>> The difference between me and professional traders is that their entire careers hang in the balance with every decision <<
Methinks not.
As far as I’ve ever been able to tell, a professional trader is gonna be judged by the annual rates of return on his portfolio over a number of years.
So show me a guy who can beat the average rate of return on the S & P 500 over a period of years, and I’ll show you a man whom Wall Street will respect as a genius extraordinaire.
(But almost nobody is in this category. That’s why Index Funds consistently out perform managed mutual funds. You can look it up.)
I was speaking “tongue in cheek” but, that said, a trader (there are many types) is not a portfolio manager.