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kimo'sabby

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Use the word 'gambler', and everybody knows where they stand,...except the ones with addictive personalities.

Use the word 'trader', and everybody thinks there's a free lunch somewhere down the line.

Innit funni ow wordz realli mess wiv peeps eds?
 
Trading isn't gambling as such, there is much more to it imo


No way, 50/50 each trade, it's going to go one way or the other. Just got to get on a hot streak and pile on the size when you feel lucky.
 
No way, 50/50 each trade, it's going to go one way or the other. Just got to get on a hot streak and pile on the size when you feel lucky.

If you're feeling lucky you are gambling imho.


It's the risk / reward management that makes the difference.

risk < reward
 
pretty much every decision you make in life involves assessing risk and reward, the most cautious people you meet are making decisions and assessing risk and reward. Most people who are called gamblers generally accept hight risk and are chasing high reward. When they get it right they are called a Guru, and when they get it wrong they are called a gambler.
 
It's the risk / reward management that makes the difference.

That is a crutch used by people who wish to delude themselves that they are not gambling. Ask any real gambler - horses, casinos, sports, etc - the smart ones will tell you that if a 'system' doesn't work on level staking, it doesn't work. All of this attention to "money management", risk:reward numbers pulled out of the air - all of it is simply self delusion.

A professional posture will include appropriate position sizing. This means not being overleveraged. In a professional arena, such as a futures exchange, the margins are set at more sensible levels than for example spread betting companies. There are also position limits and liquidity considerations for larger players.

For an amateur, position sizing should be in place to reduce the risk of ruin. Without this, any other efforts are irrelevant as the trader will eventually blow up. However, without a robust strategy in place to take net points from the chosen markets each day, position sizing will not make a trader successful.

All of this is obvious, however the masses persist in attempts to control their gambling and limit losses. It is a crutch to avoid responsibility for haphazard, hit-or-miss trading or more accurately guesswork. Provided the gambler has rationalised affording to lose, he can continue.

The people who indulge in circular discussions with made up risk:reward numbers most likely don't understand the true probabilities of what they are trading. Without this knowledge in place, the numbers are all fantasy.

These terms are marketed to the class of wanabee "traders" - who wish to distinguish themselves from the mere gamblers. Therefore there must be mathematical systems, sophisticated financial terms, and other such props. The nature of the activity is the same - uninformed gambling - but a respectable veneer is added to attract the professional and managerial classes.

kimo'sabby makes a very good point about use of language. Consider the spread betting companies who brand themselves as "spread trading" companies. Consider the nature of the marketing.
 
good stuff hoodoo

It really is a form of gambling in my opinion.

If you buy an outright long position, you are 'betting' that someone else will buy it off you at a higher price later.

All of the people that buy after you are betting exactly the same thing.

Can we call it behavioural analysis gambling?
 
It's gambling if you place your bet and hope it will go your way. It's less than gambling if you place your bet and know what to do if it doesn't go your way. I know of people who are willing to go down with the ship. Now, that's gambling.
 
No way, 50/50 each trade, it's going to go one way or the other. Just got to get on a hot streak and pile on the size when you feel lucky.

Hi there Look at BUY / SELL options

Buyers LOSE 85% of the time therefore SELLERS must WIN 85% of the time.

The Big BUYERS of options are institutions who use these to "protect" themselves from large losses. They can also WIN BIG too -- so for them the risk is worth it.

This is where it makes HUGE sense for the smaller / individual investor to take advantage of this by SELLING the options.

This is the nearest you are likely to come to a "Perpetual Motion" money machine anywhere in the known universe.

The option SELLER is working a bit like the CASINO OPERATOR -- you don't win HUGELY but you make a decent %'ge on loads and loads of trades.

The Casino usually doesn't care if punters make 10 or 1,000,0000 USD so long as they AVERAGE a % take per punter --

Who'se ever heard of a CASINO going bust. :clap:

I'd advise any trader to look at OPTIONS TRADING -- it's hugely mis-understood and WRONGLY considered as very risky trading.

Cheers
jimbo
 
Hi there Look at BUY / SELL options

Buyers LOSE 85% of the time therefore SELLERS must WIN 85% of the time.

The Big BUYERS of options are institutions who use these to "protect" themselves from large losses. They can also WIN BIG too -- so for them the risk is worth it.

This is where it makes HUGE sense for the smaller / individual investor to take advantage of this by SELLING the options.

This is the nearest you are likely to come to a "Perpetual Motion" money machine anywhere in the known universe.

The option SELLER is working a bit like the CASINO OPERATOR -- you don't win HUGELY but you make a decent %'ge on loads and loads of trades.

The Casino usually doesn't care if punters make 10 or 1,000,0000 USD so long as they AVERAGE a % take per punter --

Who'se ever heard of a CASINO going bust. :clap:

I'd advise any trader to look at OPTIONS TRADING -- it's hugely mis-understood and WRONGLY considered as very risky trading.

