Do traders Lie about the work they put into trading?

M

magnum29464

I've read many articles about the hottest trader at the time in many different magazines and such and alot of them talk about how there job is 24/7 and how there constantly working. recently I've read comments that alot of traders and mangers really lie (or over exaggerate) how much they really work. i can say I have had some success in trading and while I do work hard I can't say that I could even find enough things to work on that would require 24/7 style labor. maybe its a fundamentalist/technical thing but I must say I have read many tech traders that say they work the high powered schedule also. just wanted to get the thoughts of some people that may know.

that said I'm not managing billions of dollars so maybe thats the difference.
 
I know traders that never stop.

Personally I do 2 hours of homework at night, and trade 3 hours in the morning.

However, since I'm still dealing with personal psychology as far as size goes I can't feed my kids from trading alone (single parent too), therefore I have a 6 hour job in the afternoon to complement the morning trading.

Once I increase size things will change but easier said than done. Started with 100-200 SPY, now at 300-400 and you got no idea the pressure I'm feeling. Crossing fingers that I overcome this soon as I must reach a higher size to make it all worth it. Tough life but giving up obviously not an option.

Bottomline I suppose it depends on the trader and the circumstances.
 
I have cut back a lot since getting married, that is something the wife asked of me.

But I would live and breath the market ALL the time. Now that I switched to futures, there really isn't as much to research. But with stocks, there is just so much and not enough time in the day.

When the day is over now, I may spend an hour or so at night looking at different set ups. Point being, it is VERY possible for the market to consume a lot of ones time. Especially if one was as serious as me.


Just my .02.
 
As fundamentalists what were you researching all that time? The period I focused only on fundamentals I mostly read the companies reports and whatever articles I could find but I didn't really find a whole lot of research on companies, well a whole lot of free research.

also with my personal philosphy I believe so much more in the market itself than in fundamentals of the companies that I could see getting very frustrated with all that fundamental research that adds up to a lost. I found that I tolerated a loss much less as a fundamental trader.
 
It takes a lot of "butt in the seat" time to put together the basic concept of how to trade successfully. Based on the complexity of your trading system/method that initial amount of time can increase drastically. We're talking 3 to 5 years, baseline.
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Once you've achieved your goal of how to trade successfully, you encounter the other side (and far more challenging) side of the coin ... that is controlling your psychology.

All humans are psychologically designed to avoid loss, no matter how small it is. We are also hard-wired to take a gain as quickly as possible, and be satisfied with it.

So, psychologically we are designed to let or losses run (for fear of taking the hit) and cutting our winners short (for fear of losing the gain).

So a trader must work deligently to overcome this inbred psychology every day they trade.
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The last part of the equation is that markets always through a JOKER into the deck ... just because you've worked for the past three years and put together a trading system that works today, there is absolutely no gaurantee that it is going to work tomorrow.
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Now, you tell me how much time do you think traders put into their trading?

I would say, a lot! :)
 
Pretty much anytime I don't have homework for school or in a class I am "trying" to trade during the day and researching and learning at night.
 
Quote from magnum29464:

As fundamentalists what were you researching all that time? The period I focused only on fundamentals I mostly read the companies reports and whatever articles I could find but I didn't really find a whole lot of research on companies, well a whole lot of free research.

also with my personal philosphy I believe so much more in the market itself than in fundamentals of the companies that I could see getting very frustrated with all that fundamental research that adds up to a lost. I found that I tolerated a loss much less as a fundamental trader.
More...

Well there are many reports I look at. Not only do I have a strong fundamental side, I also excel at technicals...I believe they are second to none. Nothing crazy but really understanding the relationship between volume and price action. My charts are VERY simple, they work for me. This is one of the tools Bloomberg provides being able to research fundamentals and technicals at the same place.

It helps because I believe and have been told I have a natural act for this. I am sure I will get a lot of BS responses but it is what it is.

Hope everyone has a great trading day tomorrow.
 
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