There is absolutely *nothing* in the definition of zero sum games that relates to them being "difficult" to play, easy to play, or any scale in between. ((Not to be pedantic or anything, but if I had a nickel for every ET post that abused "zero sum" over the past 12-18 months, I would be a well-funded fund, I would. )) It's just not that hard a term......
a little logical thinking is required here... zero sum game, stock market in particular probably has an average IQ better than 100... call it 110.. now imagine the bell curve, what IQ points are needed to get to the tail to become a winner? where as in a positive sum game you just need to in the fat part of the curve to be a net winner. by the way using the term IQ loosely here, the ability to win in trading does not matching 100% to a standard IQ test, but is fairly close.... so call it 135-140 ish... do you have what it takes? I am not coming up with these numbers from the thin air... industry stats says 1% make enough to live on... and 135-140 ish IQ is about 1/100.
I think this is mostly cause by fear and worry of loosing our funds to failed investments. But am sure like you have said we can fight this problem and win.
You are correct; a little logic is needed. You need to realize that zero-sum situations are navigated by lab mice, that they have nothing at all to do with the game being "difficult" or not -- as indeed, most ARE not difficult -- and that to believe otherwise is to attribute the following to being a documentary rather than fantasy.
Having a high IQ will not guarantee you will make monies in the stockmarket. The aspiring traders who probably, will fail are the ones deemed the smartest. For the reason that they cannot accept the fact that they can be wrong! Ego. If you are a very smart person, you probably, have a large ego and that attitude is what would lead you to implode and lose all your monies. Someone without baggage and can think objectively, of what is actually, happening in the stock he has a position in versus assuming that what he believes will naturally, happen next! In your field, whatever it is, you are probably, an expert. In the stockmarket, you are dealing with people with street smarts who actually, know what they are doing! In this case, you are chopped liver, way in over your head! A lot of traders cannot handle the losing part which is the most important thing one must learn to be a good trader!
Also, very intelligent people have certain strengths (in their own profession) that could be a weakness in trading.
dozu888, do both! Trade and invest in SP 500 every month. Trading is not hard, just require about +5 years and training and lots of practice. The hard and challenging part is the time commitment and running your own business. My bigggest challenging is putting in the work. Studying. Reviewing my trades, knowing who to listen to, what to read, what video training to watch, what is bullshit, what is not bullshit. managing my emotions, training my emotions. It's work. But all work is good work if the work leads to making money.
I hate losing, from day one to now, I detest it with every cell of my body, has NOTHING to do with ego, I am actually humble, has nothing to do with wanting to be right. It has to do with someone else is holding my funds for awhile till systems can steal it back. Has to do with my percentages of drawdown going up. To me EXPERT is defined by knowing the stats extremely well to their method of trade. And I am seldom wrong-I know how to order my Starbucks coffee, the systems took losses so as to keep it as non personal as possible. And having automation is fantastic, I can have a really crappy day in my life and trading keeps chugging along. And being smart does help, you know the questions to ask others who are going to do the programming while I read the news at Starbucks. So at some point you figure out the only part you can actually control for most area is losing. Then you formulate ways to get drawdowns very low to further control losing, then instead of thinking of the money, you think in terms of percentages, money is a secondary event that keeps score of how you are doing, takes stress off. I don't know how life is having a medium or low IQ, I have enough frustrating life in my own little world, at least I can hide away at Starbucks drinking coffee few times a day. I actually think @smallfil has an high IQ and he trying to sucker in more low IQ traders, Bait as we call them, so we can steal more of their money.
Thanks for the compliment but, I have only a small account not much to steal from other traders. Being retired, I also, spend what I earn in the stockmarket. I think for the most part, it is the big traders who take pretty much from everyone else. Just saying a lot of high IQ people do not do well in the stockmarket. They think in different terms and a lot of times cannot handle the losses or being wrong. Each person is different and does not apply to you because you use applications for the most part so, the emotion is removed from your trading. Nobody wants to lose monies and each loss stings just the same! Still, how you handle your losses will decide whether you succeed or fail in the stockmarket.