0007
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I suspect the successful ones are all of the above. As for the remaining 80(?)% - probably range from neurotic/manic-depressives to perfectly normal well-adjusted human beings totally unsuited to trading.
meanreversion
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Is it necessary to be intelligent to be profitable at trading? Or merely autistic?
0007
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Of course, ........doesn't it all depend on what your definition of intelligence is. From Wiki: "Numerous definitions of and hypotheses about intelligence have been proposed since before the twentieth century" http://www.trade2win.com/boards/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1424836
most of the dudes i know are sharp and pretty smart but not geniuses
Yea those ones just screw over their clients. The ones that do really well are generally really smart. The market is still corrupt, so the thick ones are still about.
meanreversion
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My current definition of "edge" is the ability to convince someone else that YOU have an edge.
You don't necessarily need to be smart to have this edge.. along the way, if you end up trading OPM, you could potentially become fairly wealthy.
Now, a thick retail trader making pots of cash? I can't really see it myself.
You don't necessarily need to be smart to have this edge.. along the way, if you end up trading OPM, you could potentially become fairly wealthy.
Now, a thick retail trader making pots of cash? I can't really see it myself.
Yes to all.
Boo!
victor sperandeo always argued you don't have to be smart. John carter has a cool take on this...his book has 3 personality types, one spatial , one auditory and one very in touch with emotions/thoughts. spatial apparently is the best, the latter the worst
Retail im not sure about. Thick Elective professional i'm sure.
arabianights
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To the OP 95% of the population is smart
well like ....sharp;fast with maths...academic....is that what you're meaning by smart?
Where'd you get such statistics
Hotch
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Hotch
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Fear not Split, the ones I know who are smart make a lot more :clap:
HowardCohodas
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Truly superior traders are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.
arabianights
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It's extremely easy to make heckva lot of money if you take stupid risks. Thus this means there are a lot of successful stupid traders - either they're too stupid to notice the risks, or stupid enough to take them anyway.
That latter is not necessarily stupid of course (especially if it's only your money if you earn out of it) but it usually is!
donaldduke
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when it comes to trading,emotional smartness is more important than intellectual smartness.
This is just based on my experience so by no means scientific and this is from working at prop firms, some may argue this isnt representative of the whole trading community (but personally I think someone that can make a living for himself with large costs to overcome at the start and no support/inside information makes them a pretty special breed).
I have to say the best traders are what a lot of people would call "thick". I cant tell you the amount of diligent, hardworking Phd's that were hired, would get in the office at 6am leave at 9pm constantly read books, analyse the charts, ask questions no drinking/junk food during the week basically everything you could possibly want.. on paper. And they would nearly all get the boot within 5 months. Its a shame.
They all had one of 2 things in common which are kind of related. They would all try and break the market down into a set of rules or statistics (or take a very academic approach), and they were also all scared to put trades on, its like their brain couldnt handle the amount of variables that cant be quantified.
On the other hand I can think of at least 7 traders that comfortably make 20-30k a month. All of them scruffy, disorganised, reckless to a degree. In fact some of them not even that interested in trading. One guy i know was a bit of a hippie and only got into trading to pay off his student loan quickly then go and back back around the world (he is still trading 7 years on though).
These guys all had one thing in common to, they were all fearless and very aggressive. They all traded a variety of styles but if they thought they had found an edge to any degree they were the first people banging on the boss's door asking for more size to trade, if a suprising news release came out they were in the market with full size instantly and would let the position run and run, they never stopped and thought about the trade they just did it.
Are these people really "thick"? No not at all, but they are not intelligent in the conventional sense (but this is another thread on my views of how wrong the current education system is). They tend to view trading as a computer game (all these people seemed to like games) and didnt care about the money (most of them spent their earning as quickly as they made it) all they cared about was playing the market like a computer game. If they took a hit it was a life gone, if they did well they went onto the next level i.e more size.
Any other prop guys noticed similar?
I have to say the best traders are what a lot of people would call "thick". I cant tell you the amount of diligent, hardworking Phd's that were hired, would get in the office at 6am leave at 9pm constantly read books, analyse the charts, ask questions no drinking/junk food during the week basically everything you could possibly want.. on paper. And they would nearly all get the boot within 5 months. Its a shame.
They all had one of 2 things in common which are kind of related. They would all try and break the market down into a set of rules or statistics (or take a very academic approach), and they were also all scared to put trades on, its like their brain couldnt handle the amount of variables that cant be quantified.
On the other hand I can think of at least 7 traders that comfortably make 20-30k a month. All of them scruffy, disorganised, reckless to a degree. In fact some of them not even that interested in trading. One guy i know was a bit of a hippie and only got into trading to pay off his student loan quickly then go and back back around the world (he is still trading 7 years on though).
These guys all had one thing in common to, they were all fearless and very aggressive. They all traded a variety of styles but if they thought they had found an edge to any degree they were the first people banging on the boss's door asking for more size to trade, if a suprising news release came out they were in the market with full size instantly and would let the position run and run, they never stopped and thought about the trade they just did it.
Are these people really "thick"? No not at all, but they are not intelligent in the conventional sense (but this is another thread on my views of how wrong the current education system is). They tend to view trading as a computer game (all these people seemed to like games) and didnt care about the money (most of them spent their earning as quickly as they made it) all they cared about was playing the market like a computer game. If they took a hit it was a life gone, if they did well they went onto the next level i.e more size.
Any other prop guys noticed similar?