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jliv5037 · 03-25-2009, 07:34 AM

Dear All,

I am new to this forum but I have a question which I would like Steve or anyone else here help me to answer.

The question is linked to my life purpose which I define (after reading Steve's article today) as "Being here to make money for myself and others". Now this might sound general but let me explain.

My life purpose in practical terms is to trade financial markets for a profit. I am very good at this and have devoted considerable time and energy studying markets and trading. I am only 23 but I have already been trading for 5 years and have been researching trading strategies since I was 15. Now I am passionate about finding and exploiting inefficiencies in the markets to turn money into more money. Is this providing VALUE? If I trade other people's money then in a sense I am providing them value by making them more money. But the game is zero sum and what I make for some I take from the weaker players. It is the same principle as being a professional poker player. They play all day exploiting the weaker players for profit. But in the end someone wins and someone losses.

I could see myself being happy doing this every day for the rest of my life (with some time out to enjoy my winnings of course). If I was already wealthy I would do this anyway because it is immensly fun and enjoyable for me. It does not seem like work even if research can be tedious. The excitement I get from testing my theories about the world in the markets eclipses anything else I have done. So please help me reconcile my life purpose with Steve's ideas of creating value. Thanks.

JL.

03-25-2009, 07:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
jliv5037 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 1	Am I providing Value? Dear All, I am new to this forum but I have a question which I would like Steve or anyone else here help me to answer. The question is linked to my life purpose which I define (after reading Steve's article today) as "Being here to make money for myself and others". Now this might sound general but let me explain. My life purpose in practical terms is to trade financial markets for a profit. I am very good at this and have devoted considerable time and energy studying markets and trading. I am only 23 but I have already been trading for 5 years and have been researching trading strategies since I was 15. Now I am passionate about finding and exploiting inefficiencies in the markets to turn money into more money. Is this providing VALUE? If I trade other people's money then in a sense I am providing them value by making them more money. But the game is zero sum and what I make for some I take from the weaker players. It is the same principle as being a professional poker player. They play all day exploiting the weaker players for profit. But in the end someone wins and someone losses. I could see myself being happy doing this every day for the rest of my life (with some time out to enjoy my winnings of course). If I was already wealthy I would do this anyway because it is immensly fun and enjoyable for me. It does not seem like work even if research can be tedious. The excitement I get from testing my theories about the world in the markets eclipses anything else I have done. So please help me reconcile my life purpose with Steve's ideas of creating value. Thanks. JL.