I'm enjoying the real time posting, it's keeping me from trading like a moron. Your comments appreciated.
His handle is "ChartingMarkets". Actually, now at TradeSports you can bet on sports even while the game is on (it's a futures exchange which covers all sorts of games and events). But his view of trading is definitely the one I subscribe to. Hey guys and gals I had a few beers tonight. So after 15 years from when I first started playing around with game theory and evolved in to the person I am today that focuses on trading in the stock market I feel its time to share some thoughts on what keeps me focused when I am trading. I used to be told all the time and still am by those who ask what I do for a living that "isn't that gambling"? I say why yes it is! Its called professional gambling and I don't recommend it to the closed minded and stupid (LOL). Seriously folks people all over the world who will never trade have the belief that trading is just another form of gambling. Now anybody can make the case, that for the majority of people who trade it is just another outlet for the emotional highs of winning quick money and getting that adrenaline rush. For me its something different it's a business, but, moreover here is what drew me to it years ago and still to this day I utilize it as a cornerstone philosophy. It started when I was in College back in 87 when like my other college friends we would all bet on Football, Basketball, Baseball. I wasn't a major gambler, I was always looking for the statistical edge, I did my research. I looked at teams that had statistical edges Against The Spread (ATS) in many different areas and would look for the most confluence on any one game and bet that side. You know what happened...with that strategy the best I could do was breakeven and pay my vig to the bookie. My friends would lose overall but I was breaking even and danm it if I was not researching for 3 hours a day before game time I could not get better than breakeven. I majored in Finance at University of Buffalo, I would read books on the stock market on my own, not required by my University but because I was fascinated with the stock market. One day like Peanut butter and Chocolate I had an epiphany while watching a football game I had bet on. My epiphany: I was getting +5 points on a road team that I was sure had the statistical edge to cover the game. However at half time the other team was up by 35 points! I had a rather large bet on that game and I was thinking to myself wouldn't it be great if I could just call my bookie and say to him "hey Fat Tony its half time I would like to take only half a loss on my bet and pull the rest out". That way I could take my remaining half of the bet and try to win it back by making it work for me on a better opportunity aka a 4pm game. Wouldn't that be wonderful in fantasy land! Unfortunately in sports betting as in other forms of gambling you keep the wager on for an all or nothing expectation even when you know the resulting outcome is going to be a loss far in advance of the ending. Right there I finally stopped betting. That was it for me. It was the best loss I ever took in my life. It opened my mind to what the stock market was all about. In the stock market if your in a losing trade, you don't have to sit their as a passive loser to zero, you can simply call it an ending when you see the trade is not going your way. More importantly the flip side is when your in a trade that is going your way and you see that your up and its unfolding to become an absolute layup of a trade you can add to your bet and win even more. Wait a second you cant do that in sports gambling. You can do that in blackjack they call it doubling down but even thats not as close to being as superior as what the stock market allows your to do. Its complete independence in the stock market. I knew right there that trading was going to be my future. I knew that with just this cornerstone philosophy to build upon I would one day obtain financial abundance and a method that virtually allows me to extract money on a consistent basis, almost at will when seen through the eyes of disbelief from the naysayers. All the while those same naysayers would whisper in my ears its gambling you cant win its rigged! I would say to them yes its gambling for you for me its paradise. Thanks for allowing me to share this with you ET. Now back to my drinking.