BPtrader has a very good thread going on trading in relation to how hard it is to learn and become profitable. This thread is not to refute what BPtrader has said, but to challenge it, as anything of value must be challenged to verify its effectiveness. With that, I say that trading can be very easy for those who accept it as a possible fact. Of course, accepting a possible fact is but one step in the right direction and what the trader decides to actually do next will make the difference, or determine the outcome. Will the fact become a reality for you, or like many of us have you decided to take the road that is traveled by many?
If I had a professional trader hold my hand and show me the ropes from day 1. Then trading would be 100x easier no question. But I'm almost positive less then 1% have this privilege. Most of us learn from trial and error. Most never learn before its too late. For the rest of us, me included, it took a few years to figure things out.
To me, trading is easy outside of the pain of waiting. I think it's easy for me because when I first started trading in 1997, I stumbled onto a highly successful trading system by a combination of putting in 14+ hours a day studying and learning, and luck. To this day, however, the system still works as well as it did back then. By reading ET, it appears that I am fortunate.
Firstly, it is wise to look at all others, yours truly included, as nothing more than a seer and doer. The fact that a trader can sit in front of a PC and execute a trade, manage it as the underlying price moves and exit the trade at a profit, does in no way make the person special or privileged to convey his so called wisdom upon others for personal gain. If I was to seek the help of a "professional" trader, the first thing that I would ask to see are the details of the biggest losing trades, or series of trades that he had. Most tend to focus on the winners for obvious reasons, but winning is the easy bit, keeping the profits from the winners is the hard part for most traders. There is no right or wrong way to trade, but there is a best way that suits each individual, and each must know what that best way is for them. Then and only then does it become easy. So, before we sound like trading is hard, and discover we are in the wrong thread, providing one is aware that they must do a simple bit of soul searching before they start risking their money, trading will be easy. How can this be so? What about all the hard knock lessons? I bought too many shares, got in after a big run up to see the market reverse, then hit my stop and suddenly turn around and bust back up thru my original entry, etc, etc, etc. If I lose most of the time surely I just need to reverse my entries and I will win? Can it be that simple???
I have a novel idea! How is anyone going to believe that trading is easy? Maybe the best way is to see some trading and see the results? If someone picks any stock (not a cheap penny stock now!) we will see if anyone can demonstrate how easy trading really is. Seeing is believing. If it not easy then I guess BPtrader's thread name is more accurate than this one.
When your account is making new highs every other day, then trading is easy. When you are going through a multi week/multi month drawdown its damn difficult. The process of trading is easy. You just follow your system. Living with the results is difficult. The mind wants to do and experience many things over and above just following a system.
Technically trading is VERY easy. You just open and account and click BUY or SELL...congrats you just traded. Now to actually LEARN to make consistent profits from trading is a whole different story.
well first off, this is 'your' thread broseph. My personal stand on this is first off, this feels like a bad "I'm smarter than you" sales pitch, and second, I myself don't have an interest in putting time into teaching people I don't know and to be honest for the most part don't like. I put scattered posts throughout et that can be read so please do. I am a capitalist though and would be glad to set up a pay pal account and agree on a fair amount that would be enough for me to put forth the effort of researching and posting buy and sell points with stops. .. . Sound like a good idea? ...didn't think so