I cant wait to see Jack Hershey and Spydertrader's performance.. what an opportunity for them to prove SCT to us all... right?
No again. It's all relative. While I (and most retail traders) don't operate on that level, there have been some who have passed through here who do (chancy1, Rearden Metal). The gains and losses as percentage of total capital are probably pretty much consistent across the board. The amount of capital that one is working with, is irrelevant (in fact, if you have the money to lose, losing a mil is probably a lot easier than losing 5 G's). Good trading, JJ
Oh, come on! What are the odds that "losing $1Mil is easier than losing $5k?"... that's a stupidass comment. If you have put up $1Mil for the contest, others may view that as "significant". If you put up $5k (regardless of how precious that is to you), others will view it as pocket change. So if $5k is significant to you, the ONLY way you can make it appear significant to others is to enter, re-enter, re-enter the contest(s) until you've demonstrated long enough that you can "handle the market". One 3-month period of huge results is more likely to be a matter of luck rather than skill.
Larry Williams won a trading contest at a time when time stamps were a serious problem in the markets. Also, at around the time stamps were a serious concern, Larry's own trading account was doing well while his managed accounts were simultaneously doing exceptionally poorly... Does anyone hear the wake-up call? Yes, Pekelo, it was indeed a different time back then, amenable to certain "strategies." Time stamps have since been investigated by the FBI* and, rather coincidentally, Larry doesn't manage anyone else's money any more. * You may wish to read "Brokers, Bagmen, and Moles: Fraud and Corruption in the Chicago Futures Markets" by David Greising and Laurie Morse.
<i>"What is it about contests that bring out the ugly in traders?"</i> I was wondering the same thing. It's no big deal... just a new contest to play or pass on. What's all the fuss about?
Regardless of the truth and correctness of what you are saying here T-Dog, note: ... his daughter entered the competition and won. You ever read any of his stuff? ... so what if the old dog has more than one trick up his sleeve, the point is, he's got'em! Good trading, JJ
It's not the contests which bring out the ugly... it's the braggadocio and trash-talking about them. THE reason for the bigger money contests in the 80's and 90's, was that there was lots of bragging and little actual performance... no different from today. The contests sifted the "wheat from the chaff"... too bad we don't still have them.
If the $ at risk was small, the win means little. (If she'd entered a few contests and finished consistently high, that would mean more.)