OR you could set a trap, go back inside, watch pay-per view sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace, then check the traps a few hrs later to see if you got anything.
Very cool of you. Wish i'd had someone who shared my passion for the markets as a kid. I'm only 22 now, but successful and when my girls grow to know enough of what i'm doing, i'll show them the door, but they'll have to walk through it.
Asking people to read some books first is a great idea. I think it'll definetly weed people out. Thanks for sharing. My problem is that my brother and brother-in-law have both asked me. My brother is looking to make a quick buck. He wants me to show him how to make some quick money but doesn't feel like putting in any effort. My brother-in-law, on the other hand, is smart, dedicated, hard working, and very detail oriented. His goal is a higher quality of life for his family. I have no idea what will happen if I teach my brother-in-law and not my brother. I'd like to hear from anyone with similar experiences.
give both a strategy which is extremely difficult to trade mentally and emotionally due to whipsaws and high probability of u being wrong. Original turtle system or 20day breakout isnt a bad bet. My theory is that if a person can trade a 20day breakout strategy mechanically, unemotionally and with damn determination theyll become a good trader. Most guys will crack after 3 or 4 false breakouts, the guy who can trade it for 3-4mths and trade 70-80% of the signals with his/her discretion screwign up 30% of the time has the seed of a good trader in them. It separates the boys from the men as they say.
"I'm only 22 now, but successful. . ." I will be brutally honest with you and Im not sure if everyone here agrees with me on what I am about to say, but it must be said. I dont mean any offense by this, but someone has to put you in your place right now before we go any further. The market has been in one mode for the last few years and that is bull mode ever since the tech crash. Its been easy to spin a quick buck almost on any stock. However, it has not always been this way. We are now moving into a different market. Real estate agents have been in great demand these last few years. People walk in their office out of nowhere and want to buy a house. However, these agents are not great salesmen, they are simply order takers putting people in a line and writing down their order like a waiter at a restaurant. So you have to ask yourself one question. Are you really a successful trader or are simply an order taker where you buy a stock watch it zoom up and then sell it. There will be crashes, there will be sideways markets, there will be disasters. Can you trade or stomach these types of markets? Can you wake up one day and stomach the fact that you just lost half your cash due to some freak of nature incident? Imagine 1987. The summer was great and it looked like we were going to pull out of the recession. Then the wave came across the foreign markets and then it zapped the American markets. Those on margin were wiped out. Can you trade through a market like that? You know yourself better then I do. Ask yourself if you are a real trader/investor or just an order taker...
Agreed, for most people a bull market is the easy way and they get hyped up for a good fall. Yet, I suppose a lot here are traders who are on the long and on the short side, often changing direction intraday. And all they need is enough volatility or better some nice trends depending on their timeframe. But I agree with you: experiencing disasters is good for becoming marure. It hones your risk management and lets you understand that we have indeed fat tails and not a simple Gaussian distribution.
I get the same thing in gambling. Takes a few years to become average- takes years to master. Just tell them it's a hard way to make an easy living.
a) i don't trade stocks, I trade currencies. b) i've blown out about 4 accounts in my 2.5 years of trading. not just small 5k accounts either. not huge by "trading" standards, but easily lost over 200k in the markets. i know what it is like to lose. not claiming to be a guru or a master by any means. but I make money and that's all that matters in this business. you are damn right I know myself better than anyone else. just because 99.99% of people in this biz fail, doesn't mean I am failing. no offense intended? dream on, how the hell is someone supposed to take that? *bangs head on desk* this is why i have avoided posting, and hence why i will return to "lurker" status. good luck to all.