Traders rarely try to make their money from other traders (if they could even realize them on the tape consistantly from the MM(s).) The real money is made from institutions that must put money to work and when that dries up [There are more esoteric edges, but those are even less likely to be discused.] Markets where all you have is traders and very little investment money are mature markets. In fact most professional traders shy away from those markets unless they are market makers. However, your point is well taken. If you look through ET, 99% of what is talked about here is of very little value in actually extracting money from the markets. The good posts aren't about working strategies because anything of direct value is not going to be disclosed on an anonymous trading board. The good posts are about things that are philosophical in nature that is intersting to discuss, or things that can save you money by avoiding pitfalls when first learning like internet connections or monitor setups or rule changes, risk management, tape reading, how do I use FIX, proper psychological approaches, what is delta and gamma, etc. The basics that must be in place to know how to get to the next step. Much can be learned at ET about the business of trading - but no one is going to give you the fish inspite of all the journals you see, and beware of all of those that want to "mentor" you, especially chatroom operators nitro
Trading is like any other business. 80%+ fails, 15 % do ok, 5 % very good. The markets will never be perfect. As such it will always be possible to make money. Within the next 10 years you will see another extreme period that late 90s/early 2000 were. For now you got to work for your return. Its how it is. If you can make good returns with very low VIX. Imagine then what you can make in high volatile market. ORM
The key is knowing and then going where the action and volume is and avoiding the various sector chopshops (even if they once proved lucrative). As a US equity trader, Energy was definitely the place earler this year until the post-Katrina hangover set in. Now it is in tech....NASDAQ at nearly 5 year highs. MRVL SNDK AQNT ISRG GOOG YHOO etc. It's hard to understand how anyone who has been in this business for > 2yrs is NOT making decent money at this time. Chartiste
Fom Kicking (quoted in Italics). Yes trading is becoming ever more difficult it seems without taking bigger risks. Too much competition, it's like any other business. No, its fine. Daytraders slowly dying ? Not for winners. Just become King of the Heap. Losers and those that lose their way are just a progression replaced by more wannabes. Looking for a new edge ? Sometimes there is no more edge to be had in your market. Forget so-called edges. Master the market and you master yourself.
What's next? I'm not asking to look for free handouts, not am I asking to be inflammatory. I guess I'm wondering how you'll pick the next sector and how you'll time your entries into that sector. If you were long in those sectors of course you made money, but how do you personally suggest preventing coming to the party late?
The market never really changes. It just goes through cycles where the dumb money gets weeded out over time.
You need to trade on a set of ideas and beliefs you have you bet on your ideas your ideas have to be sound though. Its not easy as christise said, I think this trader only mentions this as an after the fact statement. But if you have good ideas, with good knowledge about what may happen in the near future, you bet on it, some bets pay off some bets don't. thats how it is.
As principally an intraday trader, this is not "an after the fact statement", it is a reasoned determination of where current volume, volatilitiy and therefore profit opportunities are highest. I defected from the energy sector as its leadership faltered (VLO made a lower high at the beginning of November). At that point, one could sense money being sucked out of energy and poured into technology. Chartiste
As mainly an intraday trader,timing isn't as important to me as just a realization of where the action is. That being said, I am certainly going to be placing several position shorts (in January) on the fundamentally and technically weaker sisters that have been desperately clinging onto the side of these tech boats as they have floated upward into year-end. Chartiste