In our SMBU Daily Video, Mike Bellafiore shares an exercise he held with his new traders today on the desk. Mike asked traders what preconceived assumptions they had about trading success that were false. This video and firm discussion was derived from a Peter Brandt quote from a presentation at Traders4ACause in Las Vegas this weekend.
We hope the answers help you improve as a trader. And the main point is clear to you: trading success ain’t about what most think.
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– SMBU Team |
* no relevant positions
2 Comments on “My Preconceived Assumptions About Trading Success Were All False”
Bella, Great list. A couple of things surprised me on my own journey.
First, while I knew that trading wasn’t easy and would require significant work, I didn’t fully appreciate how intensely personal the trading journey would be (is). Not only did I have to find edge but I had to find/build an edge that matched my own personality but I had to build processes around that edge to be able to limit my own weaknesses and enhance my strengths so that my *execution* of that edge is as good as it can be. All of that requires significant introspection, integrity and honesty…..I found that there is indeed a holy grail in trading and it stares back at me from the mirror in the mornings.
Secondly, going into trading I didn’t appreciate well enough the importance of targets and trade management to the expectancy of my edge(s). Targets, management and the detailed plan for those things ended up being more important than entries. I’m probably not unique in that early in my trading I spent huge energies finding the very best entries only to have variable results because I wasn’t as disciplined with targets as I was with entries.
Thanks for the post. As always I appreciate all you and SMB do for the tradinig community.
Best, -B
Really great points here. Especially about exits. Edge is small. Edge is personal. Skill must be built to exploit edge. Edge changes. Exits must be right to collect on edge.