The success in trading is 80% psychological and 20% one’s methodology, be it fundamental or technical. For example, you can have a mediocre knowledge of fundamental and technical information, and if you are in psychological control, you can make money. Conversely, you may have a great system, one that you have tested and has performed well for a long period of time, yet if the psychological control is not there, you will be the loser.
Money is made in the markets by taking it from other traders. If you think it sounds ruthless, you are right. It is. This isn’t holistic coming together of like-minded souls to light incense and a celebration of the meaning of life. This is trading. It’s a zero-sum game.
Retirees have a sort of freedom, but at what price? Retirement is a GPS signal for death to come and find you. It’s important to always be engaged with an interesting future. The only paid professions I’ve seen that offer a large degree of freedom are independent contract-type jobs like driving for Uber; the pay isn’t great, so a lot of hours still have to be worked.
Reasons for trading full or part time are many. These include: the desire for stay-at-home husband, a wish to be more independent, controlling your own hours, with nobody telling you what to do. A lot of would-be traders I meet are already successful in other areas of lives – they are simply bored. I call these folks “doctors seeking excitement” although this can include anyone in a high-paying career. They like the income and the prestige, but they don’t like the bubble in which they are now trapped. Others have been burned by financial markets and are now interested in taking control of their financial future. And many have put together a small stake and want to give it a go and pursue their dreams of becoming a trader.
Trading, when done right, offers substantial income for a small amount of work. Traders, at least who learn the art of being consistent, have the opportunity to create an independent life free from the hassles of the average Joe. These perks are extremely appealing and impossible to duplicate in many other professions.
This is a “job” that provides the chance to make a very nice living, and it’s a lot more interesting and fun than any other profession, except being a rock star, of course. But if sharing a stage alongside U2 seems slightly out of reach, then trading is a good alternative.
Start-up costs are minimal thanks to falling computer prices. Trading in your robe or nothing at all is perfectly fine. Best of all, a trader can choose their own working hours. For example, I would trade actively from October through April, and then take the next five months off or trade until I make 50% of the capital and then take the rest of the year off. Possibilities are endless.
It truly represents the proverbial American Dream, and traders from all over the world are giving it a shot.
The bottomline is that traders sweep aside political and philosophical differences when speaking to other traders. Traders around the world are linked by a single idea – to generate cash with their mind and to reap the benefit that this cash creates: freedom. It’s a beautiful thing. I love traders and all the craziness they represent.
Traders have to constantly battle their desire to be right and prove their worldview, as it in no way, shape or form helps them to make consistent money. An unsuccessful trader who cannot figure out why he is struggling has the characteristics of a psychopath; anti-social behavior, poor judgment, failure to learn from experience, inability to see oneself as others do and inexplicable impulsiveness.
One of the fallacies of trading is the idea that, “to make more money, I need to trade more.” Nothing can be further from the truth. Trading smarter and less frequently is one of the hidden secrets of doing this for a living. There is no need to catch every move, True freedom.
The only way to become a professional trader is to obtain an edge, a weapon that can separate you from the rest of migrating sheep. That edge is gained by utilizing specific chart setups and trading methodologies that take into account certain key points, as well as the psychology of the trader taking the other side of the trade. Without this, as you enter the revolving door to the financial markets, filled with excitement and anticipation, the predators are merely licking their lips because what they see is a slab of freshly cured meat, ripe for eating. And feast they will.
Trading and life are tightly intertwined. The better you understand yourself, the more likely it is that you ‘ll be able to find a market, a strategy, and an overall trading philosophy that best fit your personality.
The Stock Market is a device used to transfer money from the impatient to the patient. – Warren Buffet
All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind from inner stillness. – Eckhart Tolle
True underlying attraction to trading is far more fundamental and universal. Trading is an activity that offers the individual unlimited freedom of creative expression, a freedom of expression that has been denied to most of our lives.
The trader’s mind should be in the present and calm, without the mind entering in the picture. This keeps the emotion out and the trading becomes more objective and the probability of success increases.
So it is the freedom and excitement that attracts traders. And it’s the freedom that’s the undoing of many traders because with so much freedom comes a cruel price. Simply put, the markets cannot protect traders from themselves. Individual traders, unlike fund managers are unsupervised and have the freedom to act unchecked in any way they choose. And for many traders, this means they live a life where they are one mouse click away from disaster. The markets lull them, encourage, and even reinforce bad habits.
I am trading full-time from home and just made over $6000 in just five trading days!.The earning potential is unlimited. My return on investment in 2018 was greater than 30% in my IRA account.
My mentors are multi-million dollar traders, the best on Wall Street, who had been there and done that, “The Raging Bull.”
It is FREEDOM!
Excerpts from must-reads:
- Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas
- Mastering the Trade by John F. Carter
Good Trading!