Monty, Aside from prostitution, politics (one in the same?) dope running and gun traffic, trading is the hardest way to make "easy" $ But there's nothing easy about it because like those other "professions" RISK is involved. Your big $ trader types that you post/know about dont risk $500 to make 30k or whatever your numbers. They ante up BIGTIME. If they did risk $500 to make 30k they'd soon own New York and Chicago. But they dont. why? Because They lose also. Ever lost 30k in 1 day? Not very good for the digestion. If you "knew" trade X was going to be a winner, you'd load the boat. But you dont know and neither do they. So why not have some revenue streams guaranteed coming in that way you know there will be a Xmas come Dec 25. There's always a sucker, a rube, someone looking to absolve them self of responsibility, or even a budding genuine student of the markets who will need to start someplace. And so they do. The first big money seminar I ever attended was Larry Williams Inner Circle something. Cost 2k back in the day. I did a quick head count X the number of seminars LW was going to do that year and the number was 4 mil. Your associates making 30k a day arent pulling that. Not as stress free, that is. That's not counting LW's other ventures, real estate, books, diet center! etc etc. It's not all aggrandizement. Some guys love to teach. Plus they reinforce their own learning when they teach. Trading is a lonely profession and having a mentor/student/buddy can make a big difference. You cant be a lone wolf forever. Not healthy either If you can help change someone else's life, plus guarantee your own Christmas , there are worse ways to do other than teach. Good trading.
Of course... these guys lose $50,000 one day and make $50,000 the next. The difference is that they have more winning days than losing days. These guys also have $5,000,000 - $20,000,000 accounts. It somewhat resembles a 100,000 account that makes or loses $1,000 a day... beside the psychological stress of taking greater risk and managing more capital But the big swinging guys generally trade the most liquid stocks that move with the market... Their bets have more to do with the direction of the S&P 500 futures. Their assumed edge is that they are buying the relatively stronger stocks than the S&P 500 index... that way there is greater upside and shorter downside. It allows them to get in 20,000 of BAC, 40,000 C, 10,000 JPM, etc.... If the futures go up 3 points, all these stocks are going up too basically (except C ). I've heard that they do occasionally trade ETFs, particularly the dreaded SKF. One guy does 10,000 SKF sometimes... crazy.
And therein lies the answer to your conundrum - to quote King Lear, "O, reason not the need ... allow not nature more than nature needs, Man's life is cheap as beast's." Your puzzlement comes as a result of your thinking that financial stability is both the necessary and sufficient condition of happiness amongst human beings. Those who teach, and seek to build a business around that service are likely as motivated more by a desire for recognition (or vanity) than by the mere financial compensation they receive. That they ask for and receive such sums helps to validate to their mind their value and the value of the knowledge they possess, or at least profess to possess.
It's easy for some people to want to teach others if their interests are aligned. For example, prop firms that share in a trader's profits. In this case there is incentive to teach $$$. Also, for some, there is no extra effort needed to teach others. For instance, if a trader is mic'd up during the trading day and is simply talking about what he sees, others can learn to see the market the same way. It's always best to learn from a trader while they are in a trade with you. That's what you get at T3Live.com. The big time traders are mic'd up and talking about what they are doing while they have their own money on the line. You can also see how much they are making. Be skeptical of traders who attempt to educate after the trading day has played itself out. It's easy to see things after the fact(Monday morning quarterback). The important part is learning to anticipate a move, not analyze it after the fact and after the real $$ has been made
people dont take in 30k consistently a day unless they have a 30 million account. You guys don't realize consistency is very very hard and totally dependant on market conditions. market changes every month. This while marketing is low (make that a NO) risk HIGH reward kind of business, and not dependant on the market. don't forget you can only trade during market hours, but you can do marketing outside market hours.
I don't get why people are so skeptical when it comes to educators in the trading industry! Almost EVERY profession out there has some sort of structured training. Do you ask surgeons at med schools why they teach surgery when they could be spending the time performing operations and making $? Seriously, we all know there are some shady educators out there, but I've also come across some very genuine educators in the trading industry. I've heard great things about Austin, and he seems like a stand-up guy from the little I know about him. Trade Pilot Pro is another top-notch educational resource. I think it'd be great if there was a licensing body in the trading education field, where teachers could become "certified". There is the "CMT" designation, but just because you know technical analysis doesn't mean you're a profitable trader. I would say proceed with caution, but lets not throw ALL trading educators under the bus. As far as why someone would want to teach? Well, some people just like to teach others; and if they're putting an effort into it, why shouldn't they be compensated? NO FREE LUNCH! Plus profitable trading is rather boring. Trading overall is a very lonely profession. Teaching others may also help the trader remain focused and motivated. For example, one of my friends wants to learn how to trade, and I've been teaching him the basics. He was over today and I had him trade the PM session, and he did really well. Don't know about you, but it was a great feeling being able to teach another person how to put on some profitable trades. But again, it depends on the person. I've led teams of software developers, and there was a certain aspect of teaching/mentoring involved, which I always enjoyed. I'm not saying I plan on starting a chat room, but I can see why some people would do it. The $ is a nice bonus. The monthly fee also qualifies the people in the room, and shows that they truly are interested in learning. If you offer it for free, you will get a lot of trouble makers (the ET forum is a prime example) -Fast
who cares about losing 30k..50k or more in a day if its only 1% of your account?. To them it's no different than a guy trading 5k and risking 50 to 150 a trade. But yes, 30k lost in a day is a lot of money. No question.
Well lets here from someone here who has become a winner from one of these teachers. I learned from reading books. Trading for a living,Trading in the zone. Technical analysis from A-Z,Japanese candlestick charting techniques. I spent 10 years in front of a monitor, watching chats dance. There is no short cut in this business, unless youâre Goldman Sachs and you get the government reports before there made public. In that case you always win.
You read 5 books and spent 10 years of screen-time? That's all it took? Lucky you. How do the charts from 10 years ago or even a couple days ago help you (considering the market is random, chaotic, and continually changing)? Is your entire strategy based off technical analysis? I'd love to know which "chart patterns" work >60% of the time... that would be awesome. Do you buy when you see a spinning doji bottom, and when the 8-day moving average crosses over the 24-day moving average, as long as the RSI is not "oversold"?:eek: Are charts discrete or are they open to interpretation? Are you profitable overall?
It's called passive income, a thing of beauty.... Let's say a trader makes 20k/mo, not eye popping numbers but he is making a good living. Now if he can train some traders and make 10-15k mo. What's wrong with that.... Not everyone that trades makes 10MM like your friends....