Characteristics of a Successful Trader

Here is my 2 cents,

a successful trader can COLLECT information, ANALYZE information, make a DECISION, and IMPLEMENT your decision. A successful trader must be humble and at peace with himself/herself. Being Emotional does nothing but hinder your psyche and trading abilitiy. Learn Yoga, make sure you are physically fit and most of all learn to appreciate the little things in life.
 
Quote from DHOHHI:

And that's where the "humble" part comes in IMO. I realize that as hard as I've worked to try to be a profitable trader that it could be taken away at any time. We've all had major losers in our trades, some more catastrophic than others. In some ways I look at the short term and say I'm only as good as my last trades.
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I might have missed something... but does being humble mean being afraid to lose? Isn't a successful trader also defined by someone who is willing to lose and has the courage to keep trading with the desire to win?
 
Jalee25


IMHO Sir (the irony :))


Being humble has nothing to do with being afraid to lose – and actually quit the opposite


I believe being humble has everything to do with several other things though….

They include but are not limited to


Being comfortable with, and confident in – oneself… but never egotistical about it

Knowing – the mkt is always right, no matter what

My opinion about what the mkt should do, or should not do – doesn’t matter, and never will

I don’t (or ever will) know it all – so I better be able to keep my mouth shut, and be able to listen and learn from everyone

Being totally comfortably with / and willing to admit – when I am wrong

Being able to willing embrace change


Being able to identify, reconcile and/ or accept – the “absolute” (and at times very ugly) truths that reside within our self….. While also being able to come to terms with, and accept – the “absolute” truths about the market and trading

FWIW & IM(not so humble)O

This last one is the MOST important of all Sir.. IT IS the “core” foundation upon which each of us must build a trader…. And its strength (our ability to do it) – will ultimately determine if we succeed or fail

eta - There always resides the potiential of a huge difference between the "absolute truth" and our preception of the truth...

We must always be able and willing to close that gap





As to your second question – yes it could be – along with a myriad of other things – or not…

Your definition is yours – never allows others to influence you…. but always be willing to learn from others and adapt yourself



Regards

RN
 
Quote from ProfitTakgFool:

A trader's job is to put yourself in a position to win, regardless of what the market does and I'd say the most important characteristic of a successful trader is competitiveness. Tiger Woods would probably make an extremely successful trader.

I believe emotion is a very powerful force when it comes to trading, but I'm not talking about the excitement or fear variety. I'm talking about the, "I'm coming out of the corner to beat your ass" kind of emotion. The fist pumping, in your face, kind of emotion.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao1xPIvz9Lk

Even Tiger makes mistakes. But he does not let them get to him.
 
Quote from saxon22:

Life is like trading. Probability is everything. So when I see a fella who has millions yet his life has not changed much then why make all those millions? If you are going to lie a sordid existence like the 90% of the population, then why have the $$$$$? Mind you, am not talking about guys who are pushing 50 to 100K a year replacing a corporate ass licking with a cushy trading job at home watching over a kid or two and trading. For them not much changes in terms of grand goals. They survive in a comfortable fashion and that is OK. My "beef" is with guys who have a lot more and keep living in a proverbial basement or a garage with parents asking them when will they start going out.
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This is a very good point. Many people treat trading as something other then a business. But it is not really any different. You need to become proficient in your specialty from that point you expand, may be in size or into other areas. But the main thing is you focus on growth and like all successful traders (I do not count my self in this group yet) you need to start from somewhere how ever small that is. Take for example you have a simple edge that on average produces 1% a day compounded and you start with $25000 of capital. After 73 days or 3 and half months you will average $500 a day in pre tax profits, after 143 days you will average $1000 a day. Lets say that after this point you decide to withdrawal 100 a day for your self but you continue. Now at this point you have done very well you have 100K in capital in your business and making that 1 % will become easier.
At the end of this year (250 days) you will average $2729.58 daily and your capital will be roughly $275,587. So now you will need to pay tax on the gains. And start the next year.

What does this show? Yes I know you will have bumps along the way big losses mistakes bad luck, ect. but what this shows is that you need to make a plan and stick to it. Discipline is what make successful traders. Discipline is what make trader grow to a size where they make amounts that newbie’s see and are in ahh!. Beginners who see people making large gains and try to make them themself on a smaller base not knowing what situation the winner is in makes the mistake of not trading according to his/her situation and therefore increases the chances that they will blow up or fail. You must focus on your own progression and improvement not trying to be like mike, or who ever.

The reason I say this is that my latest losing streak is due to wanting to make the amounts that other more experienced traders make while not being as experienced or as capitalized. This made me take much larger risks then I normally would, ignore basic price structure (Hoping price would come back when showing a failure of trend), and end up with loses much larger then I am use too. Then the psychology starts to take over and you increase the bad decision making. I have realized this now and have made the changes necessary to regain my focus. And I know if I focus on improving my game however little at a time those gains will add up to a large amount over a short period of time. And yes eventually I will make those large gains but I will do it when I am ready. In fact I think now I will do better them what I have seen done before.
 
thanks, eric, for starting this thread long ago. i posted a comment to it at some point but saw this when i was checking for some old ideas, and much of it rings true.

hopefully others can learn from it as well.
 
Quote from gaj:

thanks, eric, for starting this thread long ago. i posted a comment to it at some point but saw this when i was checking for some old ideas, and much of it rings true.

hopefully others can learn from it as well.
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Thanks.

After reading Corey's excellent "Grinding it Out" thread, I've been thinking of adding a few additional thoughts to this thread. In addition, I'll try to answer some questions, assuming the thread doesn't deteriorate into silly attacks and other nonsense like it did a year ago.
 
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