Is There Such a Thing as a Born Trader?

July 25th, 2010 by bestmortgageratetips Leave a reply »

There is a common misconception that some individuals are born to trade. In my experience , after training scores of traders, I have yet to meet a trader who could naturally trade without any extensive trading education . I will readily admit that some traders are more adept than others to learn the primary precepts of day trading , and I would also add that a few traders have a hard time picking up on even the rudimentary tenets of trading. After all, we are all endowed with differing sets of skills , and we are not all set up to be futures traders.

This differs sharply with some different occupations . For example, I have an acquaintance who is a natural born golfer. For as long as I have known him he could whack a golf ball out of sight . He can shoot even par no matter what the weather conditions. He can even shoot par when he is stone cold drunk , which in itself is a miracle. For reasons I don’t understand , this relationship does not hold true in the trading venue . Perhaps it is because of the natural illogic of trading methods , or perhaps trading does not corelate to natural ability. I don’t have the solution to this question .

I am an eternal optimist, and believe that most individuals who are able to put a certain amount of book work, spend time and practice, and dogged determination can learn to trade very profitably . I must add one caveat, however: I have met a small number of people, a very small percentage, who simply were unsuited to trade, and it became apparent very early in their training that trading was not going to be their profession . Again, this is a very small number of people .

It is my opinion that profitable traders are trained, seasoned and combine years of experience before they become truly leading floor traders. Unfortunately, trading on Wall Street is a very stressful field of endeavor and most traders leave the trading game before they realize their potential. Most leading investment bank trading rooms are filled with young traders, with a seasoned veteran supervising operations of the trading room. I am 52 years old, and my time limit for trading is about four hours. My mind tires and my concentration starts to wander , but the trades I execute are normally well thought out and years of experience keep me out of the lousy trades and help me to identify the good trades.

And that is the rub. As a beginning trader you are going to execute some poorly thought out trades, it’s inevitable and it is okay, if you learn from your mistakes . On a given day, there are a variety set-ups that look enticing , but there may be one factor that precludes that trade from being profitable . Your ability to discern that single negative factor is what will make you a competant trader.

I want to make one extremely significant point, though. You don’t have to be a great day trader to make money in the market. If you have learned a good system, have the proper self-discipline, and can execute your system with a high degree of accuracy…you can be very profitable in your trading business . You don’t have to be great , just good. On the other hand, if you stay with trading for an extended time period you have the potential to be great. The downside to this situation is humorous, though. You will be the only person who knows you are great. Unless you are trading for a large investment bank, you will have to be content with knowing you are a great trader and leave it at that. But who really cares? As long as your futures trading account reflects the profitable results you are enjoying, isn’t that enough?

In summary, learn your trading methodology inside and out. In my trading, I also learn a number of different systems inside out. Work on the self-discipline required to make your trading effective . Avoid entering trades based on emotion. Further, always work to improve your trading, keep a journal of your trades, and review the trades that did not work out so you don’t repeat them. And most importantly, be persistent and dogged in your approach to trading, strive for perfection, even though perfection is nearly impossible. We all have the potential to be great a day trader, but most don’t reach deep enough to realize their potential. Be one of the few that reaches his potential.

I am still a full time e-mini day trader and educator and enjoy the profession as much as ever.

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