The failure rate for traders has been consistently put at a high 90% for many decades, this continues despite all of the advances in information technology and the flood of new learning materials, therefore why do 90% of traders still lose ?

In my opinion, 90% of traders lose because they are in fact learning from / listening to the 90% of losing traders that preceded them that have gone on to write about market price action and methodology with an even greater concentration observed to occur in the mainstream press as account busted traders / investors turn failure to trade into a full time media career and thus perpetuate a continuous cycle of where over 90% of traders fail. Which is why those in the mainstream financial press can miss WHOLE Bull and Bear markets that span many years, whilst all of the time continuing with the end of the trend mantra based on flawed understanding of what actually moves markets, which is why they failed to succeed in trading in the first place.

Given that 90% of trader fail, it can be easily estimated that 90% of those that provide commentary are failed traders that spend their time writing about the act of trading rather then engaging in actual trading which culminates in the big name media whores that prance about between make up rooms and TV studios, usually regurgitating what other failed traders have already commentated upon or make such weak statements that can subsequently be applied to virtually any outcome i.e. the market will crash, but then again it may rocket higher, where practiced phraseology ensures that the media whores can always claim victory for publicity purposes whatever the actual outcome.

In actual fact perhaps as little as 1% of the material out there is produced by successful traders because successful traders are primarily going to be focused on trading rather than writing and marketing, with probably only enough spare time to write a couple of books over their lifetime compared with book factories that churn out title after title virtually every year which makes it that much harder for traders that are immersed in the quest for trading knowledge to succeed.

Still it could be worse, academic economists inhabit a zone that is based purely on mumbo jumbo that is guaranteed to result in unforeseen outcomes, for academic economists tend to be the second greatest media whores just a step down from politicians, who exist purely to give off the air of authority and certainty as though economics is a science when in reality it is pseudo science more akin to the art of psychologically management of population expectations than in determining economic realities, their theories are just that theories that have been modeled onto past economic data which every trader should know (failing or successful) is just over optimised back fitting onto past trends that proves totally worthless going forward.

So how can traders learn to succeed if as much as 99% of the information out there is garbage?

That is something which I will cover in my next article on trading ....

More articles on trading:

Comments and Source : http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22566.html

By Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Nadeem Walayat has over 20 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis specialises on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and the housing market and he is the author of the NEW Inflation Mega-Trend ebook that can be downloaded for Free. Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. We present in-depth analysis from over 500 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets. Thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities.

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