Arms race

On the other hand, trading is very similar to gambling, from the emotional response it elicits, so in the worst case, he's just plain addicted. On where one finds a mentor, I have no idea. Trading is very rare occupation. I've always supposed these people would seek you out, once you show promise. By the way, if the threadstarter could clarify what he exactly means by "not successful enough to make a career out of it", that would be helpful. Have you, over the long run, made a single dime yet?

I trade FX exclusively and though my understanding of the microstructure of the currency markets is very shallow at best, I'm 99% sure my orders, due to their limited size, never reach the true (interbank) market, but remain with my broker. They are then either somehow matched with other customers' orders or maybe even my broker chooses to take the other side of my trades (thanks - lol). Truth is, I don't really care that much at this point in my "career" what my broker does with my trades, as long as my funds are safe with them.

From what I recall, a Taiwanese (?) study who followed the performance of >1,000 day traders for over a decade, came to the gruelling conclusion, that 99,7% of all day traders lose money in the long run. The remaining 0,3% made 5% p.a. on average, with a tiny subset of these making the high double digit returns almost every other trader on the internet seems to pull before breakfast or hopes to pull in the very near future, lol. On this basis I'd urge you to find a better place for your money.

Definitely. When I first started writing for my local newspaper while I was in college, I couldn't believe how lucky I was, getting paid to write. Pretty funny how quickly things you enjoy in your spare time can turn into a drag, once you start doing them for money, lol. Same for me with trading, really. Not that I'd consider myself a "grinder" (I'm a position trader), but the bigger my trading account became (and the more substantial my profits), the higher the pressure to consistently perform became. Nowadays I'm making more money than ever from my trading, yet I've never been so stressed out. But that's the norm, right?