No doubt that some people scanning ET threads and coming across posters willing to post their PnL and/or real-time trades are wondering - WHY? What is the purpose? Do they wish to boost their ego or do they want to gain respect of a virtual audience or something else? The reason I do it, is because I take pride in what I do, I don't get any respect from a boss (as I don't have one), my wife doesn't understand what's there to be excited about (apart from the financial satisfaction) and I suppose there is no one there in my day to day life to show some sort of appreciation of...well my knowledge. I know it might sound as if I am looking for some sort of ego boost or an online ass kissing buddy LOL, but in reality it's done mainly for that extra bit of (running out of words here) respect for my achievements, that I do not get from my family members. My dream has always been to leave something behind me when I am gone, so far I have failed in that, I failed to invent the hoover, don't understand the mechanics of a kettle...will always fail at getting even a coffee making job at NASA. Hence, the desire to be appreciated. Maybe I am weird, maybe others will share my understanding of me. What about you guys?
I wish I knew the answer as well. We are not supposed to trade with an ego but when we are not in a trade maybe we need that little ego stroke. If your wife is like mine you probably don't get much support from her. So maybe we flock to be where others like us are.
I'm not here in ET for the P&L statements at all... <i>"I'm here for the party, yeah..."</i> [Gretchen Wilson] Any profession man endeavors requires some post-work camaraderie to share experiences with. Trading retail from tyhe comfort of our homes is wonderful in part, but lonely & unfulfilling in other aspects. AP
I think it's important to define yourself outside of your work. I think one of the ways I turned the corner was by not caring a lick about this, whereas in the beginning I took everything so seriously. Giving up ego, pride; although I still get very frustrated at times (really hard to get rid of). What I value is my relationships and the writing I do along with a few other education-type projects. Trading is really just a chess game. Pointless in any way besides the $.
I really think it helps to post your pandl as long as you do it every day so that losers are included. I'm not exactly sure why but it seems to help me stick to my rules, most of the time, knowing Im going to post the results.
1. I feel posting P&L gives the trader some sort of credibility in this virtual world and other readers can see exactly where they stand as a trader. Many posters on here give out advice and put down others all the while no one knows whether they, themselves, are actually profitable. 2. I like being disciplined, and forcing myself to post every single day helps me maintain a discipline that also carries over to my trading.
Posting can serve a purpose, if you post everyday and you post truthfully . The purpose would be to provide discipline in your intraday trading because you want to post a profit instead of a loss at the end of the day. If that's the primary reason for posting, then it serves as a very powerful self-motivating tool. I'm sure more than a few post because they're braggarts ( won't last long in this business), others post because they want to "give back", others post because they want to prove to themselves that "it can be done". I noticed quite a few post fake numbers and then after a few months dissapear altogether.
I post to encourage others to share their positiosn in real time with me so we can exchange ideas on the strategies and learn. I post first to set the standard so that others feel comfortable following. Basically it creates a truly useful thread with exchanges of ideas and expriences. For someone trading from home, it at least makes me feel like I am in a trading room with a bunch of friends and fills gaps between daily trades . I think posting real-time does help establish some credibiltiy otherwise people have little reason to listen to you without actually seeing you take the risks you talk about.