TWI said:
This is all getting a bit deep which is possibly the primary issue for most people.
It's a numbers game, there are no crystal ball predictions there are only probabilities.
Couldn't agree more.
Greed is often the pre-cursor to most losses, (for both experienced & noobs), that + lack of discipline & over complication.
The new entrant (retailers) especially, has a tendancy to dive in with no clear or detailed plan, insufficient capital for their aims & expectations & a lack of appreciation regards leverage (well, certainly in the FX arena anyway). "Champagne taste, lemonade pocket" springs to mind.
Overtrading on timeframes way too inappropriate for their ability or experience & drowning in a sea of indicators which they neither understand or will ever really need.
Education (or a total lack of it) is the root I guess. And impatience, in attempting to run before they can walk - blowing accounts left & right in a futile & misguided assumption that gaining 'live screen time' with a few thousand $$'s will somehow attract a honed & developed appreciation of price action & it's benefits?!
You also hear the comment "play with money you can afford to lose" bandied around quite often. What's that all about? I've yet to encounter anyone (including pro's) who would meekly & happily shovel a pocketful of dough into a trading account under the pretext it's an 'education fee' - education for what exactly? The only education that particular waste of money attracts is the fact you were dumb enough to enter a business without first exploring & unearthing a sensible training period.
Folks seem to lose all common sense where trading is concerned. Would you dump $5 or 10k into a franchise operation before first determining whether or not that business was a suitable route to future financial improvement? Would a pre-qualified doctor set up his/her practice, attract patients &
then decide to study for their medical registration-certificates? I don't think so.
If trading is so attractive & compelling, spend the $5k on getting some kind of initial/basic education first (mentoring), & gradually dip your toe. If it still burns bright, then come to the market at least part-way armed.