Thx for the link to JGI's latest issue! The first journal title caught my eye right away - What Characterizes Excessive Online Trading? I particularly liked how they explored the mutual similarities between gambling behaviours and trading behaviours.
In my opinion, I think the sample size was much to low to really encapsulate the scope of trading. For example, I think stricter measures on participants may have helped to pull apart problem trading versus regular trading - novel traders, traders who just play the market for fun, professional investment traders, expert (non-professional) traders. The article did explore motivations behind trading, and I think it would have been interesting to see participants grouped by their motivations instead. For example, day traders whose jobs and salary depend on market winnings versus a business student looking to pay back some student loans quickly; someone playing with millions versus someone playing with a couple hundred.
Additionally, it'd be interesting to measure each participant's prior knowledge of trading. I think having a good understanding of trading may influence trading behaviour and perhaps allow the individual to be more cognizant of when they are entering the excessive problem-trading zone, for example, learning market trends before purchasing, putting stop limits on shares that fall too quickly, and even having a speedy Internet browser!
I do agree with self-control being a key indicator in separating trading and problem trading. I'd be interested to learn more about this! I believe the GGTU team is hosting several webinars on gambling behaviours, recent evidence and other related topics in the upcoming weeks. Feel free to check it out here.
