Hogarste said:
Ake, I guess I'm one of those people who worked as a professional, in my case accounting / finance. I don't remember any technical analysis classes from college. Actually I don't remember that much from college regardless. I never think about my own performance in trading versus others. I don't think problem solving skills equate to college education. I know plenty of non college people who have better problem solving skills than many others I've met professionally.
Even if we all become A+ students with regard to ICT material, there is an aspect of this skill that is not just knowledge based. Managing risk and having self control and patience, and controlling compulsive behaviors.. There is plenty that ICT cannot give us (in my opinion) that is required to succeed.
I was just referring to the people out there that think pretty highly of themselves based on their current career, and just assume that they have what it takes to turn their nestegg into a fortune. Lots of people go in thinking they are going to be good at this, and pretty quickly (myself included) but some jump in with a lot of money (because they're rich already).
I know you're wiser than that Brian, you're not part of the group I was referring to. I know there's a bunch of people that do that, and we just don't hear about them on these forums.
I guess I'm just trying to show Troy that there are people that went in way bigger, and truly did fuck up their lives with this so-called business. Imagine being 55, a few years from retiring, and blowing your whole nestegg because you thought trading was a simple game...
It is mostly a puzzle type game at the heart of it, but once the money starts getting real, it becomes a War Game of sorts, and the stakes become very high. At some point you start to play for your life, because let's face it, in this world your money is your life. Nobody wants to admit it, but that's the way society operates. You think homeless people choose to live on the streets for fun?
Life in the western world is a money-chasing game, and once you respect the fact that trading is a business, a type of financial warfare, you really begin to respect the challenge of it. I don't feel bad for people that fail who are unprepared. You showed up on the battlefield unarmed & defenseless and you got your brains blown out. Have respect for the industry you're in, take the precautions necessary on EVERY SINGLE TRADE, and damn... you just might survive!
If I can take it, I can make it...