[firewalker]

Originally Posted by MINTED »

I have just finished watching a 3 part series that was aired in the UK called "Million Dollar Traders".

Basically it follows 8 people who were plucked out from all walks of life, to see if they could actually learn to trade in only 2 months. To make matters worse, the world financial crisis was just beginning, adding added pressures, that even "seasoned" traders had never seen. Worst market conditions for a generation, as one trader says.

It was FASCINATING. I wont give too much away (as I DO recommend you view it), but ONE statement stood out from ALL the others....one of the participants just said

"YOU CANNOT LEARN THIS FROM A BOOK, ONLY BY EXPERIENCE"

The final "results" will shock you....

Strangely the majority of traders on this forum found the "worst market conditions for a generation" a lot more profitable then before.

As for 'fascinating', I disagree. Half the time they were repeating what already was being said, there was more focus on the ego's of some people than on the actual trading, and viewers didn't learn a single thing about what trading is actually about. The only thing brought to the viewer's attention was a short explanation of what it means to "short a stock".

The series focused primarily on interactions between people, not in the market. Which is fine, if you're into the kind of reality-TV where who said what is more important than what is actually going on, but those who want to watch a show about traders are probably more interested in what trading is actually about.

I agree with atto, reality pulp, not the trash usually aired by commercial broadcasters, but still below the general level of a BBC documentary.

Warning: spoiler
@uexkuell: If I remember correctly, the end result was that the best trader gained about 1-2% in that month.

[MINTED]

Originally Posted by firewalker »

if you're into the kind of reality-TV where who said what is more important than what is actually going on, but those who want to watch a show about traders are probably more interested in what trading is actually about.

Warning: spoiler
the best trader gained about 1-2% in that month.

Reality TV?
....perhaps, More a fly on the wall experiment?
You wont learn much on "trading" methods, but still encouraging to see that over 30% of "class" produced results that were on par or better then "pros"

I liked it, and it gave me the impetus to carry on knowing that.....it IS possible to turn a profit. Not easy, but POSSIBLE

[BlowFish]

As you pointed out earlier, one of the intresting things was that it seemed clear that some where better emotionally equipped to trade.

[firewalker]

Originally Posted by MINTED »

Reality TV?
....perhaps, More a fly on the wall experiment?
You wont learn much on "trading" methods, but still encouraging to see that over 30% of "class" produced results that were on par or better then "pros"

I liked it, and it gave me the impetus to carry on knowing that.....it IS possible to turn a profit. Not easy, but POSSIBLE

A fly on the wall experiment observes neutrally and shows everything so that the viewer can form a picture of his own. Reality TV selects certain moments, magnifies them and directs the show in a certain direction. If you call that programme a 'documentary' by all means, but it's not.

Besides, comparing the results of someone who's trading a handful of stocks with someone managing a hedgefund...

[jchatel]

Thanks for the info, I watched it and enjoyed the first episode, the second and third turns into reality shows and I got bored.

I like the explanations: "Shorting involves a complex mechanism..." lol

Why did they need to phone their brokers?! and I couldn't see them using derivatives

[jchatel]

Originally Posted by uexkuell »

Too bad for me (and probably some others).

Sorry guys, perhaps I don't know how to search in YouTube

Try thepiratebay.org

[Arthur]

[QUOTE=MINTED;70828]

"YOU CANNOT LEARN THIS FROM A BOOK, ONLY BY EXPERIENCE"
/QUOTE]

This may be true unto certain degree but may not be entirely true.We need practical experience as well as some basic theoretical basis for creating strategies as well as perform number crunching to maximize the gain .