Why do people trade?

[BSD]

Main reason mate, finacial freedom, main reason along with the total freedom and independence from just about any sort of crap out there in the corporate world, totally agree.

Somebody wrote the following in the hilarious pit trader stories trhreadm and that is spot on too imo:

"when you are in an environment that sometimes gives the opportunity to make several thousand pounds in 10 minutes or there abouts, you start to realise that what other people think of you is pointless. it often comes from jealousy. after all, these 'funny people' from outside have often worked under this dumb belief that success comes from qualifications and working all the hours under the sun to 'please the boss' and other rat race stuff. talk about a wasted life! whos the d!ckhead now?

life is too short.

lift up your skirt, grab your balls AND MAKE SOME MONEY!!! - oh - and have some fun!!

yours,

captain sensible."

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/tra...raders-pit-stories-thread-25.html#post2259572

 

[peakoil]

Some classic responses.

Re the Original Post - the person's sad tale of huge losses you've quoted is clearly representative of a gambling addict's descent into a dark hole of despair. Luckily for most of us, it never got that bad. But remember *if* this person doesn't blame trading for their downfall it'd be poker, slot machines, horses, dogs etc. etc.

A gambling addict will always lose, so it's not so much 'why do we trade?' (after posting such a tragic example as you have) but rather why does this person not get the therapy and treatment for their obvious addiction to gambling? Only then will he come to understand (come to terms with), and with hope, eventually overcome why he soon lost all control of his money and senses. Just wish him luck with his recovery whoever he may be!

There is rational betting, which most do, and their is irrational gambling, which, sadly, a few are always susceptible. The rest of use try as hard as we can to manage reasonably our ups and downs...

 

[OrderFlowDashPro]

Why do people trade? For many reasons obviously but my main drive is not greed or fear but simply a drive to do everything that I do well. It feels like more of an obligation to pursue that which I do well. So, I'd say that most of the good traders simply trade because they think they are good at it--the same is probably true for some of the bad traders too. There is certainly an element of myth and heroism in trading.

 

[tar]

the point is trading specially spreadbetting introduces a number of people to gambling that they otherwise may not have.....other forms of betting are conspicuous where as trading can be and does become in many cases gambling by stealth ...before you know the addiction takes hold and can be too late

Reason : To make big money .

IMO anyone is making 6 figures annually form a job shouldnt pursue "trading rosy dreams" , ofcourse one may invest some of this income in the markets but trading ? I dont see the point , ofcourse there is a slim chance that one may turn his trading to a professional career or make a really good income from it "financial freedom" but most likely its not going to happen , ie . so to make 100K pounds "6 figures" income from trading one needs a 300K-500K account which is not small , and there is a big chance your account will suffer from a black swan event or an unrecoverable big DD "your strategy becomes obsolete" during your trading career .

Most pro traders trade because they trade others money which means bigger income for them , now that's different , but i don't see the point for someone making 6 figures to just quit and open an IG account its not worth it and its dangerous the odds are against you , again i encourage anyone making such income to invest in the markets ...

 

[neil]

'Kinell -call a mod.

Since some people don't know the things involve in forex, they find it more complicated to make it inthe business but let's realize that without good learning of forex we can not do it because I over heard people testifying their success through forex for It is one easy way of making money online if you can put your mind to it.

Oh-ffs-here is a vendor who "overhears conversations" about forex success then omits to set out approaches to the "easy way of making money."

Come on Mods. Why do you let this Vendor of trading systems (albeit he has a micro account -check his former threads) post drivel to up his post count. Worse still. sport a Vendor badge?
He may mislead the more naive of newbies.

 

[robertofx]

Reason : To make big money .

IMO anyone is making 6 figures annually form a job shouldnt pursue "trading rosy dreams" , ofcourse one may invest some of this income in the markets but trading ? I dont see the point , ofcourse there is a slim chance that one may turn his trading to a professional career or make a really good income from it "financial freedom" but most likely its not going to happen , ie . so to make 100K pounds "6 figures" income from trading one needs a 300K-500K account which is not small , and there is a big chance your account will suffer from a black swan event or an unrecoverable big DD "your strategy becomes obsolete" during your trading career .

Most pro traders trade because they trade others money which means bigger income for them , now that's different , but i don't see the point for someone making 6 figures to just quit and open an IG account its not worth it and its dangerous the odds are against you , again i encourage anyone making such income to invest in the markets ...

Yeah, totally agree here. Most traders think that they can go for 06 figures with mere $100. But the reality is different