For some reason there is and i guess always has been a good amount of people wanting to know how to make money in the stock market. Sometimes i simply think other people think it is easy to make money. They say to themselves well if i don't know anything there is still a 50% chance and if I know at least something from a couple dvd's or books then i have an even better chance. The only problem these people never realize is that it is a business. Few people realize that which amazes me. You would think after countless failures among people who are not educated in the market the stock market would be known as the get poor quick instead of the get rich quick. I get asked constantly by relatives and friends, "How can i make some money in the market?" If i totally lacked any bit of politeness i would give them a furious "you think me giving you any advice in an industry or any superficial tip can actually help you make money in the market?" I want so bad to tell the entire world of greedy shallow wannabe's in the market that it is no different than any other business. It makes absolutely zero sense to ask your surgeon or lawyer friends how to make money in law or medicine so where does this idea of asking successful day traders come from? Where do people get the idea that it is so easy?
yea sure ok asking a general question about the market is fine but when people actually think they can be profitable in anothers profession, there is something wrong with that. People arn't buying books on prescribing medications or defending people so why do people buy tons of shit and live on trading forums while the whole time thinking they can become successful day traders?
There's no bar exam for trading, or medical schools or residencies People look at it as something anyone can do easily, and so they go ahead and try. In their eyes it is not a profession if you're doing it on your own, and certainly not one as difficult as writing legal briefs or diagnosing the common cold. Because of that, they will always ask
Where the fuck do you get the idea that being a doctor or lawyer is difficult? I have personal and vicarious experiences with doctors and lawyers who are criminally ignorant and stupid. Doctors open your chest and leave some bandage inside, dentists pull out the wrong tooth, lawyers have no clue what they are talking in court. You look at some of these doctors and lawyers, they are ludicrously stupid! Judges? Give me a break, different judges can give you different verdicts on the same case. I know lawyers taking a bar exam and opening practices, handle all kinds of legal cases, but know close to nothing. What they have learned in school before they got their law degrees are those forms and terminology you use in those forms. To take the bar exam, you are required to enroll in a law school. If that requirement is not there, you will find the street is full of lawyers! The same is true with doctors or dentists. Most of the dentists' work is done by assistants who have little education. If you know how to cut pork chops, you can be a surgeon. If you know how to cut your nails, you can be a dentist. If you know how to put on your suit, you can be a lawyer. Stop mystifying surgeons and lawyers! Enough is enough.
There is a video of Jack Schwager, the guy who wrote Market Wizards floating around on the internet. In the video he says this thinking comes from the fact that a novice who knows nothing about law or medicine cant just go into a court room and win a court case or perform successful brain surgery.The chances of that happening are 0%. But in trading a complete novice can put a trade on and they have a 50% of making money. If that trade is a winner they will look as a good as the best trader in the world, atleast for that one trade. But if someone wants a tip, there is nothing wrong with that. Im not going to start explaining how they can day trade the ES for a living. They are likely to want know which stocks or markets are going to go up over the next few years, ie bull markets, so over the last fews years i have been telling friends to buy energy, oil and gold etc..
4D Trader you sound like some conspiracy theorist with some beef for people in successful professions. I was not talking about the stupid lawyers and surgeons in the minority, i was talking about those who are entirely absorbed by their profession and thus succeed past limits many cannot imagine. As for businessman. I agree with the novice trader part except i still do not see where they think it is easy besides the idea that there is no exam to be a day trader. I mainly started this thread because i see so many people on this website that are pleading for strategies, ideas, books and software. If the people who ran this site actually knew how to trade then i think this site would be much more efficient then it's present pitiful state.
I think the point he is trying to make is that it takes 8 years to become a doctor, 7 lawyer, and X to be a trader, with X being something close to doctor/lawyer territory.
Not only that, but if you decide you want to be a doctor or an attorney you get training from said professionals.
There are clear barriers to entry to becoming a doctor or lawyer or scientist or ironworker or architect or whatevers that do not exist in becoming a daytrader (standardized education, licensing, formalized apprenticeship). In fact, you do not need a college degree or even a high school degree to become a day trader. So, yes, people will think that it is easy to get into, even though to become a successful trader would require a similar energy level of committment on their part to learning and understanding the business as it would any other venture that results in making money. That level committment is just more personalized and private than other professions. Can't fault people for thinking they can get into it...most people think they can do anything if they put their minds to it.