POLL (Trading): If you knew then what you knew now...

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by rcanfiel, Feb 11, 2008.

[b]POLL (Trading): If you knew then what you knew now, what would you change?[/b]

  1. Change brokers

    3 vote(s)
    3.3%
  2. Learned more about psychology

    6 vote(s)
    6.7%
  3. Money management

    13 vote(s)
    14.4%
  4. Become more risk averse

    4 vote(s)
    4.4%
  5. Learn more about TA

    3 vote(s)
    3.3%
  6. Avoid TA

    4 vote(s)
    4.4%
  7. Learn more about fundamentals

    2 vote(s)
    2.2%
  8. Fundamentals don't help

    2 vote(s)
    2.2%
  9. Gone into the industry, IB, prop firm, hedge fund, etc.

    5 vote(s)
    5.6%
  10. Studied engineering/programming

    3 vote(s)
    3.3%
  11. Never trade

    4 vote(s)
    4.4%
  12. Prevent my friends from trading

    3 vote(s)
    3.3%
  13. start my own advisory service

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  14. Study price action until my eyeballs fell out

    21 vote(s)
    23.3%
  15. Found a mentor

    3 vote(s)
    3.3%
  16. Focused on a different instrument (class)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  17. Start with more money

    5 vote(s)
    5.6%
  18. Start with less money/Papertrade for a LONG time

    8 vote(s)
    8.9%
  19. Would have studied more about successful traders

    1 vote(s)
    1.1%
  1. mister_x

    mister_x

    Haha...I didn't think many would agree on that one too! Either we are all lemmings or really think like good traders :p
     
    #11     Feb 13, 2008
  2. If I were you, I would be really worried. That category has over 30% of the respondents. If it is true that 95% of the traders lose money, then traders in that category certainly belong to the 95% losers.
     
    #12     Feb 13, 2008
  3. That 95% lose money is a belief, no one knows for sure. The question is, "what would you differently?" so this reflects improved knowledge. Thirdly, ET is a traders' community, so the likelihood is that there are a higher % of successful traders than the worldwide "beginner" set.

    Most of the successful traders tend to gravitate towards price action, so I suggest the number is rather accurate.
     
    #13     Feb 13, 2008
  4. Fund your account with money you don't need. I traded with money I needed to use for a ballon payment on real estate due 18 months down the road. (There's some risk for ya).

    The clock ran out on my winning streek. My errors redeemed. It wouldn't have been life changing money by some standards but I would have been exhonerated. Nutmeg will rise again.
     
    #14     Feb 13, 2008
  5. sim03

    sim03

    You forgot to add "I think that..." or "In my opinion..."

    I am not aware of any empirical evidence either for or against that weasel statement. Practically speaking, such evidence would be extremely hard to come by.

    If anything, I would not be surprised to find out that a higher % of fully automated, system traders - themselves almost certainly in the minority - are profitable than of the other kinds of traders. Your poll is conspicuously missing a choice along the lines of "Learn more about developing ATS." (Studied engineering/programming is somewhat related, but not nearly close enough... there is much more to ATS R&D.)
     
    #15     Feb 13, 2008
  6. mnx

    mnx

    you forgot the option of I'd change nothing... LOL

    or "skip going to university so I could start trading 4 years earlier"

    - mnx
     
    #16     Feb 13, 2008
  7. I don't want to discourage you from conducting polls (none of my business), but the defects of your polls must be exposed so that traders reading your poll results won't be misled. So what I am going to say is not against you, but to serve the traders involved.

    For a survey sample's result (e.g. "most of the successful traders tend to gravitate towards price action") to be valid (i.e., generalizable to the population), certain criteria must be met:

    1. sample is randomly selected
    2. sample is NOT self-selected
    3. every member of the trading population has an equal opportunity of being selected
    4. sample has a large enough size

    Otherwise, the results of your survey are invalid.

    I am still puzzled at your conclusion of "most of the successful traders." Your poll never asked the filter question of "Are you a successful trader? If yes, proceed to answer the following question." How do you know the respondents are successful traders?
     
    #17     Feb 13, 2008
  8. Joab

    Joab

    If I knew now then I would have

    Dated cheaper women :eek:
     
    #18     Feb 13, 2008
  9. axehawk

    axehawk

    This poll needs more choices.
     
    #19     Feb 14, 2008
  10. r-in

    r-in

    I would become a top secret agent and stash away as many of the toys as I could and then use them to kill and torture all the lying SOB's in the trading business. I admit to falling for any number of the get rich easy BS'ers when I got started, and while I take full responsibility for being stupid, I would also still want to take out the trash to prevent others from going through all that garbage. :D
     
    #20     Feb 14, 2008