Most people shouldn't be a trader

I'm sure you may have heard the statistics that say 90% of traders end up losing money. There's a reason for that....trading is hard. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. At times trading seems easy. Typically this happens near the end of a bull or bear market when the news headlines and market trend have been persistantly in the same direction for quite some time. A lot of newbie traders will initially make money because they act according to what they read in the news. This gives them a false sense of confidence. As a result they end up betting bigger and being bolder....just prior to when Mr. Market pulls the rug from underneath them turning their profits to losses. The newbies get burned when a major trend change occurs. Their one way minds are very slow a foot in detecting the new trend change because they are so used to seeing the market only go in 1 direction and the news headlines (which are lagging/coincident indicators) don't "justify" the change in trend.

If you haven't experienced a full bull and bear market cycle you don't have the experience needed to trade seriously...and if you have, it doesn't give you a free pass either...because every cycle is unique although similarities do exist. Most traders are simply closet gamblers in my opinion and are hard wired to lose money.

I often visit bearish blog sites to get a perspective of sentiment of what the money losing traders are thinking. I've found that a lot of newbie traders became dedicated bears because they cut their teeth at a time when the market was doing nothing but going down and the headlines were nothing but black for months....the complete opposite of newbie traders who cut their teeth in 1999.

Here's an example of a poster on a bearish blog site that should NOT be a trader....I kind of feel sad for this guy

I am homely man, too! Downright repulsive and kind of startling to look at. The "pretty boys" used to date the cheerleaders who treated me like a brother. I helped most of the popular kids pass basic math class (I was a Calculus student), but they would just show their appreciation by giving me wedgies at lunch.

Trading in the stock market is just an extension of that childhood brutality...the Big Bully!

I have taken, what should be a fatal kick in the chest from life, but I'm still breathing...barely...by the grace of God.

I started trading last December, went long most of the tech companies (and lost half my money in the first part of this year). I closed all of my positions for a loss, but now most of those companies are up 200% (at least) from where I owned them.

I used the other half of the money to start trading the /ES since March. Of course, I am a bear by nature (and got burned before going long), so I tried shorting the entire move up from March...lost the other half of my money.

My account went from $20,000 in December to $400 last week! My wife has left me and I live in my sister's basement with three cats and a dog.

But you know what...I'm not done!! IT'S NOT OVER!! I have been in the clutches of defeat before and I have beautiful souls like you, Tim Knight, to help me lift my head and slay this Bull-horned Dragon!!

I borrowed the last $600 that I could get from my family and caught some of last week's G.S.B.S. move. With only $1000 to trade on I made that $600 in one day last week. I paid my family back and have $1000 of my own money to trade with now...I'm moving on up.

I thank you for being honest and knowing what we are going through. Hang in there...I'm here with you!

Peace,
Brad