1. I want a trading system that performs well in all market cycles. (Holy Grail unicorn hunter – learn when to trade with a system and when not to, or implement diversified asset streams.)
2. A fully automated robot can trade my prop firm account to get funded and stay funded. (BS alert! Prop firms mostly do not allow robots, and their rules are so tight this is 99% likely to fail.)
3. The system stats look great; I will buy it as I have found the best system and will be a winner. (Victim of your financial aspirations – only believe the facts and evidence firsthand of what it does with you as the driver.)
4. I want money, and trading is the best way to get it. If I buy a robot to do it for me, I can be rich. (Get a job; you are a loser already – do not trade for money, trade with a passion for the love of trading!)
5. I need to trade all day; more is more. (We are taught at school and work to do more – in trading, less is more – FOMO, Fear, and Greed.)
6. I will watch the market all day and all night if I have to learn an edge. (Just watch and learn the hours you are going to trade – focus on your trade session and trade plan rules.)
7. If I trade more instruments, I will do better and make more money. (Better to focus on one or at most a few, two to three to start.)
8. I am a bad discretionary trader, so a robot will cure my problem. (No, cure your problem first as it will still manifest in auto trading. 99% fail at auto trading who rush it.)
9. I have a dream; I want this more than anything, so that means I will be successful. (Then it means too much – stop caring about money and honey – focus on getting good and enjoying the game; the rest will follow.)
10. I will trade the market economic news announcement; results in a good means buy and bad means sell. (No, it doesn’t – market catalysts can be a boost to trading; your systematic rules will enter long or short.)
11. The market sees me and knows where my stops are; it makes me lose; this is a war; I am cannon fodder. (This is trader vanity – focus on the system and take care not to leave stops around obvious levels.)
12. I don’t need to understand the system in automated trading. (If you learn the game of golf and then use a golf robot, you will do far better.)
13. I don’t need to take stats or keep a diary in automated trading. (You need to know when it is winning and why and when it’s losing and why – you can adjust your trade plan settings based on this info.)
14. I should attend a large group in Discord to learn from people. (In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king! 99% is the blind leading the blind over the cliff or to a peak with each market phase.)
15. I can leave a system on forever and not monitor, attend, or pause it. (Market price news shocks, internet & PC faults occur! Monitor it!)
16. The system started to lose; the vendor is a fraud, or the system is broken. (Systems all will have a drawdown period; you should know this inside out before trying on live.)
17. Fully automated means no work and no interaction, just set-and-forget trading and go play golf. (Around about 90% fully auto with 10% manual interaction due to news, rollovers, and price exposure, etc., is about the right level for pro mode auto for full automation – there is a lot of ongoing work for auto trading – performance monitoring, optimization, preparation, or R&D.)
18. These system stats are great; I can be confident of winning in the future as it has proven in the past. (Luck, curve fitting, data sample, market shifts, slippage, errors, human interaction – there is NO guarantee.)
19. I am a prop firm trader; I mirror 20 accounts; I made 100K on NQ in the last month; now I am ready for live cash trading. (Slippage, broker limits, real cash margin, and real pressure, real risk are very different; you will probably blow up in a day.)
20. I trade manually and win, so I know if I automate my trading, it will be a winner. (No, in most cases, this is not the result at all; you would need to trade like a robot, then automate it.)
21. The best trading software, settings, and trade plan are the ones I see others doing well with. (No, the best system and best stats are what you do with a system over time via direct hands-on experience.)

There are many others, but you get the gist…!

Trading is an art and skill, not an exact science. Anyone who sells you the easy dream or this BS above is either delusional, chasing a pipe dream, or a malign Machiavellian. Sadly, most vendors, brokers, coaches, and influencers are the latter, knowingly taking advantage of your financial aspirations and desperations! Statistically, the facts are no secret; day trading is, for 80% of people, the worst way to make money compared to getting a proper job and career. You never know if the market will be in a winning phase and what you will win or lose from week to month. It takes a whole lot of money and time to reach this pinnacle of trading for a living. Yes, you can be a winner, but you have to be in the correct winning mindset and environment to do it, alongside an income, something that provides stability and risk capital, or get funded to trade via a prop firm, or you are guaranteed to lose and burn! No matter how good the system is, due to psychology!

Credit for the article title:
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds