Introduction - The Need For A Trading Edge

In today's global society financial markets play a vital and intricate role in the lives of a huge percentage of the world's population. From a floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange buying and selling commodity futures, to a rice farmer in China, the upward and downward ticks of financial instruments have broad and often unknown implications. The price movements of the vast universe of financial instruments trading almost constantly across the globe also draw many to the lure of making profits with the hopes of seeing their money grow. Given the immense impact of market movements and the drive to make a buck, it is no wonder as to the amount of time that markets are analyzed, debated about, and reported on. Financial "gurus" voice their opinions constantly, which in some cases seem to change daily or in other cases never change at all. However, given all of the discussion and "predictions" the majority of us are usually surprised and often in sheer awe of where the markets actually end up. The amount of misunderstanding and misinformation relating to the movements of financial markets also unfortunately leads to many people losing huge percentages of their wealth, as was the case during the financial collapse in 2008 which caught a lot of people off guard.

While times such as those experienced in 2008 scare many traders into doubting their prospects of being able to make a lot of money trading, it should be realized that even during times like these many are still earning profits, some at an incredible rate. It is often stated that approximately 80% of the money traded on the markets is earned by only 20% of participants, and from that statement alone one may quickly realize that following the wisdom of the masses is not going to make you fortune. For one to do this trading the markets (as in most life paths) they have to create their own edge, and luckily if one looks passed the conventional wisdom, and digs deeper into the strange and intriguing world of financial markets they will find that there are uncountable ways to make huge amounts of money. The articles on this blog will touch on a wide variety of ideas relating to trading, with the hope of sparking ideas and interest in others and maybe even helping some find their own trading edge.