Stealth, anyone who trades regularly and doesn't blow out his account is a trader. Do I have to make money doing it to be considered a whore? There are many gentleman traders here on ET such as myself who do it for the sheer fun of it. Not making much money at it is like being an avid fisherman but being a good sport and throwing the catch back in the lake. Many artists are truly accomplished but don't make a living at it. I pity YOU because you HAVE to make a living trading. How disreputable! At least I practice an honest profession as a day job. Professional trader? Just another cheap whore! Humping a keyboard and widows and orphans out of the value of their IRAs.
I don't think a trader is defined by his motivation. I think he is defined by the way he plays the game. My play size is primarily controlled by the size of my account. When I break those size rules, I always regret it. By keeping my size in perspective with my account, I am able to avoid losses. I am currently not dependent on the market, but now supplementing my other income nicely. My goal is to eventually be market dependent. As with my play size, that will depend on the size of my account. I struggled greatly with the PDT min as I am an equities trader only, but have recently pulled away from that. I had to stay small to overcome that, but it can be done if the size rules are followed. Pikers are mocked (hopefully they are not deterred by that if they are trully trying to excel), but unless you have a big chunk of change, you have to start small, which is the biggest challenge. Hard to get over cost playing small. For me, scared money wasn't money I needed to live on, but staying above 25k. Broke size rules more often in the 25k-27k range , even though the consequences were higher. I finally took the old quote to heart: "The trader who succeeds is the trader who's tolerance for his bad habits runs out before his money does". My bad habit was breaking size rules, often by averaging in. Still have days where I break rules. Missed a great move Thu by not following my entry rules. My plays are strictly based on charts with nothing more than FTP's, volume, and 20, 200 ma's. I play only one pattern, regardless of the time frame. Whether it is gap play, pull back to trend, or climactic play, I need that pattern within a larger setup or I won't enter. If I don't follow this rule (like Thu), I am gambling. Everyone has different systems. I think one's edge isn't a particular system so much as how one implements and sticks to his system. Not so much why, but how one trades is what defines a real trader.
SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT yet you are here to tell me how Jack made you a trader you are a bigger tool than any I saw
A multitude of books, cd's, and a few seminars did little to educate me. My money on the line through trial and error made me a trader. I've been working at it for several years, adding enough to my account to keep me trading until I no longer needed to, all while recording what has worked and what has failed for me. I couldn't really give a fuck what you think.
Hey Original: Is this what you are referring to with this statement? " yet you are here to tell me how Jack made you a trader" You flamed me without cause, unless he made the quote I used about trader's bad habit's. I don't recall where I got the quote from, but the quote is the greatest truth in trading, would you not agree? Is it not traders bad habits that destroy them? If he originally made that statement, I will agree with that alone. I know nothing else about the man, including if he originated the quote. After you flamed me with no cause, I went through my box of trading books. I have none by him. My two favorite books in my 5 year to date quest (not new to this game) are "the Market Makers Edge" and Pristine's "Tools and Tactics". The pattern I spoke of I learned from a Pristine CD. The way I use it was learned from trial and error among many patterns. I will not tell you what it is, since my success with it relies on many people playing it in the wrong direction (as I once did, and perhaps as you do now.) Jack Hershey is not a factor in my education. My strategy is a culmination from a few of many books, many CD's, and many, many trades. I don't tell people how they should trade when I post, but only what works for me. If you want to flame me, take your flame and put it where the sun don't shine.
Says the wannabe poseur who holds down a âclean up on isle four!â category menial night job. Enough said. (Nothing wrong with an honest job, as I applaud the fact that you work. I just find it hilarious that your chest pounding rhetoric of how you are a self-proclaimed master of the markets who practices cutting edge trading methods leaves you needing a âjob.â) st
LOL!!!, OK, thereâs no need for me trying to enlighten you further on the difference between a person who plays tennis and a person who is a tennis player when you obviously canât even grasp the difference between someone being a whore or a prostitute! That being said, your assumption of, and I quote, âI pity YOU because you HAVE to make a living trading,â when you have no idea about my finances, what I do, how I do it, or what I have attained over the course of life is classic ET inane behavior. Perhaps you are just trying to be facetious, perhaps not. But one thing is for certain; I did seem to hit a nerve. For that, I apologize for having shattered your delusional pose regarding your self worth as a two-bit piker. Know what I mean, vern?!! But donât fret, as all is not lost! Your reply clearly conveyed you are a morally bankrupt piker who gambles as a hobby and enjoys the camaraderie of ETâs dreamers and schemers. I applaud you for your utmost honesty in that regard. However, in closing, the fact remains your last sentence displays the same mindset that helped bring about the PDT rule and will most likely be the catalyst of further restrictions placed upon intraday trading. As such, it exposes you as someone who gets their news from far left loony websites. Hoping you enjoy your work week, I shall remain, as always, Cordially, St