IMO it can be learned by those with some natural attributes suited to it. Britney Spears or Mike Tyson could never become a succesful trader, no matter how long they spent getting taught. Just the same as I couldn't be a pop singer or a heavyweight boxer, not matter how long or how much $$$ I spent.
the most important part is most people are poor, they do not have the money to trade. when they think they may lose $500 a day even $3000 a day, they will commit suicide or their wife will file divorce with them since their daily income level may just be around $100~$500........... only few people has the money, and 90% people are poor (or so called middle class), that is why only few can make a living on trading. if you have 1billion, I bet you will be the king of the trader group since you have no fear
I continue to disagree. But it is one-way. I believe Spears and/or Tyson COULD be taught to be a succesful trader. On the other hand, YOU being taught to be a SUCCESSFUL singer or a SUCCESSFUL prof athlete depends on innate ability. A singer requires at least a minimal innate skill-set. For instance, being tone-deaf, or more specifically, not able to differentiate sounds or vibrations would be a problem. The act of singing can still be learned but the innate ability can not. A pro athlete requires at least a minimal innate skill-set, dependent on the athletic activity itself. For instance, it is not probable or realistic for Tyson to become a successful Jockey due solely to innate charateristics. Just as it would not be probable for someone with a heart-murmur to be a successful boxer. The specific act of athleticism can still be learned. The only innate abilities or charateristics needed to be a successful trader is the ability to think and some means of motor response. The blink of an eye, the twitch of a muscle, a verbal utterance, a click of the mouse, and other responses I have no conception of are all valid responses. Having additional intellectual and analytical ability is helpful, but NOT REQUIRED. Know any Professors, Doctors, Scientists, Computer Engineers, etc that failed as a trader? It wasn't because they lacked intellectual or analytical ability, whether innate or learned. By the way, I have never taken Ritalin or any nervous system or brain-chemical drug. I have never been diagnosed with ADHD, Autism, or Depression. I am a high school graduate. I have never been to Spain, but I've been to Rio De Janeiro. Enjoy the weekend. Osorico
I see strong reasons why 5% of the population make it in sales or trading and 5% of the population have ADHD. Soros is on record as saying that normal people who feel comfotable with the majority view should not be investors i.e. good corporate man/sheep = bad trader, likewise the salespeople I made money off were very difficult characters, the nice guys with a good attitude never made big money. I think there is a subset of humans that I have heard called hunters rather than farmers who have hunter type traits like pattern recognition, contrarion nature that the rest don't have etc. It may be possible to substitute warrior for hunter as in the 16th century Japanese classifications. My guess is that ADHD types are randomly thrown up and the ratio increases when expectent Mothers are under stress. I actually believe that lower down the ability scale the more you have one or the other trait e.g brillian traders who were failures at school and well educated people who just can't do it, and the two are virtually mutually exclusive, but at the apex there are a greater proportion people who have both i.e can pass ivy league selection and sell/trade, but still many that don't. IMHO the main reason many fail is because they are not well capitalised enough to feel they are able to stay out of the market unless conditions are optimal - they are forced to trade under conditions when someone better capitalised (i.e expenses as a ratio of capital) might wait it out.
I think there is also the element of speed involved. I can trade successfully, but increasingly I am finding futures to be moving at blinding CPU type speeds. Go look at the trading jobs available, it's all high frequency/automated scalping strategies. No one is hiring even seasoned discretionary traders. I read that within 5 years futures will be untradeable by humans, and I am beginning to believe that. I haven't traded equities in awhile, but futures are becoming insanely fast.
I agree to a point. There a certainly fewer actual trading jobs due to algo, automated trading. Futures have been tough for quite a while (in my opinion, others disagree of course)...we've been CME members since the 1980's, and the guys on the floor are even having a tougher time. That being said, so much of what we do in equities doesn't require much in the way of lightning speed. We don't have many "video game type traders" who scalp in half seconds (we have some of course). Most guys simply point and click or use hot keys for their executions, unless they're using full automation of course. Anyway, have a good long weekend...stay Safe! Don
What I believe the noble art of trading beyond a living requires of each of us is... firstly ... common sense .. who and what to trust. and then ... a sense of reality in that each of us must write the text book from which to learn. regards f9
futures are tough, but there are certainly people trading them successful. Ive been trading futures and stocks for a longtime. The one thing about futures is that the trades last sometimes seconds. You can net a lot of money in a 20 minute period and then be done for the day. Futures seem to require much more discipline, but the leverage you can get make you really wealthy very quickly. If you arent a big HF there are still tons of inefficiences that can be exploited that big players can do.