Speaking of market myths... is it a myth that a retail trader could ever be successful? What do you make of the following links, Corey?

http://traderfeed.blogspot.com...

"Don't get me wrong: I see success stories in trading every day, and I see people making millions of dollars per year. But they don't start with small bankrolls, they don't pay commissions that give the house a huge edge, and they don't trade with such shoddy platforms that they give up another edge by getting inferior prices on their buys and sells."

http://traderfeed.blogspot.com...

I am continually reading similar lines of thinking from trading coaches and it flies in the face of the stories you read about in trading lore. This implies to me that these coaches must consider the Market Wizards series a fake, and the results of the traders in the books impossible to achieve. So what is your take on this? Do you think all retail traders are wasting their time at this? Through much hard work and the help of great sites like yours I've gone from a horrendous loser, to a small loser, to breakeven, and now a mildly profitable trader. I intend to continue improving and to become even more profitable this year, and to hopefully transition from paper trading to real money trading. It is discouraging to read such pessimistic outlooks from trading mentors, even more so when the most widely followed trading coach out there says he would discourage his kids from pursuing trading as a career because the odds of sustained success are so low.

On another note regarding the discussion in the Market Myths eBook, their point is that it's hard to make money as a speculator if you follow the 'herd' which tends to be wrong at key market turns.

I've felt this pressure many times when I've put out a blog piece/analysis piece on a market that I feel is about to make a major turn, like Crude Oil in late 2008/early 2009 and the Dollar in late 2009. I went against the herd and - although not always correct, it is difficult to fight against prevailing wisdom (such as "We are in a recession - there is NO way crude oil goes higher from here" or "the US Dollar is about to collapse - how can you see a turn coming?").

Their point is that to be successful as a speculator, you have to defy the crowd at certain points in time and most people - even if they successfully think independently of the crowd - can find it impossible to execute on what they see in the chart in the face of news and public opinion.

The saying goes "the crowd is right in the middle of a move but disastrously wrong at the top and bottom."

A successful speculator has to trade his/her strategy/method even if it flies in the face of the mass crowd.

That would be an excellent subject for a full or even series of blog posts! One comment cannot address this major issue, though you raise an excellent question.

I think the main intention is good, which is to discourage seeing trading as a "read one book, go to one seminar, make a million dollars" endeavor - we all know this is not true though some people have that assumption.

However, one can take it too far by saying "No retail trader makes money when trading at home" and that is also very untrue.

The truth lies in the middle - in that you CAN become successful as a trader but it will take at least a year of study, trial and error, learning techniques/methods, refining your method, adapting your strategies to your risk tolerance/personality, and then continually adapting to changing market conditions.

I think the main point is to avoid losing money, or avoid massive losses as a beginner, respect the enormity of the markets, and take it day by day. Keep moving forward and keep your motivation high.

My message - and purpose for this blog - is that you CAN do it but it is not going to be easy and success will not happen overnight but with months of practice.

I hear of "thank you" emails from blog readers from time to time who share their success stories/gratitude in using methods I and others teach, and that's the reason why I keep doing what I'm doing - we all grow together.

Yes, I agree that the intention is good. I figure these coaches have seen the darker side of trading, those ugly stories that never make it into market lore, and they are probably hoping to prevent aspiring traders from experiencing similar hardships. To give a fair perspective there should probably be a Market Washouts series to accompany Market Wizards, just so people will know what they're getting into.

Hopefully I'll be adding myself to your list of "thank you" emails when I try live trading.

I'm not sure that book would sell as well as Market Wizards... Market Washouts!

But it's true in every business, isn't it? We as a society prefer hearing/reading about success stories instead of ... not success.

Not all stories end with "and I lost everything, including my account and house!" Most end with "I tried for 3 or 6 months and just couldn't turn a stable profit so I just gave up."

If they had kept going for 3 or 6 more months, then things would have likely fallen into place and they would have turned the corner to consistent probability. You'll really never hear of those stories - the ones that don't blow everything up, but give up slowly, even after having some success but just not as much as they were hoping.

All the best! Let me know if I can be of any assistance.