Good Morning Overnight, I agree with you. Trading is hard for one reason in my opinion and that is: The trader does not have an answer of what will make him/her a lot of money year to year for the next 1 to 10 years. If the trader knew the answer, then trading would be easy. Because the trader do not know how to make a lot of money, then trading is VERY hard.
This is the wisest quote. When I was younger I lived in this way, but then the struggles of life made me more "practical". Looking back, I wish I always followed this quote.
Not in blackjack. What I like to believe is day trading is more like blackjack than the slot machine.
Many professions, especially in sales have the same problem. Trading is hard because it is almost a zero sum game. I take money from my fellow traders and vice versa. By definition if I win, someone else loses.
I think wage earners are the only ones guaranteed to make money every day. If you own a business you have to be concerned that expences are less than revenues. You may have days, weeks or even slow months where you make less than you spend but they are hopefully made up for by good periods. If not you go out of business. Small business failure rate is not as high as trading but for the most part you need more capital to start.
The thread title is slightly inaccurate. The oft-quoted saying is, "Trading is the hardest way to make EASY money." Any job that requires physical hustle is a much harder way to make money than sitting in a comfortable chair monitoring the markets. Read Studs Terkel's book "Working" for some perspective. In trading, mediocrity is a real bar to success unlike in many jobs and professions. That may be one reason people think making money trading is harder than it is.
Yes, but if you don't trade that often, it is negligible. On ES, commissions are about $5 round trip, which is 0.10 pts, and bid-ask spread is 0.25. So your trades have to overcome 0.35 pts. But you don't have to trade all the time and pay the 0.35 pts, you only trade when the odds are in your favor.
It's there and it's not a zero sum game. Add in a little bad luck, a mistake or two and human emotion and the odds are heavily in favor of the market. Look at the failure rate and your own equity curve. Am I wrong?