But If They Are So Rich?

Bruce Willis went to Japan while I was living there, to promote his movie "Hostage". Nothing so special about that, but it's the other thing he did in Japan that got me thinking...

I've been to two seminars about trading. One was about trading options on the ASX. The other was about trading currency on the forex markets.

Both were very informative, although attending them has not made me a successful trader. Following the rules I bought from these people only seemed to make me do exactly the wrong thing.

Many of you are scoffing now - of course the rules don't work, because if they did, those guys wouldn't need to give seminars. They'd be rich already.

On the other hand, Bruce Willis must make about $10 million per movie. And maybe about one movie every year or so. That's a decent income. I'm willing to guess that $10 million is a lot more than the people that gave the trading seminars have. Anyway, Bruce Willis went to Japan, and aside from promoting his new movie, he did a car commercial.

Huh? But if he's so rich, why did he do a car commercial? Isn't $10 million per year enough?

Sports stars also earn millions per year. Why do they keep accepting new sponsorships?

U2, The Rolling Stones, and any number of pop stars have tens of millions of dollars in their bank accounts, but they keep touring. Aren't they tired of playing the same songs over and over and over again?

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet rock up to work even though they are billionaires.

Of course people who don't have money want more money. But here's the thing - people who have money also want more money. We live in a capitalistic society, and in capitalistic societies there is no such thing as having too much money. If you make more than you can use, you find something useful to spend it on like Gates, Buffet, Bono, and so on are doing now.

So when I hear the question "if their trading system works so well, why would they need to sell it?", I feel dumbfounded. To ask a trader, or anybody, why they want more money, is seriously one of the most bizarre questions I can think of :-)

The reason, you know, that Bruce Willis did the car commercial was threefold:

1. It was easy. It probably took a weekend, or even just a couple of hours.
2. It was good money. Certainly for the amount of time it took.
3. He was making hay while the sun shines.

The last point is especially important for traders (and sports stars, and most rock stars I guess). The economic crisis at the end of 2008 shows how markets can change personalities. A trading system that's profitable today may not be profitable tomorrow. A trader must make hay while the sun shines, as a change in the market is more likely than Bruce Willis becoming unpopular.

So if they are a successful trader, why would they need to sell their trading system? The better question is why WOULDN'T they sell it??

If you have no problem with an actor doing a car commercial and earning a million dollars for a weekend's work, then please give the trader a break for wanting to earn a little extra cash.

Those two seminars didn't turn me into a pro-trader, but they sure did set me on the path. You don't become a pro-anything after one weekend of tuition. The question is, does the seminar provide you with your moneys worth of information? How much money would you have to lose in the markets before you come to the same conclusions as taught to you in the seminar? And that varies from person to person.

Oh, and then there are some shonks. So be careful :-)
 

More Of The Same

If you need further convincing, please read these blog entries where I essentially repeat what I just said above:

• Why Wouldn't I Sell It?
• Evil?