A Fools Game
I received an email this week with a question (below) which caused me to think about the wisdom of pursuing trading as a career. Regardless of your trading time span, the skills and concerns of active short-term trading are relevant to all market particpipants.
Question: "There are a lot of people who say that day trading is for "fools" and that it is very difficult to make a living from Day Trading. What are your opinions?"
Trading is like most business: it requires commitment and perseverance. It is never easy to make money, but people who have mastered a skill make it appear easy. The really successful pit traders that I have known made trading look very easy, tantalisingly easy; but they all had many years of experience behind them. For every successful trader there has probably been a few hundred who have tried and failed.
I think people fail at any business if they approach it without an appreciation and understanding of what is required for success. The majority of traders fail because they have no such appreciation and they have unrealistic expectations of themselves. Any trader who starts with the expectation of becoming an instant success is setting himself up for failure. No one would decide to become a golf pro and assume that they could just pick up a bag of clubs and start winning tournaments. Yet novice traders do this all the time.
Just to start with the understanding that trading is a skill that is developed over time, through experience, puts a novice trader way ahead of the competition.
There are 2 core skills in trading, first the ability to anticipate the market (read the market) and second, having the discipline to execute your plan. To learn to read the market you may as well use a trading simulator and only start to trade when you have demonstrated to yourself that you can anticipate the market. Discipline, though, has to be developed and tested in the real world. Discipline is really the crux of the matter and it is here that most traders fall down. Their failure is mainly due to the fact that they are not really aware of its importance. Just starting out as a trader with the intention of developing your discipline puts you way ahead of the average trader. If you can trade with discipline (i.e. stick to your own rules and limits) you are 95% there!
So I would say that for the average aspiring trader, trading is a fool's game; but for those of us who approach the business as a business, with a clear understanding of the unique challenges that trading offers, it is a rewarding and fulfilling career.
Malcolm Robinson
LIFFE Pit Trader & Electronic Trader
InstinctiveTrader.com
Latest News
Currency Trading Market Conditions Remain Challenging: Breakout ... Daily FX, NY - Sharp US Dollar gains have produced profits in several of our currency trading strategies on the week, and a continuation of US Dollar strength would make ... US Dollar Forecast to Rally Against Euro, British Pound, Fall ... |
![]() China Daily | Stocks drubbed at open CNNMoney.com - US crude for January delivery tumbled $3.46 to $50.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In currency trading, the dollar fell against the yen and ... Video: Paulson: Other Rescue Programs Being Examined Stocks Look Ripe for Profit Taking; Manufacturing Survey Results ... |
![]() Voice of America | Treasury’s Lead Role in China in Flux New York Times, United States - Besides, some noted, China’s currency, by maintaining its peg to the dollar, has risen in relation to the currencies of other trading partners because the ... Yuan's Fall Watched Ahead of US-China Summit China hopes talks with US boost coordination Paulson Seeks to Broaden Access to China |
![]() stv.tv | Yen Strengthens as Manufacturing Slump Weakens Yuan, Ruble Bloomberg - Bank Rossii, which manages the currency against a basket of dollars and euros to mitigate the effect of currency swings, widened the ruble’s trading band to ... Dollar Rises as Global Manufacturing and Stock Markets Plunge Down Is Dollar's December Direction Yen Extends Gains as Signs of Global Recession Sap Carry Trade |
UK Pound Plunges, Gilts Rise as Data Add to Signs of Slump Bloomberg - The British currency declined against all of its 16 major counterparts tracked by Bloomberg after property Web site Hometrack Ltd. said house values in ... |
![]() New York Times | Some Nations That Spurned the Euro Reconsider New York Times, United States - After turmoil in the currency markets nearly destroyed the currencies of Iceland and Poland, the two countries are rethinking their opposition to the euro. ... |
GLOBAL MARKETS-Grim economic outlook pummels stocks, oil slides guardian.co.uk, UK - ... also lifting the dollar, so it's possible the dollar will get a bit of a bid out of this, but currency trading is going to be choppy," Reid added. ... |
AU Preview: Q3 GDP Should be Bo... ForexTV.com, NY - Forex (or FX or off-exchange foreign currency futures and options) trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. ... |
Ruble Plunge Prompts Doubling of Reserve Spending, Survey Shows Bloomberg - Bank Rossii buys and sells foreign currency to keep the ruble within a trading band against a basket comprised 55 percent of dollars and rest in euros. ... Russian Stocks, Ruble Drop as Production Falls More Than in ’98 |
Currency Trading Market Conditions Difficult to Forecast: Look for ... Daily FX, NY - Currency trading market conditions have been especially difficult to predict as of late, and strategy preferences for our forex trading signals are far from ... |
Resources
-
Simple Forex Solution.
eBook on Currency Trading.
-
Forex Trading Strategy
How to trade Currency pairs
-
Global Forex Currency Trading Portal
Global Forex Currency Trading Portal, Free Forex News, Research, Trading Systems, Strategies and Education
-
Forex Trading Tips - Learn how to trade EUR/USD, USD/CAD or any other major Currency pair.
Stock index Trading strategy for beginning and experienced traders alike.
-
Become a High Earning Currency Trader
Become A High Earning Currency Trader by Tapping a Few Buttons on your PC
-
Forex :: FXTrader.NET - The professional Forex Trader - Forex Managed Accounts for private and insti
Forex Managed Accounts Forex Currency Trading Services Forecast Products
-
Get Rich Trading E-Currency! Get The Free Ecurrency Report!
Instantly Cash In On Your Share Of This Multi Million Dollar Industry With Your Very Own, Shockingly Explosive Ecurrency Trading Business.
-
Currency Exchange Profits Video Training
Currency exchange profits | Video training for e-Currency Trading
-
Day Trade Forex System:
The ULTIMATE Step-by-Step Online Currency Trading Course
Day Trade Forex Systems: Online Currency Trading Course, Advanced Trading Signal System and the Euro Fractal Trading System. Forex traders using our forex advanced signal system with specific entry and exit strategies can win trade after trade in the for
-
Foriegn Currency Trading | Online Forex Trading | Forex Trading System
Online Forex Trading System Ebook