Cheers
jimbo

Look VERY closely at it, because it will trap the get rich quick trader. I left it more than ten years ago. I had started to make money on it, then, but the way I did it was too slow for my taste. I switched to the more classical straight trading..

I found that the best way, for me, at that time, was to buy the very long dated options
because they move more closely with the share price. There will come a point when the time will start to waste away. You should have made money on call options, by then, but, in any case get out of that option because you will be entering the part where the writers hope to make money on them. You will know by practice when that time arrives- a few weeks from expiry, but I can't remember now.

I am very unsophisticaed in this regard, believing in straight buys, no straddles, etc. The more complicated the set-up the more expensive in brokers fees it all becomes.


Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. Remember that the brokers are waiting for suckers in this market. Study it well, before entering.
 
Who'se ever heard of a CASINO going bust. :clap:

If you are ever in Malta I could introduce you to a few who spunked the odd 20 million up the wall "investing" in online gaming businesses :LOL:

Failing that you could do some research and find out how many of these types of buisnesses register and are no longer operating 2 years down the line.
 
That is a crutch used by people who wish to delude themselves that they are not gambling. Ask any real gambler - horses, casinos, sports, etc - the smart ones will tell you that if a 'system' doesn't work on level staking, it doesn't work. All of this attention to "money management", risk:reward numbers pulled out of the air - all of it is simply self delusion.

A professional posture will include appropriate position sizing. This means not being overleveraged. In a professional arena, such as a futures exchange, the margins are set at more sensible levels than for example spread betting companies. There are also position limits and liquidity considerations for larger players.

For an amateur, position sizing should be in place to reduce the risk of ruin. Without this, any other efforts are irrelevant as the trader will eventually blow up. However, without a robust strategy in place to take net points from the chosen markets each day, position sizing will not make a trader successful.

All of this is obvious, however the masses persist in attempts to control their gambling and limit losses. It is a crutch to avoid responsibility for haphazard, hit-or-miss trading or more accurately guesswork. Provided the gambler has rationalised affording to lose, he can continue.

The people who indulge in circular discussions with made up risk:reward numbers most likely don't understand the true probabilities of what they are trading. Without this knowledge in place, the numbers are all fantasy.

These terms are marketed to the class of wanabee "traders" - who wish to distinguish themselves from the mere gamblers. Therefore there must be mathematical systems, sophisticated financial terms, and other such props. The nature of the activity is the same - uninformed gambling - but a respectable veneer is added to attract the professional and managerial classes.

kimo'sabby makes a very good point about use of language. Consider the spread betting companies who brand themselves as "spread trading" companies. Consider the nature of the marketing.

This would look so much better in purple. LOL
 
Some pro traders (the word 'trader' can describe an array of jobs) don't gamble, that's because they don't speculate. Chart trading is speculating, therefore it's gambling.

Please don't worry about this, you can be a 'good gambler', if you try.
 
Use the word 'gambler', and everybody knows where they stand,...except the ones with addictive personalities.

Use the word 'trader', and everybody thinks there's a free lunch somewhere down the line.

Innit funni ow wordz realli mess wiv peeps eds?

Long answer:
The issue is that people misunderstand the term "gambling" and I include people who have replied to this thread. From Wikipedia: Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value (referred to as "the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Trading is therefore gambling.

I love it when noobs come on T2W and talk about investing as if just using the word "investing" makes it more likely to happen and an intellectual pursuit. When it comes down to it, as someone has already said above, we take risks in all aspects of our lives. If you tell someone you're a gambler, they immediately and ignorantly (like some of the people on this thread) think you have a psychological problem... a mental illness. The fact is, whether you're betting on the horses, trading FTSE futures or "investing" in a family business, it's still a risk and the chances of success are unknown.

Consider this, is it more of a gamble to risk £20/tick on FTSE going up 20 pips on Monday open or to risk 3 years of your life and £30k to get a degree in Physics just to end up flipping burgers in McDonald's for £5.90? Or to have bought a house on 100% mortgage in 2007? Tell you what, I'd rather punt FTSE.

Short answer:
STFU you ignorant ***** who think you're not gamblers.
 
Embrace the word "bet"

How many of us avoid the use of the word "bet" and instead replace it with the word "trade" as it's a more acceptable *word* and concept?

Embrace the word "bet"..'cos that's what we do..:D
 
I see it as gambling, especially at our level. (and i'm cool with that, lol)
 
Re: Embrace the word "bet"

How many of us avoid the use of the word "bet" and instead replace it with the word "trade" as it's a more acceptable *word* and concept?

Embrace the word "bet"..'cos that's what we do..:D

Agreed - it's only the odds that change however much you wrestle with the semantics of this "debate.":love:
 
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