Trading as a casino: obsolete concepts of trading

If you have been observing the events around financial markets for a long time, then you have probably noticed the following trend: 3-4 years ago the attitude towards trading as a gambling game among Internet users was in the order of the day. The main criteria for choosing a brokerage company were welcome bonuses or deposit bonuses, as well as all kinds of contests on demo accounts, tournaments of traders and other all kinds of trading stimulants.

In 2020-2021 the attitude to the whole industry has changed. Perhaps the pandemic, during which the news constantly covered the fall of some stocks and the rise of others, played its part. The cause-and-effect relationships became clear even to the viewers of TV channels far from economics.

As for virtual welcome bonuses, traders began to understand: the received gift would have to work off. At the same time, tempting deposit increases with every deposit in practice do not allow withdrawing the earned profit freely.

Of course, there are still those who crave an attractive shell rather than “just trading,” but in their place very quickly come professional investors who seek to engage in serious trading that has nothing to do with online casinos.

Trend: welcome test instead of welcome bonuses

Bonuses have become a bad thing, giving way to official industry licenses that prohibit such incentive methods. Brokerage companies have shifted their focus, expecting serious professionals among their clients rather than one-day players.

One of the representative tendencies is the questions concerning the previous trading experience, which are asked when filling in the account opening form. Since the motto of modern brokerage companies is “Trade responsibly”, future clients should not only download MT4, but also consciously approach their trading on financial markets.

Trend: free comprehensive training

Modern traders are highly motivated people who are starting to treat trading as a profession. If inexperienced user first registered an account, then lost his first deposit (because he had absolutely no idea how to manage it) and only then started to learn, now this scheme works differently. A trader must first gain knowledge, then open an account, then practice on the demo account and only then enter the real market.

This is promoted by extensive free online training on financial markets, which brokerage companies freely provide on their websites and are constantly improving. For example, one of the most popular formats is interactive videos, slides and live broadcasts with an analyst.

Today, the quality of these materials, rather than the availability of bonuses, is one of the main arguments for choosing a particular broker.

Trader or gambler? How the stock exchange turns into a casino

Sometimes it seems to me that all traders are gamblers. We see people winning lotteries and slot machines all the time, but we do not think about how much money people pour into this earning opportunity every day.

What are the similarities between the stock exchange and the casino

After the closure of the casino in Russia, its function has been taken over by stock trading. But if trading on that same Moscow Stock Exchange can not everyone – they still need knowledge, understanding of the basics of trading, then all sorts of near-exchange stuff like binary options and forex with rapid registration and instantaneous input-output funds – excellent bait for gamblers. Many people start with it, losing money several times and then start looking for something more serious.

The second step – trading on the official exchange. Here everything is more complicated: you need knowledge, documents and training. I remember how for the first time after Forex I came across real exchange trading. I saw a glass and thought: “What is this, anyway? It seemed like I would never figure it all out in my life.

The real exchange sifts out some wave of gamblers. But there are advanced, who have enough brains to make their way there as well. Most often they are young people, brought up by TickTock and obsessed with the idea of easy money availability. Throw $10 at a crypto exchange, and then make a thousand, a million from it…Beautiful fairy tales.

Gambling traders: how they give themselves away

The next category of gambling addicts are traders who lose money on the exchange, but are convinced that sooner or later the exchange will pay them all back. There are such people among my students – they learned from me, got a job, borrowed money and… blew it all. Then they asked to borrow again, aggravating their situation. And I’m telling you straight out: it’s a disease. I sent many such students to our psychologist Artur Sinitsyn, but it can be very difficult to help them.

Many gamblers have the following way: you came to the exchange – you poured money in – you emptied your deposit – you left the exchange – you got a job – you earned money – you came to the exchange again. And so on in a circle. If you recognize yourself in this picture, it’s time to think about it and honestly answer the question: “Am I not a gambler?

But remember that an alcoholic never admits that he is an alcoholic. He is sure that he is in control. 99% of those who booze on Fridays are weekend alcoholics; there is even such a diagnosis in Europe. But who admits to that? I was like that myself until I realized that one bottle of wine turns into two, then into three.

It’s the same in trading. A person can’t stop, he can’t control himself. And when you refuse such people, when you do not lend them money, when you do not let them trade, they take it as a personal deep offense. Many of these offended people come to write angry comments under my videos, under my articles. I know them personally.

