A Cautionary Tale: My 25-Year Struggle in Pursuit of Trading Success

Useful interview. I think everyone knows this guy. There are several useful take aways for me.

1. For most traders the issue is not psychology or discipline, it is the lack of edge. I am sure it is debatable, but my own experience tends to support it.

2. Returns from trading should not be compared with market returns. My opinion - for trading to be worthwhile I need to at least double my account annually. Otherwise it is not worth the stress.

3. Some markets are more efficient than others. Forex, for example, is driven by big players and therefore imbalances are less likely than in stocks. This is something I never thought of, but is pretty obvious. I have never seen a currency double or triple in a year (except Zimbabwean Dollar, tradeability of which is dubious anyway), but stocks do it on regular basis.

4. Lower time frames have more edge. I have no experience in day trading, so cannot comment on this.