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Why? What would you get out of it? Sleep better at night? Turn instantly profitable? Frankly, if this is what you are concerned about, then trading is not for you. Stop wasting your time and find something else to do.
Honestly, I don't know what the long term effect would be if i was to recieve a satisfactory answer to my inquery. Perhaps it would plant a seed of inspiration and in anything thats tough to do, a little inspiration can go a long way.
Platform: NinjaTrader (It's a love/hate relationship)
Trading: CL, TF, 6E
Posts: 169 since May 2010
Thanks Given: 60
Thanks Received: 314
I equate education in the trading business to trying to buy a Rolex from a street vendor. You know for a fact that some are genuine and most are not. Plus the fakes are of varying quality, some excellent... others are garbage. The problem is... you aren't allowed to examine them before buying. Some are in a glass display case. Some are out in the open (but they're still "do not touch") and some only in the catalog. You have to pick one or more semi-blindly.
Now, I don't know of anyone in their right mind who would make such a major purchase under these conditions. Yet these are the exact conditions that aspiring traders have to deal with. It's insane!
As to your original question.. Of course it's the exception to the rule. We all know that 95% of traders lose.
The markets are totally random, with a small trending component, Sadly even that trending component is random so it does not matter where you place a trendline, if you wait long enough, eventually a price bar will bounce off of it.
Platform: NinjaTrader (It's a love/hate relationship)
Trading: CL, TF, 6E
Posts: 169 since May 2010
Thanks Given: 60
Thanks Received: 314
I'm with MetalTrade on this one... the markets are anything but random.
The markets are a manifestation of people. And people, while irrational at times, are anything but random. People are predictable.
Many confuse the ambiguity, confusion, contradictions and uncertainty that the markets make one feel, for randomness. Not the same thing.
And, just to keep this thread on topic... I personally know several people who trade for their primary, and usually only, source of income. They have done so for between 7 to 25 years. I don't think there's any better proof than that.
But the truth about the markets is irrelevant. You can only trade your beliefs. And the question is, "Can you consistently make money from those beliefs?". Based on what I've seen, I believe the answer is yes.
Maybe the reason profitable traders don't show their profits it's because they know they might be responsible in letting you loose everything you have and maybe everything what your closest family and friends have.
I completely agree that markets are people. People are VERY PREDICTABLE.
Not sure 'people' or typical people are the one's trading these days and I think the market dynamic as such has changed. I do believe that yes, it is still doable, so I do not mean to discount that, but I do believe that things like GS and other firms being able to be a bonafide 'hedger' for S&P and CL etc. makes the futures markets a little more bumpy, but still very trade-able.
Question: How do you surround yourself with profitable traders in person?