Recent content by kevinkdog

Trading is the hardest way to make easy money.

Traders trying to avoid losses is usually what gets them into trouble. "Avoid losses" - bad "Manage losses" - better "Manage expectations about trading" - best

This ^^^^^ I always tell people: No edge (profitable strategy), bad psychology - YOU LOSE No edge (profitable strategy), great psychology - YOU LOSE Good edge (profitable strategy), bad psychology - YOU LOSE Good edge (profitable strategy), great psychology - YOU WIN (but it will still be...

I would call him a trader. A pretty bad one though! If trader=profitable then there are very, very few traders out there.

I have seen people who are net losers over 10-15 years still try to make a go of it. They may jump from approach to approach, backtest some methods, work on their psychology, etc. and still come out losers. They don't give up, yet they are net losers. Why would they do that? Probably a...

I know people who have been trading 10-15 years, and are still not profitable - much less consistently profitable. For 90% of traders, long term profitability is a myth. And for probably 99% of traders, long term consistent profitability is an even bigger myth. I know it seems like everyone...

"Full time" implies that you do it as a day job. If you already have a day job, then you will have 2 day jobs. More power to you if you can perform well at 2 full time jobs simultaneously, but chances are you will underperform at both. If you want to trade - day trade or otherwise - I suggest...

The problem is you still need an edge with your strategy. A random 1:3 risk to reward strategy would win about 25% of the time (we will forget about trading costs in this example). So, your chances of getting 2 wins in a row are actually around .25*.25 = 6.25%. Let's say instead you have...

Why is 50% important? Many successful trend followers survive with 30% wins. Isn't it really about expectancy (avg trade)?

The sad parts is the names will change, but the story remains the same...

Especially with small or non-existent drawdowns!

You might find this video on trading scams helpful:

After I've properly backtested the strategy (very easy to do incorrectly), I watch it for 6-12 months in real time to see if it performs well in relation to the backtest. Now, backtests are almost always optimistic, but the strategy in 6-12 months after development should make money (I compare...

This is very well said. I will add that it is HOW you trade and HOW you study, too. Lots of people jump from method to method, study lots of garbage advice and otherwise head down a million wrong paths. This is a normal part of the beginner's learning process, but too many more experienced...

I'm sure this is possible, absolutely. Another "demo funding" outfit prevents trades lasting less than 20 seconds, and latency arb might be part of the reason. People have been gaming demo engines and simulators for years, and this is just one reason why. I always say, "I know lots of sim...