Laser-In On This One Thing To Be A Successful Trader
It’s said that 90% of traders fail to be successful but I may know a secret that the 10% utilize to dramatically beat the odds! No, it’s not a black market GS algorithm, SAC trading tactics, or listening to Buffett's take on markets & trading like Pavlov's Dog. I came across this when I was rigorously researching and reviewing my trading journal after my short stint. It was quite revealing. What did I find? Read on to learn this one thing long before you ever think of funding your account...
Who is Van Tharp?
Dr. Van T. Tharp is a professional coach for traders and his claim to fame is applying his PhD in psychology to 5K+ traders’ profiles over 10 year period in developing his flagship course, Peak Performance Home Study. Since then, he’s designed seminars for banks and institutions in eight countries, conducted workshops for the CBOT, CBOE, and CME, as well as speaker to HF and MM worldwide.
So?
As is the case for ALL newbs, my trading days were rife with the cancer of psychological biases such as mental accounting, sunk cost fallacy, and clustering illusion, etc [yeah, this what I read when I’m bored at work]. Ultimately, what I learned was that if you’re serious about being successful then...look in the mirror and begin to address the grey matter in between your ears. Specifically, your personality and I’ll let the expert take it from here...
Where do I fall?
You might be thinking, I give advice on trading but do I even have the proper personality less the over-stuffed bank account? Well, it turns out that I’m an administrative type, which means I have a “Good Potential For Trading Success”. What exactly does that mean? If you take his trader test you can find out your own type and see if it matches mine. Plus, if you sign up for the newsletters you’ll also get a seven page report on the pro’s and cons of your personality. Also, do share the results with us in the comments section if you like.
What’s the point?
The bottom line is: Realize that TRADING IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN PSYCHOLOGY as well your ability to succeed and that even a monkey can profit from clicking a mouse!
Questions, comment, or concerns? Put it below.
You are a planning trader.
You tend to be decisive and to the point. You can spot logical inefficiencies in the market easily and take advantage of them, especially if you are pointed in the right direction. You enjoy long-term planning and goal setting and seem to enjoy learning, expanding your knowledge and staying well-informed.
One of Your Trading Strengths - You could probably generate a trading business plan and trading systems quite easily and naturally.
One of Your Trading Challenges - You may not honor your stops because you want to be right about your trades.
This questions make this seem like a masked version of MBTI posing as Trading Personality test...
I am a planning trader as well btw
Strategic trader. Recognize patterns easily so trading will come more easily to me than to others. But have a drive to always be right so I may be more focused on perfecting the trading system rather than trading it.
The irony is I answered ”lose money most of the time” and it still said ibd be a good trader...
You are an adventurous trader.
You are probably flexible and pragmatic, focusing on immediate results. You are very good at follow through and tying up loose ends, which really helps you as a trader. In addition, you are good at figuring out cause and effect situations and analyzing details into logical principles.
One of Your Trading Strengths - You would be great at evaluating what makes a good system.
One of Your Trading Challenges - You like adventure and excitement. If you look for it in the markets, it would be a disaster.
Sounds about right, given the adventure that trading this summer has been so far lol. I'll have to check out this newsletter and see if it's any good. Hopefully I can get some new ideas to consider.
Independent Trader.
You endeavor to develop a logical explanation for how the markets work. You value knowledge above all else. As a result, you'll be generating new ideas about the market or trying to disprove the ideas that you learn from others constantly. You are very independent, unconventional, and original.
One of Your Trading Strengths - You like the challenge of sorting out market conditions and the intellectual stimulation of developing and planning low-risk trading ideas.
One of Your Trading Challenges - You may reject or abandon workable systems if the logic isn't clear because you don't understand the systems boundaries ahead of time.
I also answered that I lose money more often haha.
This piece reads a lot like those fake news ads you always see on the net... "Traders hate him! Find out this one weird trick to generate alpha!"
That said, it was pretty fun to do. I am a "socially responsible trader".
YOU tend to be very loyal, especially to your values and to people who are important to you. In addition, you want an external life (and a market) that is congruent with your values. Interestingly, you look for congruency and your values in the market too. You likely deal with the market according to your personal values and how you feel at the time; however, the market does whatever it’s going to do.
When it comes to the details of life or trading, you probably totally avoid them because you simply just do not notice them. Because you tend to get caught up in what you are doing, you easily could forget about what you were doing in the market. If you focus on the market, you probably will notice everything you need to. In fact, you tend to be quick at seeing the possibilities, meaning that you can easily find opportunities in the market. The potential problem, however, happens when you when your focus on the markets causes you to lose focus everywhere else.
You will tend to go to great lengths to avoid internal conflict because you focus on how that conflict makes you feel. And of course, you typically don’t like the feeling of internal or external conflict. This is why it’s particularly important for the requirements of trading to fit into your value system.
You also tend to be adaptable and flexible and accepting of what happens unless it threatens one of your values. Thus, it’s important for you to determine exactly what your values are because they rule your life.
Usually, people such as you are out to make the world a better place. If making money through careful study is one of your values, then you could do well in the market. Be aware that you have only one of the three primary characteristics that we tend to see in top traders.
So basically this guy makes his money off of the Forer effect? It's interesting that he's supposed to teach you about your mental biases without disclosing the one that seems most relevant to his test and his sales. Maybe the test is perfectly accurate and the class teaches you everything, but it seems like you could learn the same taking an intro psych class. On the other hand, who am I to judge?
Wikipedia for Forer Effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forer_effect
You are a Detailed Trader
You tend to earn your success by being thorough, methodical, systematic, organized, and dependable. You are also realistic and responsible as long as things make sense for you. You probably decide logically what needs to be done and work toward it little by little until you are finished.
One of Your Trading Strengths - You should be really good at data analysis/developing business plans especially when someone provides you with the exact steps to take.
One of Your Trading Challenges - You can be overly critical and only notice the negatives in your trading. If you do not learn to recognize your mistakes, you could become stuck.
Are certain types supposed to be more suitable for trading than others?
GOAT Planning Trader Master Race checking in
You Are An Administrative Trader
You tend to be practical, realistic, and decisive. You love facts and what you think is concrete. You are good at making sure that things run smoothly. As a result, you are good at organizing projects and people to get things done in the most efficient way possible.
One of Your Trading Strengths - You should have no problem staying with and executing a simple trading system that you feel confident about.
One of Your Trading Challenges - You love the details of trading system analysis and development, but your efforts can be misguided if you are following bad advice.
Hmmm....
one of the worst posts I've read on WSO
YOU ARE AN ADMINISTRATIVE TRADER You tend to be practical, realistic, and decisive. You love facts and what you think is concrete. You are good at making sure that things run smoothly. As a result, you are good at organizing projects and people to get things done in the most efficient way possible.
One of Your Trading Strengths - You should have no problem staying with and executing a simple trading system that you feel confident about.
One of Your Trading Challenges - You love the details of trading system analysis and development, but your efforts can be misguided if you are following bad advice.
Strategic trader over here ;)
adventurous trader her
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