This is why many says trading is not profitable at all, well I guess based on the numbers its all about the risk and of course the skills of the traders. Looking at the long term time frame, if you still losing big money then trading is not for you or you just need to improve yourself and learn more. Traders must also know delayed gratification and don’t just think that you’ll get rich easily on this market.
The whales are the 1% trader we are talking about, they don't just trade like the normal traders, but trade when they wants to take profit in the market. We'll know that to be a trader need or require some sort of skills but not in all cases, sometimes traders are most lucky than another but adding the skill bring more advantage. In conclusion "knowing when to exit the market make a trader topnotch" and not necessarily their skills per-se.