There is no such thing as easy money. Anyone that trades options for a living knows that making a living trading options is the hardest thing in the world. Whenever people say things like easy money, it's only because they haven't traded a contract in their life. Professional traders never never never use the phrase easy money. There are three types of edges for the most part. One is a commission/technology edge. These are guys that can trade at lower costs then other guys. They also have the technology to trade faster and more efficiently. This can be regarded as an edge since everyone is not on a level playing field. The second edge is order flow. This is mostly for guys on the floor but can also involve guys at trading desks at big banks that get order flow info. Order flow info can be a huge edge. And again, since we all don't have access to it, those that do are trading at an advantage. The third edge is guys on the floor or OTC dealers that earn a spread for making a market. Sometimes they are able to complete a risk free arb with the order flow they get, other times they are simply earning the bid/ask on the trade. These edges are real and they are legitimate. They are true edges because not everyone has the ability to trade with them. Now you hear people talking about edge this and edge that. Hell, people even say that their discipline is an edge.
Now does that mean that one can't trade profitably without these edges? Of course not. No more then it means that those with these edges can't lose. In fact most of them do, even with the edges. Why? They are bad traders. A bad trader will offset and positive edge he has to begin with. Great traders can make money without an edge. The same way a great athlete can be successful in a sport even if he is smaller or shorter or slower than the other guys. But an edge is not required to make a living trading. All the successful traders are successful because they are built differently than most people. They have a complete emotional detachment to money. They are incredibly disciplined. And they work very hard. And when they come to the fork in the road and they have to make a decision, they usually make a very logical and intelligent decision based on the risk/reward and follow that up with stone cold discipline. I wish there were a secret. A secret software program, a secret method, strategy. But there isn't. This will piss off a lot of people. Many people already know this. It really doesn't matter. The only thing that matters at the end of the day is your p&l statement. You can call it whatever you want. If you want to tell people you have an edge, more power to you. Sometimes men tell that to their wives so they won't leave them after they have gone though all their savings trading. Other guys tell that to themselves to help them sleep at night or to keep themselves from slitting their wrist. In the end, we tell ourselves what we have to, in order to move on. If it helps to believe you have an edge, then so be it. As the saying goes, if you believe it is so, it is so.
Now does that mean that one can't trade profitably without these edges? Of course not. No more then it means that those with these edges can't lose. In fact most of them do, even with the edges. Why? They are bad traders. A bad trader will offset and positive edge he has to begin with. Great traders can make money without an edge. The same way a great athlete can be successful in a sport even if he is smaller or shorter or slower than the other guys. But an edge is not required to make a living trading. All the successful traders are successful because they are built differently than most people. They have a complete emotional detachment to money. They are incredibly disciplined. And they work very hard. And when they come to the fork in the road and they have to make a decision, they usually make a very logical and intelligent decision based on the risk/reward and follow that up with stone cold discipline. I wish there were a secret. A secret software program, a secret method, strategy. But there isn't. This will piss off a lot of people. Many people already know this. It really doesn't matter. The only thing that matters at the end of the day is your p&l statement. You can call it whatever you want. If you want to tell people you have an edge, more power to you. Sometimes men tell that to their wives so they won't leave them after they have gone though all their savings trading. Other guys tell that to themselves to help them sleep at night or to keep themselves from slitting their wrist. In the end, we tell ourselves what we have to, in order to move on. If it helps to believe you have an edge, then so be it. As the saying goes, if you believe it is so, it is so.