believe that great money can be made in the markets daily, you are a follower and not a self motivator. The only true inspiration you need comes from seeing all the money thats out there everyday and avaliable to anyone willing to learn this great game. That being said, the guys who post consistently and do well, I am happy for them and hope they continue to succeed.
I have posted every single day to the P/L thread in streaks of several months, a couple times. Eventually it gets cumbersome, or I'm too busy after the close and I just stop. Now I'll post monthly or on certain interesting days. My motivation is really just to give back to this site that has provided so much to me. I've made much money with ideas I've picked up or researched here and I like to contribute back. I also use it as a way to meet up with other successful traders. ET, and specifically the p/l thread, has put me in touch with some amazingly good guys, most of whom I've met in person, all of whom I chat with regularly. What hanging with these guys has shown me is that there is gobs of money to be made in the markets at any time, in any environment and with far less downside risk than what most would consider possible. The non-believers are incredulous because they are looking at things from only their perspective. They are in a certain circle of peers and have exposure to a certain segment of professional traders. Therefore what they know as 'possible' and 'impossible' is defined by what they believe to be 'normal'. To the believers, the new traders, the under capitalized guys still building their stake, I say keep following, keep motivated and keep working. When you 'get there' it's like crossing an invisible barrier and your growth as a trader takes off and you can take more money out of the market than what you now believe is possible.
I still say it is impossible to make 10% per month trading without taking on sizable risk. 99% of the stuff on these message boards is false anyway. By the way, I am up 2% on the year so what I say means nothing to you pros out there.
I've learned a long time ago from academics, sports and trading that there will always be non-believers. (Believe It or Not) Academics - Jeff got a perfect score on the organic chem exam when he barely passed the prior exam!!! Sports - Johnny pitched back to back no-hitters in professional baseball. Heck, none of the great pitchers of all time were able to do that!!! Trading - +20 consecutive profitable trading days. That's not possible!!! Further, there are many successful people in many different job careers that brag about their success while many do not. Just the same, there are many multi-millionairs that do brag while many do not. However, there's rarely secrecy. The neighbors know, the relatives know, the close friends know, those in the same professional field know... No secrecy but many may be private. I personally know a few successful traders that do not brag. However, I also personally know a few successful traders that do brag. Simply, I'm sure there are successful traders at ET that do not discuss openly their success at ET. However, there are others that want the whole world to know. Traders are no special breed and we behave just like any one else in a different career. Simply, I believe those that post their spectacular results in the Trader P/L 2007 thread and I do agree its bragging. Then again, who has never brag about something in their life that they are very proud about at one time or another??? I can't think of one person I know that has never bragged about something. Further, more importantly, just because I can't achieve the same success... I'm not ignorant enough to think nobody else can do it (it's all a lie) especially since I've accomplish a few things in my own life that's worthy of a brag (read P.S. commentary below). By the way, the volatility in the market has been great since late July. Any trader making big profits since late July when they were just the average profitable traders prior to July... It's believable especially if that same trader had a big month of profits in March and June because those months the volatility was above normal. P.S. As a teenager when I was in great shape, I did 120 full situps in 4 mins. Next in the following 4 mins, I did 178 full pushups. Has anybody here at ET done better than that (back to back situps and pushups)??? My best friend in high school once had sex with three different girls in the same night and they weren't even drunk. Mark (a.k.a. NihabaAshi) Japanese Candlestick term