Quite simply, to make a living from any performance activity means that you are consistently good at what you do. Not everyone has the talent, skill, or drive to be that successfulâin any field. How do you get there? It's estimated that if you want to be a professional musician it takes 10,000 hrs, or 4 hrs every day for 7 years. Roughly. If you just have a talent and you don't do this you can stick it up into your....!!!
I know, I know... that's good advice. I should just perpetuate the lies of the Securities Industry... Knowing that I have an advantage over the noobs coming in to get fleeced... And just smile... and EXPOIT them all the way to the bank. But no... to my detriment... I am a Slave to some weird Code of Honor... And insist on exposing the Myths that abound here... At least until they ban my ass. But I think that the real reason I protest... Is that the farcical "day trading" hoard has totally degraded this profession. 10 years ago you could go to a banquet... Tell everyone at the table that you're Trader... and get big-time respect. Today... Day Trading = Degenerate Gambler... So at the same banquet I have to chose my words very carefully... And portray myself as a "Hedge Fund Manager"... And often have to specifically distance myself from "day traders". So that pisses me off... Because what was once an Elite Profession... Has been degraded by millions of Pretenders.
This is a good question. (1) The whole wannabe Day Trading Horde is a drop in the bucket... maybe 1% of total volume. (2) I don't see anybody here seriously trading stocks I specialize in. Most n00bs just pile into suicidal, high profile, liquid, easy-to-trade areas like large caps, options, and commodity futures... Because it's sexy, sexy, sexy. Did I mention sexy? (3) My trading career started in early 90s... preceding the Day Trading Boom. So no impact on me... whether the Horde lives or dies.
Comparing trading to Surgery or Acting or Athletics is nonsense. Trading is a business. Its more closer to running a succesfull Grocery Store than any of the above.
I can definitely relate that what you're saying. I now just tell everyone that I develop automated trading systems for the financial markets (they just happen to be for personal use only ) and then change the subject. The same is now true for the real estate speculator ... it's now synonymous with "Flipper" and "Day Trader" and "Gambler".
The main question then becomes: Why does investing work for 50% or more while trading works only for 5-10% of the crowd. After all, investing is a type of trading, albiet long term.
just my 2 cents interesting article, but about the #2... this is something from my area of expertise... I'm a musician, over 22 years of experience... you can practice all you want, have an impressive resume, but if the job market tanks...well, you get the picture. It doesnt depend on how hard you try, or how good you are, the jobs simply aren't there. Trading on the other hand... the opportuities are there all the time, every day... So the way I see it, there is a relationship between how hard you study, and how much you make, no doubt here IMHO. The issue is to develop a working strategy.