Don’t Be Shy; Embrace The Truth
As we head for 2014, and the markets aren’t doing much over
the Holiday’s, it seems a great time to review
what few traders seem to want to face; trader truths you can’t ignore.
First up on the list is that it is hard work to be
successful trading FX. Walk up to any schlub off the street [or
those who actually read Futures Magazine] and ask him/her, “Would you like to make a million dollars trading Forex from the
comfort of your couch or favorite beach lounge chair?”, and what do you
think the answer is going to be?
There are 2 very important concepts every trader [real or
potential] has to master for the hard work to “morph” into money in
the bank; 1) you have to religiously follow a trading plan [algorithm], and 2)
you have to successfully navigate and deal with all the tangential issues that
affect your trading [i.e., brokerage house issues, time management, family
issues, internet connectivity issues, computer malfunctions, money issues,
etc.].
You have to be able to follow your game plan [mine, yours,
or somebody else], and have the guts [faith] to stick with it. Wanna guess how
many times I have heard the following, “Well,
I bought this book on trading and followed the RSI, and it led to 4 losses in a
row, so I ignored it and then the 5th time it made a bundle but I
wasn’t in the market so I’m down about 30% in my equity”.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this [or close to
it] story, I’d have about $2 million bucks in the bank. It’s hard work following an
algorithm!
Over the last year and a half, and too be specific October
to a few weeks ago at Forex-Metal, I too have been plagued with issues related
to trading that have nothing to do with any specific market [except gold]. The
question is not if these types of things will eventually find there way to you,
but what you will do about it when they do.
You simply have to pull back from trading and solve them before you
continue to trade. If that
means your results suffer until they are solved, then tough toenails. It’s
the reality that counts, not your wishes. If you ignore them, or
wish that they would just go away [called being delusional], your problems will
mount and you won’t make any money from trading evahhhhhhhh. It’s
hard work dealing with these issues, and they never go away!
Second on the list is that you need help; no trader is an
island in the sea of trading. I challenge anybody, anywhere,
anytime to show me another professional trader who has 1) my experience level
[30+ years trading], 2) active floor experience [10 years], 3) published author,
4) CFTC documented results over 3 years that yielded annual gains of
approximately 1,400%, and 5) public access who has published more material for
the trading public for free.
Please, send me the names and web addresses when you find them.
Add all this up and you have the necessary “hard data” to be
a successful trader from what I and my staff have made available to you.
However, it still isn’t enough.
Get real; you have, you are, and you will make mistakes trading. Some
of the most basic ones that are committed by Newbies can be prevented by simply
opening a demo account first and making mistakes with play money. Trading
capital is like blood in your body; don’t bleed your account from stupidity!
You also have to be persistent and consistent in
your trading approach; 1) don’t get sloppy with stops, 2) don’t take “shots”
with extreme leverage, 3) don’t change algorithms every 29 minutes, 4) do
save part of your successful trades for rainy days or weeks when things aren’t
so active or when you want vacation time, 5) don’t spread yourself too thin,
e.g. like trading 5 markets at once, 6) don’t ever trade off of crap
you hear on TV [Fox, CNBC, or Bloomberg] from talking heads, who are simply
there to talk their position, and last but not least 7) don’t ever let your
success lead you to believe you are now a market guru genius [you are
NOT]; keep your emotions in balance.
Last on the list is motivating yourself for trading. I’m
sorry, but if the thought of working your whole life to be in the “pudding
business” doesn’t get you motivated, then I don’t know what will.
Being free from Government and Corporate tyranny should be
one of your top priorities in life. Unlike President Goebbels voters, whose top
priority is to get an EBT card and free health care [that somebody who actually
works pays for], your dreams of financial freedom can be realized.
Once you taste trading
freedom, you are then terminally unemployable!
I would encourage everyone who has questions about anything
I have said here [or in prior posts or published articles] to email me and fire
away; if you’re thinking about it, then so is somebody else.
Since we are “going live” on C2, there will be many people
who come here in the New Year that are new to the site; there is a literal ton
of information and posts from me here. Take your time and go through and
remember what is on the top of the Blog Site; Read. Think. Study. Act.
Prosper.
It doesn’t get any more concise, or to the point, than this.
Have a great day everyone.
-vegas
