The old saying "A sucker is born every minute" come to mind? Or the tulip bubble?

However, I would argue retail traders have a much greater advantage than institutional traders these days. With the advent of online brokerages we have the same access to the markets as hedge funds do. We can be much more nimble trading a $50,000-$100,000 account than a hedge fund trader with $1 million+ buying/selling power any given minute. Using daily charts for big picture ideas and then zooming in to shorter time frames, being able to see every trade price and size, along with how much size is trying to sell or buy can greater impact my decisions on the fly. If I see that big sell coming in, I can get out too or short it down with them. Or if we have bid supporter into a breakout, its go long time. We can use the herd as our friend if you know how to read the action. Because you are right, someone has to buy for the price to go up..... Which comes down to: I like to be in trades for 'the move' not buy and pray for a move. Thus I look for specific setups and action. I don't care why the action is there, only that it is. Then, play accordingly.

The problem is, the 90% don't take the time to learn. Many new 'traders' end up 'investors' because they buy at the 'right' wrong time and then just tell themselves they'll hold for awhile. I'll take their money any day....

Acstudio and I may disagree on some things, but I give him props for sticking with his plan. At least he was willing to learn a strategy and put it to use over the past year. I hope he has many more years to go.

As for market opinion and trade idea sites; I have ran a 'free' site and a 'paid' site. My paid site was exponentially more successful than my free site. I found those who put skin in the game upfront are more likely to stick with it and try to learn a few things. I also had/continue to have much more professional relationships through the paid site compared to the trolls who came to the free site trying to get rich quick. I know a few traders who have made over a million dollars a year trading who offer their trade ideas and educational materials to the public for a premium. The idea that they should offer free advice is like saying because Apple makes a lot of money on iPhones they should just give away their patents and contact info for Foxconn so we can all go make our own iPhones....