All markets are sum equal to zero, yes, where supply equals demand the sum is basically zero. The point is that markets are dynamic and when something happens that make some actors to think the price has to change, i.e. 11/09, Greek crisis and /or some fundamental indicators announcement the markets start moving untill the price equilibrates again supply and demand, basically markets are equilibrated by price (i know some will say i am wrong), so until the markets find its equilibrium again, the chance to make money will be there for those who have enough information as to anticipate those movements.
Most people start trading because they heard that others (who they consider not smarter than them) made money trading. After a while they realize that like those "others" they can not make consistent money trading and give up on trading (like those "others") sooner or later. There is a very small percentage who got the idea that they are better than "others", that they got what it takes, while "others" do not... They will continue. Only time will tell if they were right.
Assuming if you are manually trading, then you need to eliminate your mistakes compared to the trade setups that you are allowed to take based on your trading plan. By reducing your mistakes you can increase your win%. If you achieve a high enough win%, then you can make money trade. Also, you need to control your emotions. If you have losing trade, you don't want to just go long or short right after you get stopped out without determining if the next trade meets your trade criteria or if you are just revenge trading. Finally, you need to be aware of your account balance so that you are not losing more money on a losing day then you are winning on a winning day. Let's say you set an amount to stop trading for the day, then you need to honor that amount rather than turning a bad day into a worse day.
(Emphasis mine.) This is what I too have come to realize about business in general in recent years: everyone has a different breaking point and talent level, and only a few people have enough talent to reach their own definition of success before reaching their breaking point and quitting to try something else. The only common trait I've seen across pretty much all highly successful people is perseverence: the perception of failure as a stepping stone rather than a dead end.
Because as a retail day trader you have the advantage of being small. Big money players can move stocks/markets by significant amounts when there are catalysts (be it technical or fundamental). A small player who can read their intentions to buy or sell (using charts, tape reading, news interpretation or some other method) will be able to position themselves before they move that market and therefore profit from it. None of this should be controversial, its really not that hard to do. The hard part is to execute strategies based on that principle for years, with good discipline and risk management.
Interesting thought, perhaps there is a 'natural' relative value between economies to which price eventually gravitates when the madness of crowds dies down. I suppose this 'balance point' might change gradually over time with long term macroeconomic and geopolitical changes, however that would be in an even greater timeframe! Better stop there, I might be in danger of coming up with some mad cycle or wave theory
At first I thought it was all about intelligence. I learned two languages, programming, aced tests from a myriad of classes, from computer science to medical school, and mastered countless other things by myself so I thought trading would be just another easy game, because I considered myself an individual with above average intelligence. But I was wrong, dead wrong. I mean, I managed to get a firm grasp of technical analysis, tape reading (aka layer 2, for the murricans), fundamentals and all that jazz, but something was missing. You know, I've heard of countless doctors, dentists, engineers, among people from other prestigious professions, all considered difficult to learn and practice, fail miserably in trading. So, what gives? It's not something you can teach, it's not a secret edge, something tangible. You can't teach someone how to ride a bike by talking of all the technical aspects of physics involved in biking. Acing the most realistic flight simulator available is not a guarantee of real life ability of flying a plane full of people, or even empty, for that matter. Though a plane full of people is more emotionally disturbing.