What's wrong with the big boys?

brokerboy · May 22, 2004

Quote from LoosenUp:

Thanks everybody for taking the time to answer. Sorry if I have portray myself to be arrogant. I am not. In fact, I am insecure. And you guys are right. I am not sure how long my edge will last. But what I am trading is the best so far as far as my own development is concerned. The equity curve is very smooth with minimal drawdown for a period of 2 years of backtested result and already is trading profitably for almost 1 year now. And for those who argue that this is not long a period of time, all I can say is that you are probably right but it is currently doing fine. Every month is profitable real-time on real accounts. That is why I am sort of curious why big firms with more resources cannot find something as reliable. There are so many instruments out there with so many kind of strategies that an individual trader will never have the time to study them all. But the big boys have the resources to do as much as they want.

If they truly have an edge, they will be profitable right off the blocks, just like any good system. If your edge is good enough, you will seldom see a losing month, provided it trades quite frequently over the month. I will begin to doubt my current system even if it had a single losing month because mathematically, it is quite impossible with such an edge. That is why I begin to question what are these people in big firms doing. Are they mere programmers crunching numbers so that they never get a good trading system? Maybe some found something valuable during the course of their work and decide to keep it for themselves and trade privately? From the beginning, I really question my ability to make money from the market because even Soros manage to only return an average of about 30% over a long term. Who am I to be able to consistently beat that? Later, I find that it is absolutely possible, ESPECIALLY if it is a relatively small account. Now, if I can do it? Why not the big boys? And I am not asking them to be able to generate average 30% over the long term, maybe just 10-15% will do, given their size. BUT THE FACT IS MANY CANNOT EVEN DO THAT!! And this is my question. What is it that we individual traders can do that the big funds cannot? Do others have such experience of doubt?

Thanks. Others who have PM me please direct the questions to this board so everybody can participate. And please do not question my track record or whatever again. You can assume that I am not profitable if you like but please answer my question, if you can.

Again, thank you.
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lets cut all the bullcrap out. what did you make in the past 12 months. what style do you trade? what size do you trade? you seem to think trading small size is the same as trading big size. the more size you trade the harder the game is. i been net + 2 years but each time i go big the game gets alot harder.

gaj · May 22, 2004

my trading system works for me, and i'm doing fine with it.

having said that - there's NO chance it can work with a larger account. in fact, i deliberately keep my trading account small, as the 'excess' cash in there won't get used on an intraday basis.

what i do is take trades that larger players / brokerages / etc. would never want to do. if i see a trade (and i'm not occupied on too many other positions) that has a very high probability of giving me a max. of $300-400 (and my risk being 100-150), i'll take it in a heartbeat.

the same trade *can't* work in my timeframe on a larger magnitude. i go from being a small fish that no one notices to a larger fish whose size can change the direction. and once i become larger...my risk dramatically changes.

brokerboy · May 22, 2004

Quote from gaj:

my trading system works for me, and i'm doing fine with it.

having said that - there's NO chance it can work with a larger account. in fact, i deliberately keep my trading account small, as the 'excess' cash in there won't get used on an intraday basis.

what i do is take trades that larger players / brokerages / etc. would never want to do. if i see a trade (and i'm not occupied on too many other positions) that has a very high probability of giving me a max. of $300-400 (and my risk being 100-150), i'll take it in a heartbeat.

the same trade *can't* work in my timeframe on a larger magnitude. i go from being a small fish that no one notices to a larger fish whose size can change the direction. and once i become larger...my risk dramatically changes.
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thats my point. you make sence and thats how alot of us trade. this fool who started this chat does not seem to understand how easy it is to be a piker than a player. i'm a piker too.

patsup · May 22, 2004

Quote from LoosenUp:

I know size do pose problems but
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Quote from brokerboy:

this fool who started this chat does not seem to understand how
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hello he does say he understands "size" thanks
no need to call people "fool"ish thanks

LoosenUp · May 24, 2004

Quote from patsup:

hello he does say he understands "size" thanks
no need to call people "fool"ish thanks
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Thanks patsup and others who shared their views. Anybody else have anything to add?

saxon · May 24, 2004

Quote from brokerboy:

lets cut all the bullcrap out. what did you make in the past 12 months.
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HA! (pathetic).

LoosenUp,

You sound like a level-headed professional. And I think you are smart enough to realize that the guys who are trash talking you here are the same types that are going to be paying your bills for a long time to come.

So I wouldn't worry too much about losing your edge...as long as there is a good supply of these kinds of chumps around.

Keep up the good work,
saxon

Everest · May 24, 2004

It's all a question of outlook.

To answer your question, there are an awful lot of monkeys in the asset management business. It in no way surprises me how many are useless. And the same thing goes for a majority of individual traders.

Or business in general. Or people. Even dogs.

That fact is this : does it matter?

Only that they keep providing liquidity.

As for their performance, I couldn't give a rats arse.

Concentrate ever effort to yourself, and forget the rest.

Good trading to you, and may your edge last forever