Can a gambling addict earn on the exchange?

Can gambling addicts earn on the stock exchange? No. Because they count on luck, on some coincidence, which allows them to earn, they are waiting for their lucky ticket. Mathematic traders, who have well-developed risk-management and do not have uncontrolled and irresistible thirst for money, earn on the market. Such people win at the casino, too, because they analyze the situation, see the inefficiencies and know how to get up and leave the gaming table on time. How many can close the terminal, take a small profit and stop in time? Can you personally?

I could never afford to take big risks, to lose my deposit, because I have a family – my wife, kids, mom, sisters. Stability was important to me. I was never taken by gambling. Having had many opportunities in my life to play at the casino, I never took advantage of it.

A thought-provoking question

Now think about what stock exchanges today resemble a casino? They operate 24/7, allow you to trade day and night, provide a lot of imaginary opportunities, there is always a lot of buzz around them, they attract traders with terrific force. Do you find similarities? Do you recognize yourself among the lottery ticket traders? You can draw your own conclusions from there.

I also recommend you to read the article: Don’t get into trading! Where I talk about why you should not start trading at the exchange. Perhaps someone will use it to save their capital.

Myths about Internet trading

Stock market is a place for the privileged

For many years the stock exchange for the average person had an association with an elitist closed club, which could be accessed only by the elite. People did not even think that any of them could make deals, buying and selling stocks of famous and large companies or banks. But now this activity is available to everyone. What is necessary for this? The trader’s participation in the exchange trade begins with the conclusion of an agreement with a broker. For this purpose it is necessary to find and choose a reliable and professional participant of the market – an online broker, open a deposit by depositing the necessary sum. After that it is possible to begin share trading.

Trading is a casino

There is an opinion that trading at the stock exchange market has much in common with gambling, while the winning, that is the income received from the trading, directly depends only on the luck and success of the trader. This opinion is erroneous as trader takes all decisions himself: when to buy or sell shares, what trading strategy to use. The trader’s profit is affected by several factors:

• Decision-making time;
• The skill, tenacity and self-control of the trader;
• The strategy used and following it;
• The degree of understanding of the external factors that influence the price of the stock being traded.

A professional trader carefully considers every action that can affect the outcome of a trading session. In order to trade successfully, he must have knowledge of fundamental and technical analysis, as well as working strategies and approaches.

A trader is a mathematician by education

Another quite common myth is the belief that the key to success as a trader is to have at least an economic or even a mathematical higher education. It is believed that only traders with a mathematical background are able to master the software that allows trading and the whole process of Internet-trading. If we look at the experience of western countries, the residents of which have been trading online for more than 10 years, we can see that Internet-trading has been successfully mastered by a great number of people of different ages and professions, starting from financial sector, civil servants, teachers and finishing with pensioners and housewives. Everyone involved in stock trading in their own way, defining for themselves their own goals and objectives. It is worth remembering that anyone who adopts knowledge and strategies from experienced traders can become a professional in trading.

Trading takes a lot of time

Trading on the stock exchange is indeed a full-time job. But there is no need for a trader to be present in the market, to be involved in the process and to monitor the situation there. Depending on the type of trading, short-term or long-term, it is enough for a trader to devote from two hours a day or even a week, in order to be able to analyze the stock information and make a decision. The transaction is made in a fraction of a second.  All it takes is a little time to review the market situation and make trades in order to generate income from stock trading.

Trading on the market requires large investments

Invariably, the word “investment” itself is associated with a lot of money and investments, especially when it comes to securities. But nowadays, online trading is available to almost everyone and does not require exorbitant initial capital.  To understand how the market works and to start trading a couple of thousand dollars is enough for a beginner to make a profit from the market, or several hundreds of dollars to get acquainted with real trading and to practice before making serious deals which will bring the desirable profit.

From the above-mentioned it can be concluded that exchange trading as of today is available absolutely to everyone, who has a computer, an Internet connection and a great desire to work as well as to earn. So, Internet-trading is a great opportunity to receive a decent additional income, which is the optimal condition for the successful start of own business.

Want to learn how to trade from professionals with decades of experience? Start with the free video course to learn the basic concepts of trading and get to know the basics of trading.