You know you’re a lyin’ lowlife, motherfuckin’ gamblin’ degenerate prick? You know that’s what you are? – Nicky Santoro in Casino (1995)
Trading seems to me to be the only career where anyone can claim to be a professional without being challenged. Just think for a second. It’s actually against the law in most countries to go around calling yourself a doctor, teacher or a lawyer without having the required credentials. Not so in trading; we’ll just take one’s word for it.
Also unlike other occupations, it seems to me that anyone who dabbles for a while with anything even remotely associated with trading and finance can call himself a professional trader. It doesn’t matter that you’ve worked in sales or as a journalist, in order to attract gullible people to whatever you’re selling, you can call yourself a professional trader. Who’s going to say that it ain’t so? To realize how messed up this whole situation is, imagine how it would be if the receptionist in a doctor’s office would take it upon herself to treat patients.
I think the leading cause of financial disablement is the belief that you can rely on the experts to help you. Typically, however, these so-called “experts” are not traders. Your average broker couldn’t be a trader in a million years. More money is lost listening to brokers than any other way. Trading requires an intense personal involvement. – Michael Marcus in Market Wizards
You wouldn’t put your health in the hands of a guy just because he says he’s a professional. You wouldn’t let a team of people build or redecorate your house just based on a handful of unverified testimonials. You wouldn’t learn how to fly a plane from a self-declared expert with a nicely designed website. Then why treat trading any different?