Here is a passage from Adam Smith's book the Wealth of Nations: "By pursuing his own self interest, every individual is led by an invisible hand to promote the public interest". I want the traders to define in the above quote the meaning of: 1. The "self interest" as it relates to traders. 2. The "public interest" that a trader promote via the invisible hand. 3. Any other points you wish to add/discuss. I think the discussion of the above will clarify many things about the profession of securities trading. Is it an unusual profession? It is very important to identify answers to the above question. If you cannot answer or you do not see answers, then it is likely that you would fail in trading if you are not already losing money!