yes, The3UglyTrusth, I was responding to pattern39.. I tend to agree. I'm not sure how karma relates that strongly to retail trading. It's insignificant in a way to the obscene profits of the most successful speculators whether individual or institutional. Like compared to Warren Buffet and George Soros whom I sincerely doubt will lose all their wealth from speculation before they expire. Bill Gates gave a lot of his portion to charity and educational foundations. but I doubt he's going to lose all his profits from killing companies like Netscape and IBM's OS2, Lotus and Wordstar. Like how is trading so much different from stores and online stores tracking prices of parts and competition. Or using unfair "edges" and connections with foreign factories and putting other companies out of business. A lot of futures speculation is done by institutions and corporations' financial arms. And a small retail trader daytrading 1 futures contract is going to incur karmic debt? Maybe formerly big time retail trading winners lost a lot of their winnings because of mistakes and changing market conditions and over leveraging and lax money management, and they just lost the "edge" to their systems. Just like HFT has been changing the landscape in only a few years.
You seem pretty convinced by this Freshman dorm latenight brainstorming notion the markets AND the universe are a zero sum game. But tell me, what if you are wrong and you have lived your whole life that way?
That is correct. If you recuperate your loss and leave it at that, why worry about karmic consequences later on. Karma doesn't always mean bad stuff will happen to you... Just so long as you feel the pain that you've cause your opponents, your karmic debt will be repaid. Very interesting and relevation to trading. Remember, all those people who bought from him lost their fortunes when the housing bubble finally bursted, hence the source of karma. Oh, karma does not always have to be repaid this lifetime... The agressor becomes the agressee. The bully becomes the bullied. All that fame and glory for being called a whoremonger? Not worth it...
Bill Gates stole from IBM and the likes. Guess who crept under Bill Gates' nose and stole from him? Google. Image where Google would be if it weren't for Microsoft? Didn't Microsoft lose a few billions a while ago on some failed iphone clone? Probably how much Netscape, IBM OS2, Lotus, Wordstar were worth combined? But remember, karma doesn't always have to be repaid this life or in one generation. For instance, what good would it do to bankrupt Bill Gates et al right now along with the thousands of worker mouths to be fed? Warren often helped out distressed company by buying their debt, which enabled them to get back on their feet. Shareholders then recouperated some of their investment from the rebound, which is sort of a good thing.
Ok then, I guess every other aspiring retail trader hopes that the karmic balance is with us for future trading profits for the rest of our lives. We would like to believe karmic zero-sum is still in our favor for a long time to come. Like being in a generationally lower income class. Or so far working for peanuts in one's life. Or an ancestral's wealth was stolen or swindled by other forces etc. Or we're all going to pay for it when the U.S. economy finally collapses and the can can't be kicked down the road anymore. Social security having to finally be paid for by the "poorest generation",the grandkids. And the dollar collapses to nothingness like pre-WWII Germany. Retail trading abolished. But I have a feeling those wealthy banker-bailers and bigtime successful hedgers and speculators will be out of the country by then. Their karmic comeuppance will have to come generations later. But sure, if I a made a lot from trading or even some career not involving trading, I would feel some urge to give back to some charity or church organization. Or start a small business and not just depend on trading as a career. I hadn't thought about Google and MSFT. Google had killed Alta Vista and Yahoo and other search engines. I'd always thought Jobs and Apple made their comeback was the reversal of fortune of Microsoft and I doubt they'll be bankrupt in the near future. I still don't quite think the losses of a retail trader stems from other retail traders, more so the institutions and brokers and the "big money". I recall there was a show called "Curse of the Lotto". Where it showed how certain Lottery winners eventually had miserable lives or lost or squandered a big chunk or most all of their win.
...and the stories boiled down to "choices" that they made. Tiger Woods? again, it boiled down to choice... - he chose to keep his cell messages - he chose the path to go for buffet instead of his happy meal Whenever I hear the word "karma" used...it is usually related to someone who felt that they have been "wronged" and are in a state of learned helplessness. it does not have to be that way.
Wow, you really live in a hyper-simplified world. The market is big and you never know who the other side is - might be one of the big guys who couldn't care less about the loss, a rich kid gambling with his inheritance from drug money etc. By your logic, bad guys eventually "get it" and the world is fair in the end. Guess what, there are murderers living happy lives with children, without regrets and will probably die happy. Karma as such doesn't exist, it's either coincidence or a result of many actions. Your reasoning might help make your existence easier but it has absolutely nothing to do with reality.
I agree Th3uglyTruth. It doesn't have to be that way. "Karma" seems to pay back only for those who truly deserve it and most often not. Those lotto winners who lost it back probably got overwhelmed by the jealousy , pressure and bad vibes of those who hate their luck. Not prepared to handle their new found wealth.. Retail traders and lottery winners have not ruined other peoples lives. Everyone had dreams and bought a lottery ticket knowing that only 1 out of millions would win. Here's a great video by Al Brooks recently on "Big Mike Trading" http://www.bigmiketrading.com/webinars/jun29_2011/al_brooks_price_action/ In the first 15 minutes he explains what goes on in today's trading. The majority of trading and volumes traded is NOT on the overall accumulation of retail traders. It's 70% HFT computers now (with the rest probably hedge funds working for the richest 1% in the country/world and financial arms of global multinationals), which is even a different animal than even 4 years ago. Retail traders are trading against computers, soulless, emotionless, and untiring computers. Trading not based on emotions and untiring vigilance are two major ingredients for a successful retail trader and the HFT computers already beat all of the humans in that dept. Making it that much harder to trade today. It's not Jesse Livermore days where one could outwit others by examining the ticker tape and make miillions (billions in today's dollars) like Livermore did then to lose it all when the market went through it's tumultuous times. And it's not the 80's and 90's of the finger contracts of the pit traders anymore. It's people at home or in prop firms on their laptops and digital screens verses institutions running their armies of silent HFT networked clustered algorithmic trading computer arrays setups. Losing newbie traders can not say they got swindled by some human poker player on the other side anymore and expect karmic comeuppance. (except for maybe obvious cases of broker stop running, and faked slippages. ) They should instead, be expecting a massive electromagnetic solar x-flare to fry all the chips for a solar "karmic" judgment on the HFT computers that have dashed the dreams of failed new retail traders. It's human traders vs. armies of HFT TERMINATORS which target newbie traders. If anything , "karma" should be overwhelmingly on the side of the human retail traders, every one of us retail traders with our insignificant few non-karma-inducing ES contracts! Long live the human retail trader resistance!
Repectfully disagree....the " losses of the retail trader stems" from their cranium...emotions and lack of preparedness..; physical side... under capitalized, hence poor money management... NiN