Wall Street = Casino. Minus Sum Game.

DT,
. . . if all these 'conventional' places are next to useless and little more than a trap to lure (wannabe) traders into a holding pen for the 'house' to then pick off at their leisure, what are the alternatives? Where do you suggest people go - and what should they do - to avoid this inevitable fate of being parted from their money? What would you recommend to an aspiring retail trader?
Tim

Here's a good one - it's 9:03 EST right now.



See how there were a few big trades at the end of yesterday WITH price improvement. One through the NYSE & one through the NASDAQ.

Is it possible that the Floor Specialist had to take the other side of that NYSE trade ? That the NYSE had to be seller to match this buyer ?

Is it possible that the first trade for 100 at 8:21 was the floor specialist putting a trade through an ECN attempting to set the tone of the open in such a way that he'd be able to buy the shares back at a lower price ?

Depends what you mean by 'aspiring trader'.

If you mean a guy with $2,000 with hopes of turning it into $1,000,000 and starting with position sizes way too big for his account. I'd advise buying lottery tickets.

If you mean a guy with $25,000. I'd advise buying a property.

If you mean a guy with a few properties and no skills with which to start their own business - I'd advise avoiding training.

For anyone left, I'd not advise anything - they obviously don't listen to me anyway

What would you reccomend, and why ?

Why would you recommend and when?

Hi zup',
All the things that DT advises against, for two reasons:
1. I'm not aware of any other alternatives (excluding things like getting a position with a good IB or prop firm etc.)
2. I don't share DT's views that books, sites like T2W and (some) courses etc. are a waste of time.
How about you?
TIm.

Good section in Street Smarts covers this...I think DT has got the DTs... Is it me, or do I notice a pattern were so many of the *new* posters always arrive like Malificent from Snow White; giving it large, telling every one 'how it is' and how we're all "doing it wrong" to then do a flounce off a bit later on..?

I'm Broadly with DT. Its not that there's an absense of information, everything you need is probably out there, but noise is a big problem. In the complete absense of any information then anything that a book or forum, or system or mentor provides that can be evaluated, and gets people immersed in the process (even if its complete nonsense) is probably useful to a limited extent.

Unfortunately even the very best advice is context sensitve, and it can therefore be counter productive.

My advice to people would be that you need a full time committment. I've never met anyone who was able to achieve consistant profitability from part time study, although that doesnt mean it cant be done. I'd strongly advise against focussing on trade entries. I'd advise brushing up on basic statistics and probability theory. I'd advise getting some programming and data analysis skills. I'd advise people start by trading a system with a random entry, with an exit after X bars (where X is determined by personal psychology, tempered by market reality). I'd advise the retrospective analysis of all trades, and the development of appropriate metrics for the classification of "good" and "bad" trades. I'd advice gaining an understanding of the importance of trend. I'd advise gaining an understanding of basic TA, price action etc and how that might be used to modify reward and risk. I'd advise against reading anything writen after around 1930 ! I may even advise buying a few books and systems. I'd strongly advise people to keep a diary. I'd advise people to set realistic expecations.

I'd strongly advise against collabarative projects

Thats the problem though, my advice is possibly perfect for anyone who shares similar traits to me. I reckon I could put a training program together that would have them up and running within 18 months, and that they'd be totally self sufficient. The problem is that the majority of people dont share my traits, and therefore they wont benefit from the process. They need a different path, and possibly a path thats diametrically opposite what I would reccommend.

they tell me that there's more than one way to skin a cat