Please sir, allow me. stock_turder uses "online quotes," has a 17" monitor, lives with his parents, is worth a whopping $100kp), and the fact that his account has went from probably $75k(he's adds when he gets checks from work) to $110k over 3 years makes him think he's a brilliant investor. He will either never have a real life since $100k is barely enough to live on for a few years, or he will lose it all. Both of those outcomes are funny to me because anyone who gloats about having $100k must be a teenager.
Okay, first of all I don't claim to be a trader (yet), neither do I claim to know everything about the markets. I do, however, know something about logic and critical thinking. So tell me something. You sit here and state that the odds are historically in your favor for the market not decimating your account. You then go on to give two examples in the past 20 years of the market doing exactly what you stated statistically it would not do. What in the hell makes you think that the odds are in your favor? You also state that larger selloffs and bear markets are very improbable. But then you say that it happened twice in the past 20 years and you give an explanation as to why they happened. Regardless of WHY they happened... they happened. So to state that it is highly improbable is simply ignorant IMHO
The type of trading that is promoted here seems very risky. For example, trading energy futures, daytrading, prop trading on neckbleed leverage, holding stocks for a few minutes or seconds and then selling, shorting, calls/puts, etc. You cant get much riskier then the strategies presented here. There is nothing wrong with that because, in fact, the name of the website is "elitetrader". In visiting this website, you would expect there to be risky strategies. This is what is called "trading". This website is NOT about investing. Stocktrader is NOT a trader. He would be better off on another website, for example, one that promotes IBD type strategies or maybe the morningstar site. Instead, he chooses to infest this site and put other's people's ideas down when they dont match his own. Of course, people lose money from trading. Its a risky business, but one in which certain people have made the adult decision to get into. Do we really need some guy behind an anonymous nickname putting us all down because we decided that we wanted to join a prop firm or daytrade during our lunch hour at work or do whatever we do? I say that its high time they give the boot to this guy because his purpose here is to put down legitimate users. This guy is not here to trade, he is here to put real traders down. Steve Tvardek is a real trader who has turned 5 grand into over 200 grand at a prop firm. Stocktrader is nothing but a joke who has no blotters to offer us. All he has to offer this board is his remarks putting other people down and a portfolio modeled after what he sees on Mad Money. Plus he has to offer us his insecure attitude probably caused by his short dick and his inability to win over the ladies. These are personal problems that one should not deal with on a trading site.
110K in capital is nothing to sneeze at given how many people in this country are on the other side of the equation. However, it isn't much to gloat over. I have saved and traded my way to $225K and I still skip the morning Starbucks to save.
The wealthier a person is the more discriminating in their spending they tend to be (usually). If you placed a cup of coffee in front of someone like Eddie Lampert, Michael Bloomberg, etc. and you loudly proclaimed "That will be $5", I believe they will simply say "No thanks". Starbucks is somewhat obnoxious in that they can charge so much for a cup of coffee that really isnt that good. In fact, McDonald's coffee is far superior, the service a lot quicker and relatively inexpensive. I dont see someone who is successful in the business world letting themselves get ripped off at the local Starbucks by paying $5 for a fancy styrofoam cup of coffee. I can see why the Starbucks stock seems to be languishing. Personally, I stop off at the Mercedes dealership on my way to work where they have free coffee in their customer lounge which is oftentimes better then at Starbucks. Why should I pay when someone is offering it for free? Now thats business sense.
Too bad I cant see stocktraders replies in this thread since he has earned a spot on my "ignore" list. All I see is a blank spot where his message should be. Why should I read the replies from a 15 year old posing as a stocktrader?