Quite possibly, or quite probably the most pessimistic, bitter, miserable person around? Trading is easy. Any monkey can trade, just point and click. Same as any monkey can play a slot machine, just put in a coin and pull. What about actually making money trading consistently, year after year? The statistics speak for themselves about the "possibility" of that. The difference between an optimist and a fool, is that an optimist is fully aware of the risks and has taken all the necessary and available steps to put themselves in a position to overcome the prevailing odds---and a fool doesn't even look at the odds or have a plan. A fool and his money..... Behind every successful optimist you will find a damn good plan and the ability to execute it.
Andy- Do a lot of reading. "MArket Wizards" Jack Schwager is one of my favorites. I re-read it as often as I can. Practice , practice, practice. Review your trades. Learn from people on the board here. There are plenty who are doing well ...a list of members that I learn from are(in no particular order): Praetorian2 rTharp Nitro JWKirkland DonBright Seanote marketsurfer Hitman(no longer on this site, but one of the hardest working traders IMO) and some others... As you already know, trading for a living is extremely difficult. Which is why I love it. I've been at it for almost 2 years. I thought I might have made more money staying in the brokerage business, but actually a lot of brokers are going out of business due to clients leaving/being afraid etc. I am certainly not getting rich(that has never been my goal). I pay the bills. Take vacations. Most of all, I love what I do. And if you begin to love it, for the game itself, and you have a decent head on your shoulders, with enough effort you will be successful. Good luck. Uptik2000
777 Are you insinuating that I am not profitable? That I am the fool and you are the optimist? OH MY LORD THAT IS FUNNY. Hey, isn't Don Bright the son of satan? WHINE WHINE WHINE. You lose.
Wow... I just learned something new. I learned how to paste what's above. Yes I have read Market wizard and the new version also. They're the one's that got me interested into trading. I read them all the time. As for your key to success, I totally agree with you. I have a few friends that I feel may be interested and willing to acquire wealth. I just try and open them up to a different life. Most of them just want the money. In my opinion, I feel that's what prevents people from getting it. If someone focuses only on the money, then when will they find time to focus on their skills? It's like when I was an avid golfer. Not too bad of a player actually. Before all I cared about was shooting low scores. With that mentality I would end up breaking clubs and throwing a fit, because you can't shoot low scores 100% of the time. Then I tried something different. I started focusing on my short game, long game, putting, and mental game. What I score at the golf course only represents where I'm at skill wise. So instead of getting mad, I just analyzed how I performed. Why I shot what I shot. I realized that if I just focused on my skills, I will eventually produce lower and lower scores while enjoying the game. Not only did I start shooting lower scores, I became more consistent. I was able to do this because I loved the game. If I didn't love playing the game, then I wouldn't have done what it took to become a good player. Thanks Uptik for your comments. It's encouraging to know there's someone else out there living my dream. Andy
Why don't people make money? Because they never put effort into it. People try too hard on the actual trading operation part. Trading part should be pretty thought out simple, just do what you can do and/or do what you know you can do. You need to work hard to get, what you can do and understand it thoroughly. Improving in trading doesn't come from the actual moment of trading but the reflection of it. The more you lose the more impact there is. The impact doesn't hit while you're losing, you're just reacting to situation. It's all about what you do when the market is not open. Study, market prep, resting, conditioning physically and emotionally and etc. etc..
You see "possible" insinuation....some might see you are "probably" wrong in your evaluation. You can only win, lose or draw when you play the game. Your game has no profit potential that I can see.
This is something commonly overlooked or not appreciated, but as one who has had the misfortune (or luck, depending on viewpoint) of working horrible, stressful jobs, the type that make getting up every day a depressing chore -- I'd say the intangible benefits of spending your time doing what you love put you way ahead of most, even if you were to go dead broke financially. Congrats on that, uptik.