[TheNegotiator]

This thought came to me recently and I couldn't help but wonder. Whilst there are some traders who have just the 'right' temperament for trading(or for trading their style), many have to adapt and temper their personalities in order to succeed. Questions arising from this thought are plentiful, but here are a few:-

Is a trader who is 'naturally' suited to trading better off in the long run?

How deeply do new traders generally experience anguish and what is their general tolerance level?

Does a trader have to break in order to become fully competent?

Does anything really change anyway other than the trader having more useful experience?

As the markets are in perpetually evolving, do traders experience the same thing over and over?

It's an interesting philosophical debate that could be applied to our lives in general. I think you can see where I am going with this though. The ability to learn but then crucially observe change and continually adapt is the key to long term survival imho. What do you guys think?

[Obsidian]

I think most of the traders have a common cycle in trading. First you think that you can do this and start with a demo account, buy when prices are going up, sell when prices are going down. Everything seems perfect for the first couple of weeks-months. You decide to open a real account.

You run the trading platform with big excitement and rush to trade. Meanwhile you discover that there are plenty of indicators to tell you what to do. Your charts become full of indicators.

You open a position with real money and things start getting harder. You seem to be making more mistakes. Sometimes you close trades with little profits. Since you don’t have certain rules and strategy, your account starts to melt due to different market conditions.

At this point you start to search forums, web sites to tell you what to do. Finally you blow another account and blame others for their bad calls. Next you search for paid services. Of course, you get the same results. Finally either you decide to quit or learn this business...

[Tradewinds]

Originally Posted by TheNegotiator »

How deeply do new traders generally experience anguish and what is their general tolerance level?

That could be an interesting study. In order to answer the question, there would need to be a poll done, and have enough people respond in order to have the results be reliable. And there are lots of factors that could affect each person's experience. How much money did they have to begin with? What is their personality? How much time did they put in?

I'd be interested to know if there are already studies and data out there that deal with people's tolerance for risk, and their ability to adapt. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has done a study on people who engage in risky behavior, like rock climbing, etc.

[jtrader500]

There is no 1 good type of personality that gives you an edge in trading.
I went from being the absolute highest % losing trader that has ever walked this earth and was soooo consistent at losing that I developed a plan to turn every one of my weaknesses into my biggest asset. It took me the first 10 years to figure out that all of my # crunching and indicators were responsible for about 10% of results.
I dont know anybody who has studied themselves longer and harder than I have. And now have a daily win rate at over 80%.
My personality is the worst type for any trader:
1) Very impatient
2) moderate to severe ADHD
3) Will buy anything on an impulse (even a car)
4) Highly emotional (raised by my mom and 2 sisters)

If you think you have problems with fear, greed, indicision, etc. Dont worry about it, I can tell you how to fix any of them right here on this thread. And I hope there are some professional traders here to second my motion.
I may sound cocky, But if you want to be truly consistent, You have to fix yourself before one single indicator hits your screen. (it's been a 19 year journey)
Please ask any question about psychology, only if your serious about trading
"you want the truth, you can't handle the truth!" LOL, (forgot the name of that tom cruise movie)

[zdo]

jtrader500,

Would you please open your own separate thread?
I have some questions.
Thx.

Have a great weekend all.

zdo

[jtrader500]

Originally Posted by zdo »

jtrader500,

Would you please open your own separate thread?
I have some questions.
Thx.

Have a great weekend all.

zdo

Hi, I am very new to this forum stuff and do not know all the in's and outs of types of threads and how to start them. This was an impulse post and I thought I would shed some light on the most important thing in trading.
I may start a new thread but i'm sure there are alot of psychology threads.
Thanks

[MightyMouse]

Originally Posted by jtrader500 »

There is no 1 good type of personality that gives you an edge in trading.
I went from being the absolute highest % losing trader that has ever walked this earth and was soooo consistent at losing that I developed a plan to turn every one of my weaknesses into my biggest asset. It took me the first 10 years to figure out that all of my # crunching and indicators were responsible for about 10% of results.
I dont know anybody who has studied themselves longer and harder than I have. And now have a daily win rate at over 80%.
My personality is the worst type for any trader:
1) Very impatient
2) moderate to severe ADHD
3) Will buy anything on an impulse (even a car)
4) Highly emotional (raised by my mom and 2 sisters)

If you think you have problems with fear, greed, indicision, etc. Dont worry about it, I can tell you how to fix any of them right here on this thread. And I hope there are some professional traders here to second my motion.
I may sound cocky, But if you want to be truly consistent, You have to fix yourself before one single indicator hits your screen. (it's been a 19 year journey)
Please ask any question about psychology, only if your serious about trading
"you want the truth, you can't handle the truth!" LOL, (forgot the name of that tom cruise movie)

"Fixing" ones self is not a prerequisite to succeeding at trading. "Fixing" one self might be a prerequisite for one to realize that trading is really not for him or her.

[jtrader500]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse »

"Fixing" ones self is not a prerequisite to succeeding at trading. "Fixing" one self might be a prerequisite for one to realize that trading is really not for him or her.

Thats right, You dont have to fix yourself. There are 2 main fundamental ways to approach trading if you want to become consistently profitable.
Since trading goes completely against our rational way of thinking, We must either change our pre-programmed decision making skills or we can go down the long road of using statistics, numbers, odds and try to out skill the biggest and best computers out there.

Most traders use indicators to make trade decisions with their setups. You can do it this way but you have to be very disciplined with risk management and controlling emotions and do the other million things that are the status quo.

Traders that base their decisions "first" on taking advantage other traders in trouble and anticipating the other guys moves, then using indicators as confirmation, are the 10% crowd.
You can be successful either way. But if you base your trades off of your opponents mindset first, You can trade rag tag off the hip and be consistent.
The best of the best traders do both.
The trading statistics alone tell you that the normal way is not the easy way.
I believe that anyone can be an excellent trader if they are willing to truly study themselves.
Thanks