options (finance)

[teddyFBI]

[ QUOTE ]
You are completely incorrectly assuming that my recent results have anything to do with my attitude. As a matter of fact, I got my ass handed to me in the market every day for the past week or so, and today - sadly - was no exception. The thing is, I keep a log of all my trades, I am developing better systems and methods, and when I go back over my trades and "debrief" I can see that there's drastic improvements. It's a lot like poker, you can play it right and still lose, but you know you played the hand correctly. It's really tough to explain more than that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on, now -- this is a really bad analogy. In poker, after a hand is over (when you have complete information, that is), it's easy to conclusively determine, mathematically, that you played the hand "correctly" (e.g. that in the long-term getting all-in as a 80% favorite is going to increase your bankroll.)

I don't understand how you can make an analogous conclusion for trading. Are you saying that even when you get your ass handed to you, you can somehow determine that you "played it correctly" anyway? I don't understand this.