[Tradewinds]

Does predatory activity happen in the market all the time? Does a predatory mindset help in trading?

I think that adapting a mentality of being ruthless, predatory, opportunistic and stalking your "prey" may help some people be more successful at trading. I get the impression that some traders take on this mentality, and this point of view as a strategy to put themselves into a mental state that helps them to be more objective and disciplined in their trading.

I'm not saying it doesn't work. And I'm not saying that I wouldn't, sort of, engage in those things myself when trading. I guess I would practice opportunistic and "predatory" strategies in the sense that it will make a profit.

Is this view of trading good in the long term? Can it affect your life outside of trading? Is it morally right or wrong?

Personally, I have a mixture of feelings about the whole investment industry, how it works, who it benefits, and what the implications are for the predators and the victims.

But let's hear what you have to say.

[MightyMouse]

Originally Posted by Tradewinds »

Does predatory activity happen in the market all the time? Does a predatory mindset help in trading?

I think that adapting a mentality of being ruthless, predatory, opportunistic and stalking your "prey" may help some people be more successful at trading. I get the impression that some traders take on this mentality, and this point of view as a strategy to put themselves into a mental state that helps them to be more objective and disciplined in their trading.

I'm not saying it doesn't work. And I'm not saying that I wouldn't, sort of, engage in those things myself when trading. I guess I would practice opportunistic and "predatory" strategies in the sense that it will make a profit.

Is this view of trading good in the long term? Can it affect your life outside of trading? Is it morally right or wrong?

Personally, I have a mixture of feelings about the whole investment industry, how it works, who it benefits, and what the implications are for the predators and the victims.

But let's hear what you have to say.

It is perfectly natural. As long as you are not breaking rules, then there is nothing wrong with it, since if you are not breaking the rules, you are playing by them.

Is it morally right? Is it morally right for you to lose money in the market to someone who knows how to take it from you? So, is it wrong if you take money from others that are less skilled at trading than you?

In nature you do not see a cheetah stalking the largest, meatiest animal; instead, it stalks the youngest and weakest.

MM

[Tradewinds]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse »

As long as you are not breaking rules, then there is nothing wrong with it, since if you are not breaking the rules, you are playing by them.

Rules are not inherently right. There have been plenty of people, groups, governments and rulers that have made some very bad rules. There are good rules, there are bad rules. Right at this moment, I'm not saying that the rules governing the markets or trading are good or bad. I'm saying that there needs to be a deeper look at good and bad, moral or not moral, than just looking at the rules alone.

[Tradewinds]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse »

In nature you do not see a cheetah stalking the largest, meatiest animal; instead, it stalks the youngest and weakest.
MM

This is true. And in the animal world, that system works very well. The natural world is a system of overcompensation to balance out high attrition. Many of the young, weak and sick need to killed off, and eaten, or the population would go out of control.

The human population is growing out of control. When lemmings overpopulate, they all run over a cliff into the sea and die. Human's do find innovate and better weapons to kill each other off. But we are also keeping more and more people alive with better standards of living and modern medicine. Plagues and wars killed off large percentages of the population in the past, but we haven't had any big plagues lately.

Trading is a system of high attrition, but it doesn't kill off large percentages of the population. "Feeding" off the young and the weak in the investment markets doesn't solve the overpopulation problem.

If people who make a lot of money in the investment world, are genetically superior, then they should have more children in order to keep the genetic pool healthy. But it seems like poor people have more children. So that isn't working.

The system of killing and eating the weak and the young in the animal world keeps things in balance. I'm not sure that the investment industry is keeping the world in a healthy balance.

[steve46]

Depending on your emotional needs and maturity an agressive attitude toward the market may help some participants..... In my office we go about business in a subdued manner. We expect to make money (otherwise you are gone)...At this level the participants view the market as a puzzle to be solved within a limited amount of time....we're expected to get it right in time for the market open....if we do that (and most of the time we do) then there is a congratulatory moment at the end of the day...but thats it, because we know that each day is just a dot in the (yearly) distribution, and you're expected to come back and do it again the next day....if you plan to be in this business over the long run, it may be advisable to maintain a more consistent and low stress emotional mindset during market hours.

Good luck

[Tradewinds]

Originally Posted by steve46 »

if you plan to be in this business over the long run, it may be advisable to maintain a more consistent and low stress emotional mindset during market hours.
Good luck

So my question is, does the predator mentality cause more stress or less stress? I suppose a predator mentality could mask stress, or be a very strong counter balance against it. But masking something doesn't make it go away, and counter balances can swing wildly the other way.

[zdo]

One of the pivotal ‘moments’ of my trading development was when it clicked at an operational level that trading is best seen as “Predator vs Predator” (zdo) instead of predator vs prey….
Direct side benefit - instantaneous resolution of the largest part of those mostly enculturation based ‘moral’ issues …
OP it’s excellent that you’re confronting this. Many traders never even get into awareness of how that enculturation is conditioning/limiting their trading…as you get to know them you can start picking up the subtle suppressions diverting and wasting their energies…
hth

[steve46]

Originally Posted by Tradewinds »

So my question is, does the predator mentality cause more stress or less stress? I suppose a predator mentality could mask stress, or be a very strong counter balance against it. But masking something doesn't make it go away, and counter balances can swing wildly the other way.

Sir or Madam

I think the answer to your question is that it depends on the individual (as I stated in my original comment).
Personally I don't know what else I could add that would help you....I believe that a professional orientation is helpful because I see it every day....of course there are bound to be exceptions..another way of putting it is, that I tend to be agressive in terms of ability to tolerate risk, to put on size in the market and in terms of looking for opportunity....I was trained to be agressive with respect to those elements of trading....otherwise I tend to be more thoughtful and subdued in my approach....I notice that some very successful individuals have a similar orientation to the market.... I leave it to others to decide which approach works best..

Good luck