Why do more than 90% of traders lose?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by emg, Apr 8, 2011.

  1. d08

    d08

    No but as of now I trade without stops and I certainly can do -10% in a day.
     
    #281     May 23, 2016
  2. So you are not (yet) an idiot. :D
     
    #282     May 23, 2016
  3. Yes I think so, often hear statement if more than 90% trader get fail and losing money in this field, as trader need pay attention with the risk that involved and not only profit as their target
     
    #283     May 23, 2016
  4. nitro

    nitro

    If this is the conclusion you reached, you don't understand the premise.
     
    #284     May 23, 2016
  5. J_Smith

    J_Smith

    Trading without stops is a very risky business, especially with ES and NQ.

    A few months ago, not long after my return to trading, I bought one NQ contract and held overnight with no stop. The following day I was down over $1K. I decided to double up and bought another NQ contract. Within a few hours I was down over $3K.

    I now had a big decision to make - will I cover and take my loss, or wait!

    Fuck it, I said to myself, I should have known better, and now had to have a good look at the higher timeframe charts and make a call on near term market direction. I concluded that a rally was very likely, so held out with no stop.

    Off the top of my head, I made about $300 or $400 on the double up, but it was bad trading to allow myself get in that situation in the first place, as I have often made $300 on an ES trade in a couple of hours max, with very little risk!

    Being rewarded for bad trading is a very dangerous game to be playing, and I know only too well from past experiences.

    Wide stops, or no stops, are fine once you have plenty of money and can afford to lose $5k without it bothering you one little bit - scared money never wins, but you must also know when to get out when you are losing, especially with ES and NQ - a fool and his money are easily parted!

    J_S

    easy spot the bad trades, even though I made some money!

    Screen Shot 05-24-16 at 12.29 AM.PNG
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2016
    #285     May 23, 2016
    victorycountry and K-Pia like this.
  6. "The game of speculation is the most uniformly fascinating game in the world. But it is not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the person of inferior emotional balance, or the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor. ”

    — Jesse Livermore, How To Trade In Stocks
     
    #286     May 23, 2016
  7. QpUOTE="nitro, post: 4284954, member: 8288"]If this is the conclusion you reached, you don't understand the premise.[/QUOTE]

    I do understand the premise very well: Harris can speak in dogmas but opponents have to give REAL proof. If that is the way to discuss then every normal thinking person will agree that it is pure manipulation of the truth.

    The charts he shows have NOTHING to do with trading. The distribution of profits and losses from his chart is completely different from my REAL trades. I never have trades with -20% losses or more. If we would adjust his chart with this fact, the conclusions will be completely different from the actual ones, as the losses would be reduced dramatically. Even the distribution of the profits are completely different; in real trading you will never have the smooth curves that he shows. He adapts the story to the endpoint he wants to proof. So his start is: to what conclusion should I arrive? And then he adapts the story in function of the wanted result.
     
    #287     May 24, 2016
  8. J_Smith

    J_Smith

    It is OK being an idiot, once you know why, and do something about it - but it you are a fool, you will always be an idiot!

    Harris, if that is the author's name, is a muppet - he is talking rubbish, and more than likely trying to sell something, same as the rest of the muppets out there.

    Some time ago, I done a little experiment to remind myself how stupid one can be - I contacted an "expert" in relation to spread trading, from the IB website that links "professionals", like the add where you see the 2 yuppies fishing:rolleyes:

    To cut a long story short, the muppet wanted a minimum of $600 for an hours work, and recommended I do a few more hours as well.

    This muppet, could not even provide an outline of what we would cover, and when I asked what we would talk about, for his "free" 1 hour online introduction, he replied, "anything you want to discuss"!

    I know a few things about trading that this muppet, and his myriad of academic gobshites will never know - I learned the best way, by winning and losing my own money, and finally seeing trading for what it really is, a mug's game - but only if you are a "mug"!

    As SOCRATES once said to me, " most people are fools", and boy, is he right!

    J_S
     
    #288     May 24, 2016
    K-Pia and i am nobody like this.
  9. K-Pia

    K-Pia

    A fool thinks himself to be wise,
    But a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
    - William Shakespeare
     
    #289     May 24, 2016
  10. J_Smith

    J_Smith

    " the only thing I know, is that I really know nothing"..the real Socrates:thumbsup:

    Forget about everyone else, including the idiot J_S, and know that..no reward without risk!

    Btw, no sign of RN for a while, is he Ok, or does anyone know?

    Maybe he is after retiring with all the money he was handed from the fools:D

    J_S
     
    #290     May 24, 2016
    victorycountry and K-Pia like this.