Larry Levin on Goals

Larry Levin on Setting and accomplishing realistic goals:

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We've all heard of the famous commodity "guru" who turned $10,000 into over $1,000,000 in one year. It's absolutely true! He did it, and the account statements are there to prove it, but do you really believe you can do it? You've also probably seen numerous ads and websites which claim phenomenal returns with minimal work.

You know the kinds of ads I'm talking about, " 87 winning trades out the last 90", or how about, "fed up Insider tells how he averages $5,000 per day from his mountain top retreat while spending quality time with his family and pets".

Trading with Unrealistic Goals, or No Goal Other Than "to make a lot of money" is a Sure-Fire Way to Go Broke, and Quickly!

I believe promotional material like this does a lot of damage to the average trader. After reading enough of these things it becomes easy to believe, (maybe not consciously), that these sorts of returns are normal, or even worse, expected, not the exceptions or hype that they really are. Because traders want to believe these kinds of returns are not only possible, but also expected, they usually end up making poor trading decisions chasing the dream. Trading with unrealistic goals, or no goal other then "to make a lot of money" is a sure fire way to go broke, and quickly.

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Oh yeah !

How ironic this is.Of course it is up to the consumer to choose and decide for him/herself and we are all responsible for our actions.Vendors aren't bad people.They want to make money too like anybody else, they can claim anything they want however outlandish it may seem.Freedom of speech I mean. The problem, I think, resides in a person's state of mind at some point being desperate,curious or just foolish. The mind believes what it wants to believe because the loosing trader is untrained to question and challenge the pertinence and truth of a vendor's claims of riches. No matter how much effort you may put into warning somebody about a potential danger,there are still people who won't listen. Experience is a teacher and unfortunately one have to endure and survive through enough bad experiences before realizing their mistakes then changing their perception of things and modify their behavior.And mistake usually cost money.
In a way, these ads are 'useful' in the sense that they will sooner or later reveal one's lack of experience in the game of money.And experience has a price too.It is part of the learning curve.Very rarely is someone able to trade successfully from the very begining without knowledge and experience. the only edge that trader has is luck. The only realistic goal is financial survival. Making money isn't a goal.It is a by-product of our experience,skill and knowledge ,all derived from long-term survival.
That's my view and opinion only.Anybody is welcome to differ of course.
regards,
T

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Originally posted by day trading

Larry Levin on Setting and accomplishing realistic goals:

quote:

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We've all heard of the famous commodity "guru" who turned $10,000 into over $1,000,000 in one year. It's absolutely true! He did it, and the account statements are there to prove it, but do you really believe you can do it? You've also probably seen numerous ads and websites which claim phenomenal returns with minimal work.

You know the kinds of ads I'm talking about, " 87 winning trades out the last 90", or how about, "fed up Insider tells how he averages $5,000 per day from his mountain top retreat while spending quality time with his family and pets".

Trading with Unrealistic Goals, or No Goal Other Than "to make a lot of money" is a Sure-Fire Way to Go Broke, and Quickly!

I believe promotional material like this does a lot of damage to the average trader. After reading enough of these things it becomes easy to believe, (maybe not consciously), that these sorts of returns are normal, or even worse, expected, not the exceptions or hype that they really are. Because traders want to believe these kinds of returns are not only possible, but also expected, they usually end up making poor trading decisions chasing the dream. Trading with unrealistic goals, or no goal other then "to make a lot of money" is a sure fire way to go broke, and quickly.

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There's a lot to that. Nearly every professional trader worth hir salt will admit after having caught a few falling knives and gone through an account or two their trading only improved consistantly after a) relinquishing monetary value psychologically from their trading plan, and b) only trading to be a better trader. It has to be a passion, and not a hobby as a means to an end, and viewed it as a career. The gear and the setups learned or earned are of course of prime importance, but trading only to build up your account(s), I agree with you, is an absolute perfect way never to do so.

Have love and care for the art and the health, wealth and happiness will follow. Verily.

Awesome quote. I'm printing this out and putting it on my monitor.

It's something to remember that starting with $5-10K and getting just 2 points a day out of the market over time with proper money management could theoretically make you a millionaire in just one year. If you set your daily goals small and realistic and quit while you're ahead everyday and keep rigorous discipline you can have outstanding returns.

I think small daily goals is the way to go.

It has to be a passion, and not a hobby as a means to an end, and viewed it as a career. The gear and the setups learned or earned are of course of prime importance, but trading only to build up your account(s).

Agree totally with this, like anything you do in life if you have a passion for it, you will multiply your chances of success!

Levin's advice is good, but his course is very expensive... anywhere up to $20,000. Anyone take it at that cost and it is worth it?