Poll: Is successful trading more dependent on skill than luck?

Quoting hanover

Disliked

I think there are two different systems being discussed, but the similarity of their acronyms is causing confusion:

DBS = Daily Breakout System

DIBS = Daily Inside Bar System (as presented by PeterCrowns, and then Jarroo).

Ignored

Quoting Mr J

Disliked

Hard to say. If we look at all successful people, there are obviously many who became successful by chance. If we look at the individual, we can see that they are at the mercy of variance, and that poor "luck" early on could stop a career too early (i.e. the trader loses willpower, becomes a basketcase etc).

Ignored

Quoting hanover

Disliked

{quote}

1. In a trending market, bottom line is improved by letting profits run and cutting losses short. Hence trailing stops work better than scaling out by taking profits at pre-defined targets. The wider the trailing stop, especially when combined with the greater the trend factor, then the greater the overall profit. Scaling upward into a position exploits trending behavior one step further, and further improves profit.

2. In a non-trending market, exactly the reverse applies, i.e. one should take profits early and hold onto losses, because...

Ignored

Quoting CindyXXXX

Disliked

You create your own luck. It's all we can do How lucky you get is dependent on your own skill and desire.

Ignored

Quoting hanover

Disliked

{quote} Gwan, I think of trading as a game of expectancy. To win with any kind of consistency, we must have a system of entry and exit that provides a demonstrable edge that is capable of overcoming costs. Then, provided positions are sized modestly enough to preserve capital during a sequence of losses, and we maintain perfect discipline in trading our method, we are mathematically bound to profit. However, as with any game, just because the probabilities are in our favor, perhaps even handsomely so, does not offer an iron-clad guarantee. When...

Ignored