We often hear that 95% of people who try trading for a living fail within the first year. These are not very good odds and it is natural for new traders to wonder if they have what it takes. In this issue, you find the list of most relevan characteristics that can be found in most winners.
The methods employed by winning traders are extraordinarily diverse. Despite the broad spectrum of traders, certain characteristics are found in most winning traders:
- Winners have a trading plan with a strategy that incorporates effective money management. They have the discipline to execute their plan relatively flawlessly and the self esteem to accept the money the market gives them.
- They use their head and stay calm – they don’t get excited or depressed because of their trades. They don’t act on emotions. They can handle success and failure without self-destructing.
- They don’t trade to feel good or to get high.
- They handle trading as a serious intellectual pursuit.
- They always protect their capital because they know they cannot trade without it. This means that they don’t get caught up in the thrill of the moment, the excitement of a running stock – they don’t jump into careless trades.
- They love trading, trading is a passion and they spend a large portion of their time trading and learning about trading.
- They know that sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing (sit on their hands). They do nothing unless there is something to do.
- They don’t pay attention to other people’s opinions, they make their own.
- They don’t try to guess the future – they know it is a game of probabilities. They understand that they will always have a percentage of losing trades but they keep the losses for those trades small. They don’t hesitate to get rid of a position when the loss is still small.
- They have a great respect for the markets and they never think taking money from it is easy.
- They behave like professionals. They take full responsibility for their actions and don’t look for something or someone to blame. Instead they use their losses as an opportunity to improve their plan.
- They trade to trade well, not for the money.
- While they are in a play, they don’t count how much money they have made or lost because they know this would influence their judgment. They focus on trading well.
- Amateurs keep thinking what trades to get into, while professionals spend just as much time figuring out their exits.
- When they have a winning position, they don’t let their emotions dictate when to close the position, which would result in small gains. They know emotions cannot be part of the decisions.
- When they enter a play, they don’t have any expectation. They understand it can go either way and that nobody can know the future.
- They have confidence in their plan, patience, and discipline.
- They are not afraid because they have developed attitudes that prevent them from getting reckless.
- They have self-monitoring skills and can continuously monitor their performance in order to improve it.
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