my last comment is simply that based on years of experience and upon exposure to many that proclaimed that they traded faithfully from a system and were net winners, i've found that after a little bit of scrutiny that there was no real adherence to a system at all. there was always some "tweaking" and second-guessing. in fact there was always major input of human judgement. time after time, i've found that the system was at best a psychological crutch that gave a trader confidence in the face of overwhelming uncertainty. the bottom line is that it was good solid trading that made the "system" work. alright i'll wave the white flag too.
I would definately agree that there are a massive amount of systems out there like that, and may even go so far as to say that any system for sale is like that, but there are also a lot of systems that people use everyday that aren't open to scrutiny or exposure that actually do work. Sure trading has something to do with it, but if it's a good system, that just adds to the pot. I'm only waving the white flag because I'm sure there are a ton of people checking this thread to see if riskarb or maverick are posting, only to be dissappointed by my ramblings.... - The New Guy
it doesn't matter to me what you like to believe in. i'm not selling you anything, and i have zero financial incentive to take the time to describe in detail and show you how and where winning systems are being traded. but you are free to believe in what you believe in. me no care.
i don't really believe in much when it comes to the markets. i'll leave that to the faith seekers. i need to see some proof to be convinced of any claims relating to trading. i'm a skeptic and an empiricist to the core. btw, it's not that i don't believe there isn't any water in the oceans. i just don't believe that the earth is flat or the sun revolves around the earth.
Hmmm have you PERSONALY been in space and seen that it isn't/doesn't or are you just trusting the media and text books?
I don't believer in "systems" either, or it just might be that I do not understand the meaning of that word. If by "system" you mean a set of simple trades/indicators that would make money no matter what with some probability, then I don't believe in systems. What I do believe in is that every good trader has both the strategical and tactical approaches. The strategical approcha might be "it's good to be short gamma" or "i believe the market overprices the wings", however, the tactics might dictate otherwise at the current moment.
I think what's it's coming down to is the definition of systems. I certainly don't believe any trading system can be packaged up and sold and work for everyone, but I do believe that smart traders can (and should) figure out a set of guidlines to trade by. Obviously a system can't encompass EVERY outside factor (at least, none that I know of) and will require adjustments as the market adjusts, but to me, that's still a system. Of course, I'm getting my butt handed to me on a silver platter today, so what do I know in the end? - The New Guy
Arbitrage systems are "systems", no? I'd take that "system" over "trade by feel and hope it goes right" method any day!
This is the most interesting and the most educational thread. By reading ALL comments, I am concluding that you can't win in the options game. You can get lucky a few times, but you can't win consistently. Am I right? Please prove me wrong.
Why is that Ansbacher guy making money almost every year for the past 20 years? Elite trader is a place where 95% of the traders aren't successful and probably don't know what they're doing, so of course, most of the responses here are very negative, at least that's what I'm feeling.