Very few people make money trading. This is the unfortunate truth. That's not to say every dog doesn't have his day, but to find truly consistent traders, day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out, is very difficult. Everyone has a strategy, everyone has an edge, everyone thinks they are super smart, everyone thinks they know how to manage risk, etc. But trading starts with character. Very few people have it. You should be more interested in what a trader's genetic makeup is rather then hearing about his automated system. In this business there is very little character or integrity if any. Everyone wants the money and they want it at someone else's expense.
There is a quote from the movie "Boiler Room": "I read this article a while back that said that Microsoft employs more millionaire secretary's that any other company in the world. They took stock options over Christmas bonuses. It was a good move. I remember there was this picture, of one of the groundskeepers next to his Ferrari. Blew my mind. You see shit like that, and it just plants seeds, makes you think it’s possible, even easy. And then you turn on the TV, and there's just more of it. The $87 million lottery winner, that kid actor that just made 20 million on his last movie, that internet stock that shot through the roof, you could have made millions if you had just gotten in early, and that's exactly what I wanted to do: get in. I didn't want to be an innovator any more, I just wanted to make the quick and easy buck, I just wanted in. Nobody wants to work for it anymore.”
Our parents fought in wars, laid brick, laid track across the country, built our homes, our highways, laid the foundation for us so we could build nothing, create nothing, so we could hyper actively click a mouse button using someone else's money trying to create wealth. Most traders will end up flushing other people's money down the drain. They will ruin lives, break up families, some will turn to drugs or alcohol, and some will hit the seminar circuit or sell something. So you see there is no point in looking at track records. You should believe in personal character, in humility, in people that openly admit they know nothing about the world or the markets; they simply want to play the odds and make trades with favorable outcomes. They believe they can manage risk better than the other guy.
Another quote from the movie "The Big Kahuna": Devito asks the young kid if he believes he has character in which Devito tells the kid he believes he doesn't have any. Devito continues: "I'm saying you've already done plenty of things to regret, you just don't know what they are. It's when you discover them, when you see the folly in something you've done, and you wish that you had it do over, but you know you can't, because it's too late. So you pick that thing up, and carry it with you to remind you that life goes on, the world will spin without you, you really don't matter in the end. Then you will gain character, because honesty will reach out from inside and tattoo itself across your face."
Another great quote from the film "Match Point": "The man who said 'I'd rather be lucky than good; saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward and you win…or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.”