cytopathology
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I'm not a successful trader, so take all this with a grain of salt...
I know one man who I'm 99.9% sure is a successful discretionary daytrader, primarily of the es. It took him 5 years, he says, to be able to make money and avoid giving it all back to the market. He has now been making a "good living" he says, for over 25 years by daytrading - plus a small trading website with very few customers.
I also know this, I myself am not able to become a successful discretionary trader (of any timeframe) because my nervous system can't handle it. When I put on a position, my heart races, my blood vessels constrict and my IQ drops significantly (due to reduced cerebral blood flow). This "fight-flight or freeze) reaction even happens when I'm paper trading the es. I hear you laughing. I'm laughing, too - or at least trying.
After about 4 years of this misery, I read a book that contained a test designed to categorize people into 4 groups as potential traders: 1) Those potentially capable of discretionary trading. 2) Those capable only of trading an automated system. 3) Those capable of trading a hybird of discretion and computerized systems. 4) Those who are INCAPABLE of any successful trading, but who may be able to design automated trading systems (which they, obviously, can't personally trade). I fell into the latter category.
The book is, "How to Become a Successful Trader, by Gandevani." Please do yourself a favor and read it. :clover: Amazon has it. (I have no connection, financial or otherwise, with the author.)
I hope my honesty is worth something to somebody. I've spent well over 20,000 dollars chasing a dream that, for me personally, turned out to be an expensive education. I know a lot of valuable generalizations about trading the markets, but they have value only to potential traders.
Like athletic ability, IQ, musical talent, show size, and just about all human characteristics, the potential to learn how trade for a living is distributed on a bell-shaped curve with only the outliers on one tail able to put it all together and make it happen. Don't let vendors convince you that this isn't true if you just have the right tools, system, edge, mentor, or what-not.
But, hey, diving into the trading game can be a lot of fun too. So as long as you don't lose too much money, maybe for you the cost is worth the ride - like a vacation or a new hobby. That's how I try to look back at my own trading failure.
Also, I gained a good friend who, I'm 99.9% sure, trades for a "good living." (I haven't seen his tax returns or his trading account, but I've seen a ton of other evidence.)
Again, I hope all struggling traders will please read: "How to Become a Successful Trader, by Gandevani"? :cheesy:
I know one man who I'm 99.9% sure is a successful discretionary daytrader, primarily of the es. It took him 5 years, he says, to be able to make money and avoid giving it all back to the market. He has now been making a "good living" he says, for over 25 years by daytrading - plus a small trading website with very few customers.
I also know this, I myself am not able to become a successful discretionary trader (of any timeframe) because my nervous system can't handle it. When I put on a position, my heart races, my blood vessels constrict and my IQ drops significantly (due to reduced cerebral blood flow). This "fight-flight or freeze) reaction even happens when I'm paper trading the es. I hear you laughing. I'm laughing, too - or at least trying.
After about 4 years of this misery, I read a book that contained a test designed to categorize people into 4 groups as potential traders: 1) Those potentially capable of discretionary trading. 2) Those capable only of trading an automated system. 3) Those capable of trading a hybird of discretion and computerized systems. 4) Those who are INCAPABLE of any successful trading, but who may be able to design automated trading systems (which they, obviously, can't personally trade). I fell into the latter category.
The book is, "How to Become a Successful Trader, by Gandevani." Please do yourself a favor and read it. :clover: Amazon has it. (I have no connection, financial or otherwise, with the author.)
I hope my honesty is worth something to somebody. I've spent well over 20,000 dollars chasing a dream that, for me personally, turned out to be an expensive education. I know a lot of valuable generalizations about trading the markets, but they have value only to potential traders.
Like athletic ability, IQ, musical talent, show size, and just about all human characteristics, the potential to learn how trade for a living is distributed on a bell-shaped curve with only the outliers on one tail able to put it all together and make it happen. Don't let vendors convince you that this isn't true if you just have the right tools, system, edge, mentor, or what-not.
But, hey, diving into the trading game can be a lot of fun too. So as long as you don't lose too much money, maybe for you the cost is worth the ride - like a vacation or a new hobby. That's how I try to look back at my own trading failure.
Also, I gained a good friend who, I'm 99.9% sure, trades for a "good living." (I haven't seen his tax returns or his trading account, but I've seen a ton of other evidence.)
Again, I hope all struggling traders will please read: "How to Become a Successful Trader, by Gandevani"? :cheesy: