The stock market, futures market, foreign exchange, and cryptocurrency are all just large trading arenas. Some of these arenas may provide dividends, like the stock market, but very few can truly master the game and make a profit.
A significant portion of those who lose money often fail to pass the first hurdle: 'laziness.'
It seems that investing is easy. After a 5% increase, you earn five dollars in returns. The next time, you use twenty times leverage, which can create a 100% return rate. It could work out by sheer luck... But the problem is, you often do not get it right. The major players will manipulate the market based on their mood, sometimes causing massive fluctuations. There may be a lucky few who survive sharp market spikes, but next time, they might not be so lucky. If you walk too often in the dark, you will eventually meet a ghost.
Assuming you have a superficial understanding of market analysis and look at previous price charts, it may seem simple. But once you open a position, sorry, you are faced with the unknown. Half an hour later, or after a nap, the price hasn't changed, and suddenly, your money disappears.
Computer software and K-line charts have trapped far too many retail investors. They look at the charts and get the illusion that trading is easy, only to be schooled back and forth by the market. You must understand that there are very few investment masters on this planet. Currently, there are good traders in China, but no masters. A master is someone who establishes a school of thought and forms a global investment philosophy. A trader replicates the master's ideas and theories to help investors make money.
While a group of people ridicule Buffett for making huge losses on U.S. stocks, Buffett is across the Atlantic sipping Coca-Cola, laughing at their shortsightedness. They are attempting to accomplish the most difficult task in the world through sheer luck, which is a classic case of self-deception.
Reading extensively
What good is it to just stare at the fluctuating market, numbers, and K-line technical indicators? Money doesn't come from there. The premise of a person achieving something is to learn first, either from others or from books. Just staring at trading software and relying on tips to make money is ridiculous.
If you want to trade well, it's simple: read more than fifty financial investment books and then watch the market. You will gain many trading insights. Enter the market, open positions based on theoretical analysis, and ultimately get schooled by the market again. It will tell you that what you learned is all trash.
Once you clearly realize that what you've learned is all garbage, you have already met the first requirement to become an excellent trader: the ability to recognize and discern market conditions. So how long does this training process take? A man in his fifties living below me has been trading stocks for twelve years and is currently at this level. Some people have good knowledge and insight, but they just can't get past this hurdle.
If you want to trade full-time and become self-taught, reading is a must. This is not useless; dedicating two hours each day to investment literature is a hurdle you cannot skip. Even if someone guides you, if you don't know anything, only a master who is desperate to avoid starvation would take you on.