Why do traders fail?

Tradester123, suppose we play a Head or Tail game.

The rules are very simple: If Tails comes up you win $100, otherwise you lose $100.

But.

You have to pay me $3 just to play this game.

In the long run, do you think you will make money playing/betting that way?

As you can see, very simple question.

 

As you can see, nobody is answering this very simple question...

 

There's not enough information to answer your question.

Is this a fair coin (balanced and tested over a few series' of 100 tosses)?

Then, no you will not make money in the long run.

But if the coin is balanced in such a way that tails comes up, say, 55% of the time, and you have the mental toughness to keep playing even if there's a "streak" of many heads in a row, then you will make money in the long run.

 

Dear NoDoji:

The coin is perfectly balanced.

Would you play such a game?

PS: Always a pleasure to talk to you, you are a master trader, as far as I can tell

 

Thank you for your kind words.

I'd never play such a game.

 

I don't think that's true. They don't want to lose...they want to win. However, I think they need to hurt themselves in order to eventually learn the lesson on how to avoid being too reckless in their trading.

 

Nodoji is not a master trader. She is a legendary trader. With almost no losing days, I believe she is the best trader on this forum by miles. With her record, Lescor and/or other "old-timer" traders cannot even hope to come within a whiff of her.

She deserves a mention in Jack Schwager's next book, for sure.

 

F*ck no, I want an edge.

 

That game is no good, who would pay $3 to flip a coin. Sounds like something a gambler would do at the casino

 

So many kind words this evening...thank you, too

You know, I learned to limit those losing days by following the rules of the Master of Masters, Warren Buffet:

Rule no. 1: Never lose money.

Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.


There's really not much to profitable trading once you read everything out there in books and on the internet.

I know the serious traders on ET, the ones who really trade and make upwards of $40K a day, would never reveal their edges on a public forum, but I'll step up to the plate yet again and share how I do it:

1. Wait for clarity. (Al Brooks)

2. The trend is your friend. (Unknown)

3. Cut your losses short and let your winners run. (Unknown)

Now how can you fail when you trade basic price action and follows those rules?



By the way, Happy April to everyone!