Your question and combining ET members mentality, i should lie because my posts won't count anything anymore to anyone but hell i say No I think the case is same with 98% ET traders, Now, if you are successful for 5 continus years, the question rise here, you then should have few 10s of million under your management today:
Thanks for being honest. I have been trading my own money for the past five years. I am very passionate about trading, about winning, and I love the challenge. I also love the freedom trading gives me. I havn't had to answer to anyone but myself....I take that back, myself and my wife, and for that I am very grateful. I have not ventured into the moneymanagment side, though it is a very distinct possibility for the future, for now I am content to take my personal trading to the next level. Well, keep at it, the game can be beat!
nana trader is the reason why hedge funds can raise millions and millions of dollars with mediocre performance. hfs have done a great job generating an aura of eliteness by piggybacking on the names of a few top managers (Soros, Citadel, SAC, etc.). these top funds carry the image of the industry, but the reality is completely different. people (individuals, pension fund/endowment managers, FoF managers) "think" they are elite and they are special, so they become elite and special btw, i have met pension fund, endowment, and FoF managers. you can just substitute those titles for posers and wannabes. well, to be fair, not all, but probably 95%. they actually speak of allocating money into and out of a fund is a "trade". due diligence on a fund is completely based on filling out their form instead of truly understanding the stratagy. not picking a fight with you nana trader, if you see the industry from the inside one day you will know your impressions are wrong.
uhmm... it usually takes a few yrs to know what ur doing... even on the retail side. any less, ur just kidding urself..
You're not necessarily screwed. If a successful trader is there to guide and help you, that can be a big advantage. But with the right aptitude and application, 'distance' mentors such as authors, seminar speakers, ET or other forum contributors can be used to gain the required knowledge to trade successfully. The difficulty can be sorting out the wheat from the chaff or bouncing from one idea to another and not getting anywhere.
Nana Great post. I started in 1983 as a messenger for a brokerage house in Toronto and during the last 20 years I have seen it all (but I'm sure I will still be surprised). I always laugh at these 2-3 success stories because to me a real professional trader is someone that can last past 5 years min and average 10-100% per year (good and bad). ET is filled with posers and snot nose kids that will come and go just as fast but I can assure that only 1-2% will be here over the next 20 years and it will most likely be the options sellers. No disrespect to anyone, it's just the facts as I have seen them play out over 20 years. I have recently completely abandoned trying to daytrade and returned to selling time. It was a fun adventure but I found out what I already knew about daytrading but had to prove to myself and at least try it.