When it comes to day-trading, Ross Cameron is someone who not only talks the talk but also walks the walk. While it’s far from a typical result, Cameron is known for turning $583.15 into over $10 million. But in his new book — How To Day Trade: The Plain Truth — Cameron doesn’t crow about his success story. In fact, he does the exact opposite, pulling no punches while revealing the high and low points in his career.
A large part of the book almost seems like Ross Cameron is trying to convince people why they shouldn’t day-trade. And there’s a reason for that. The book feels like the author really cares about people going into the profession. And he wants to make people absolutely certain that they go in for the right reasons — and with their eyes wide open. It’s a dramatic departure from many day-trading books on the market, which read more like thinly veiled sales pitches aimed at getting the reader to buy into the author’s way of thinking.
Ross Cameron Explains the Good and Bad of the Markets
At one point, Cameron poses an imagined question from a reader.
“I like what I’ve heard about day-trading, but I really am skeptical about my chances. I’m not some Red Bull-swilling alpha male, but I’m a woman. On top of that, I’ve never thought of myself as being good at math. And by the way, English is my second language. Tell it to me straight: Am I screwed?”
Cameron’s answer is simple: “No, you are not.”
The thing about day-trading is that the markets are agnostic to who’s trading them, he explains. The day-trading business doesn’t care about race, ethnicity, age, or political persuasion. It only cares about your actions when you buy or sell a stock, and for how much you buy or sell it for.
“You will be judged on your performance. Period,” Cameron writes.
Yet he freely admits that most day traders are indeed men. There are day traders who have no business being day traders. Lots of them, he insists.
“They see some tweet from a guy claiming to have made a ton of money on the ‘next GameStop’ and how you’re ‘gonna regret it if you don’t get in now!!!!’ Next thing you know, they are caught up in thinking about how much they could make and they carelessly invest their life savings. This is what I would define as gambling, and unfortunately it’s more common than you might think.”
And again, the folks falling for these tricks — and the people pushing them — are mostly men of a certain age and background.
Ross Cameron Wrote This Book for You
Luckily, people can now trade from their computers and never set foot in the type of boiler room situation like the one featured in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. “People don’t have to know what gender, race, and age you are unless you tell them,” Cameron writes.
“One of the main reasons I wrote this book is to connect with people who think day-trading cannot work for them, but they are wrong. They’re curious, or else they would not bother to pick up a book about day-trading in the first place,” he writes. “However, they’re 5% curious and about 95% sure that day-trading can’t work for them.”
If that sounds like you, Cameron has some honest advice. First, he acknowledges there’s no “level playing field” for all investors at all times.
“It’s true that giant banks and trading firms have big advantages over us little folks. They have vast amounts of money to spend, and they hire armies of Ph.D.s in mathematics, physics, and computer science. Then they spend a bundle on their data centers so they can trade — not as fast as ‘humanly possible’ but as fast as the fastest computers can possibly trade,” Cameron writes, laying the dangers bare. “Even so, day-trading is an amazingly fair platform for the rest of us.”
For a start, says Ross Cameron, there’s no entrance exam to start trading, compared with professions where membership fees and exams are ways to control how many people can be certified. That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t take day-trading seriously and study it, he says, as there is so much to learn, even without formal certifications.
The Day-Trading Profession Has Potential To Be the Great Leveler
“The stock market does not care about the color of your skin, your gender, or ethnicity. It does not care whether you graduated from Harvard or never went to high school. The market does not care how famous or rich your parents are. If you’re going to succeed as a trader, it will be on your own,” according to Cameron. “There is no casino-style house that will give you free drinks and show tickets if you blow a lot of money, or that will throw you out of the casino if you use every tool at your disposal to buy and sell shares — and you win.”
Yet the idea of a non-caring market also has its sobering aspects, Cameron warns.
“The market does not care if you deserve to do well because you’ve always been a kind person who’s led a virtuous life of helping others. You place your trades and you will experience the consequences. The market is not the least bit impressed that you absolutely kicked ass yesterday and made more in your trades than most people make in a year. Nor does it care if you screwed up big-time yesterday. Today’s a new day and yesterday no longer counts,” Ross Cameron writes. “The market does not care how hard you are trying or how long you’ve been studying. Your buy and sell orders either produce profit or they don’t. You cannot reason with the market or appeal a decision … You decided to buy and sell, and your decision was final.”
While this might put people off trading, Cameron says they can equally be sources of comfort.
“For people who’ve been put down or disadvantaged in some way in their lives, the day-trading market provides a place where you can be judged purely on your actions, if you’re willing to work hard and learn the craft. For some people, that place can be a relief and even a sanctuary,” Ross Cameron writes.
The information provided in this article, including in the book How to Day Trade: The Plain Truth, is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. Day-trading involves a significant risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Readers should consider their financial situation, objectives, and risk tolerance before engaging in day-trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results. It is recommended to consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Disclosure: This is sponsored content. The sponsorship may include, but is not limited to, payment for article placement to the publication, compensation to the writer for their time, or other arrangements.
