Why do you trade?

Paulie_5

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The girl I'm seeing at the moment asked the question over a bottle of wine :

"Where's the enjoyment of watching a green and a red candle go up and down on a screen?"

I really struggled to give an answer to make her see where I was coming from. Same with others I've had this dicussion with. They just don't seem to *get* it.

Discuss ...
 
The girl I'm seeing at the moment asked the question over a bottle of wine :

"Where's the enjoyment of watching a green and a red candle go up and down on a screen?"

Discuss ...

"Because they are prettier and more fun than you are; CHEQUE PLEASE!" ?
 
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Ummmm, is this a serious question?

It is mostly about the benjamins, and the manner in which one gathers said benjamins.
 
Don't you hate it when someone asks that question ? makes you question yourself all over again because you can't give a succinct answer.

I trade for money, it's that simple...and trading unlike many other professions has the huge advantage of exponentiality. Ie most people have to sell hours to earn, and to earn more they have to sell more hours or charge more per hour, the latter being harder to achieve once a ceiling is reached commensurate with their experience and effectiveness at the thing they are doing (usually decided by someone else) -and/or- an industry/sector ceiling is reached. As traders if we want to earn more we can trade the same amount of hours with more margin, so theoretically our earning potential has no ceiling within a given set of hours worked.

It's not what I set out to do in life, and I don't 'love it.' It's the money.

G/L
 
If anyone struggles to explain why they do something, maybe they shoudn't be doing it.
 
The girl I'm seeing at the moment asked the question over a bottle of wine :

"Where's the enjoyment of watching a green and a red candle go up and down on a screen?"

I really struggled to give an answer to make her see where I was coming from. Same with others I've had this dicussion with. They just don't seem to *get* it.

Discuss ...

I trade because it's fun.
I would do it even if it cost me the level of entertainment costs I am used to spending.

It's more fun when you also make money. I don't spend that much time at it. I make decisions at most four times per day. But it allows me to earn my living doing it and still have time left over for other fun stuff.

In fact, I view sleep as an annoying interference with doing fun stuff.
 
If anyone struggles to explain why they do something, maybe they shoudn't be doing it.

Possibly. Perhaps he can't give a better reason than "for money" which sounds shallow on the face of it but is actually just being realistic. When people say "money isn't everything", they don't realise they are the shallow types who need money to buy things to be happy. And money pays the bills. And Masq's hookers.
 

I trade because it's fun.
I would do it even if it cost me the level of entertainment costs I am used to spending.

It's more fun when you also make money. I don't spend that much time at it. I make decisions at most four times per day. But it allows me to earn my living doing it and still have time left over for other fun stuff.

In fact, I view sleep as an annoying interference with doing fun stuff.

Your response to the Op's discussion point reminds me of one of those dumb-ass *@%!wit footballers earning £150k/week (yes I know there's a contradiction in that statement - lol.) They say 'I'd play even if I didn't get paid' Well yeh, but you'de have to earn your living elsewhere and so you wouldn't have as much to spend playing.

Howard, don't kid yourself, you do it for the wonga, like the rest of us mercantile soles. If you happen to find it fun too, great !..and if you'd do it even if it cost you the same as your other entertainment exps, then you need to get out more often.

G/L
 
To make money, wtf?

Sure, that's the basic reason where we all started isn't it? But once you learn how to do that it becomes more of a challenge: refining your skill - how good a trader can you be? A bit like computer programmers in the early days - the intellectual mathematicians would look to write their code in the most efficient and economical way while the rest resorted to Microsoft-style bloatware which did the job, improved the prospects of manufacturers of faster PCs and took the strain off their brains.

Once you can make money from trading you want to do better, and possibly one of the dangerous things about trading is that you can measure your own achievement (or otherwise) exactly, unlike say a footballer where you might be pretty good but how much of your success depends on the rest of the team?

Once you have enough money in life to live as you wish - and that doesn't necessarily mean being rich (and what is "rich" anyway?) - a lot of things you do (including trading IMHO) become more of a pseudo-intellectual exercise and much more satisfying. So that's why I trade - but I do like the dosh also!
 
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OK, I'll be honest.

I don't do it for the money.

Truth be told, I trade to pass the time in between jerkin' off.

WTF? Money and not having to go to work, that's it.
 
Your response to the Op's discussion point reminds me of one of those dumb-ass *@%!wit footballers earning £150k/week (yes I know there's a contradiction in that statement - lol.) They say 'I'd play even if I didn't get paid' Well yeh, but you'de have to earn your living elsewhere and so you wouldn't have as much to spend playing.

Howard, don't kid yourself, you do it for the wonga, like the rest of us mercantile soles. If you happen to find it fun too, great !..and if you'd do it even if it cost you the same as your other entertainment exps, then you need to get out more often.

G/L

I reckon a much higher of % of traders do it for the money than football players do and I bet a higher % of fotballers would still be playing pro for an average wage, but I reckon most traders wouldn't

I dont know any pro footballers or traders so my opinion counts for nothin
 
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..........and not having to go to work, that's it.

On reflection I reckon that's one of the nicest things about trading. And who else would give you a job where you don't have to turn up until 2.30pm - and that's only if & when it suits you?
 
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