Did you know that "free stuff" can actually be quite expensive?

Let me explain:

A few days ago we started our Live Trading Chat Room. In this room we are trading several markets using a simple day trading strategy. In order to trade this strategy, you need to have a charting software that fulfils the following three criteria:

1. You must be able to plot the Bollinger Bands on your charts,
2. You must be able to plot the MACD study on your charts and 
3. You should be able to display tick charts.

In the past couple of days I have been answering dozens of emails from traders who told me "I use XYZ software and I can't display tick charts. I don't want to use any other software, because the one I am using is free".

Ok, help me understanding: You want to make thousands of dollars each month with day trading, but you do not want to spend $100 on a decent charting software?

You might have heard the saying "Trading is a zero-sum game". If you want to buy a stock, a commodity or a currency then somebody else has to sell it to you. In some markets this might be a market maker, but most of the times it's another trader. 

So if you buy and prices are going up and you win, then the trader who took the other side of your trade loses. Admitted, he could be trading in a different timeframe and while you are taking profits he's still in the trade and just experience a drawdown, but for the sake of simplicity let's say: If you win, then the person who took the other side of your trade loses and vice versa.

So you want to play what they call "the game of games" and you play it to win. You are trading against the brightest minds in the industry, equipped with the best software and hardware, using multiple monitors, $800 chairs, ergonomic desks and lighting so that they don't get tired,  a blazing fast internet and data connection.... and then there's you with your free charting software that can't even display tick charts.

Who do you think has better chances of winning the game?

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