10. The SEC tax declining by about 35c per thousand shares traded. 2009 was a tough year made much tougher because of this tax being raised 400 percent last year. This will mean a possible extra 17k for some of our traders.
9. Secret Project X. SMB has developed a practice tool we are very proud to unveil to our in house traders. Deliberate practice is how you become successful at anything. This training innovation allows the developing trader the chance to practice.
8. The launch of our new SMB Training website. We have been working on an improved site for many months. Roy Davis, our coder and graphics designer are working hard to produce an amazing new product. I have seen glimpses. The site design will finally match the quality of the distance learning offered.
7. StockTwits TV 2010. Howard Lindzon and Phil Pearlman have started a killer trading community. The new and improved video for StockTwits TV is so exciting. Can we just fast forward to 1/4/2010 already and launch the new look?
6. SMB Trades2Hold of the Week. Every Friday we will hold a new session where we discuss the best Trades2Hold intraday from the past week. This will be an awesome learning session that leverages the trading talent from our desk.
5. Dov Blogs. One of our future star traders is starting to get stalkers. I noticed some google searches directly for his name. Dov thinks the searchers were his mother and possibly a new young lady seeking to learn if he is out on probation. See he is very witty. Much more to come from Dov.
4. The Shark Tank. They are coming for you market players. They are hungry. They prepare for battle. Stay tuned.
3. Tie: Me losing some weight. Some jokester sent me an email the other day mocking how much weight I have gained since “Wall Street Warriors.” I have gained 30 pounds since I started SMB Capital and SMB Training. Time to take that weight off.
And continuing to exchange ideas with Dr. Steenbarger from TraderFeed on building a world class training program for developing traders.
2. I am about to be an uncle!
1. Watching how much our traders improve next year!
To all of us at SMB Blog thank you for reading. We look forward to sharing our trading stories and education with you in 2010.
Happy New Year!
9 Comments on “Ten Things Most Exciting for 2010”
Bella and SMB Team — You guys had some awesome posts this year. I began reading your Blog this year and have learned quite a bit from some of them. Some of which I have incorporated bits and pieces into my own trading plan.
Thanks again for the great work you guys do and I look forward to reading and learning more from your posts in 2010!
BTW – LMAO on # 5 (Dov’s Blog)
Happy New Year to you and your team
David_G
Bella and SMB Team — You guys had some awesome posts this year. I began reading your Blog this year and have learned quite a bit from some of them. Some of which I have incorporated bits and pieces into my own trading plan.
Thanks again for the great work you guys do and I look forward to reading and learning more from your posts in 2010!
BTW – LMAO on # 5 (Dov’s Blog)
Happy New Year to you and your team
David_G
Happy 2010! On your recommendation, I picked up Geoff Colvin’s “Talent Is Overrated.” Brilliant, brilliant! It was really inspirational, and a huge challenge to me. What I loved most about the book was how frank it was. It got right in your face, presented the raw research, and wouldn’t let you continue lying to yourself. “No, you will not become great by accumulating lots of practice hours. No, you will not become great if you have no feedback or criticism of your work. No, you will not become great because you were ‘born for it.’ No, you will not become great if you don’t care about what you’re doing more than other activities in your life. No, you cannot develop excellence ‘on the side.’ No, conventional practice isn’t hard work, and most of your practice has really been a waste of time. No, developing greatness does not feel good, is not fun, and will not be accepted by most of your friends.”
Getting into an environment of deliberate practice – with time, space, support, and coaching – is going to be my second-biggest challenge for reaching excellence in trading. Most likely, as you know at SMB, I will need to be a part of a firm, working in the office, and dedicated to a rigorous development program. My biggest challenge will be passion, as Colvin concludes in his book. Do I really care about trading more than other aspects of my life? Am I willing to sacrifice relationships and outside interests to achieve greatness in trading?
I think Colvin’s final chapter on passion was spot on. It really explains why some people do make the sacrifices required of deliberate practice, and why most do not. Deliberate practice is very, very, very costly. Not just in time and money, but also in terms of daily life, breadth of interests, stress, social support, and quality of relationships with friends and family. I am happy that SMB is taking the research on deliberate practice seriously, and I am sure your new project will be an amazing place for trainees to become transformed into masters. Of course, I also sympathize with traders who recognize the full cost of that type of training might be too much for their other loves in life. SMB’s style is discretionary and requires a deliberate type of fundamental transformation for its traders. Perhaps traders who are not able to follow Colvin’s principles might look into less discretionary forms of trading (automated, grey box, investing or longer-term swings, corporate research, etc.).
Happy 2010! On your recommendation, I picked up Geoff Colvin’s “Talent Is Overrated.” Brilliant, brilliant! It was really inspirational, and a huge challenge to me. What I loved most about the book was how frank it was. It got right in your face, presented the raw research, and wouldn’t let you continue lying to yourself. “No, you will not become great by accumulating lots of practice hours. No, you will not become great if you have no feedback or criticism of your work. No, you will not become great because you were ‘born for it.’ No, you will not become great if you don’t care about what you’re doing more than other activities in your life. No, you cannot develop excellence ‘on the side.’ No, conventional practice isn’t hard work, and most of your practice has really been a waste of time. No, developing greatness does not feel good, is not fun, and will not be accepted by most of your friends.”
Getting into an environment of deliberate practice – with time, space, support, and coaching – is going to be my second-biggest challenge for reaching excellence in trading. Most likely, as you know at SMB, I will need to be a part of a firm, working in the office, and dedicated to a rigorous development program. My biggest challenge will be passion, as Colvin concludes in his book. Do I really care about trading more than other aspects of my life? Am I willing to sacrifice relationships and outside interests to achieve greatness in trading?
I think Colvin’s final chapter on passion was spot on. It really explains why some people do make the sacrifices required of deliberate practice, and why most do not. Deliberate practice is very, very, very costly. Not just in time and money, but also in terms of daily life, breadth of interests, stress, social support, and quality of relationships with friends and family. I am happy that SMB is taking the research on deliberate practice seriously, and I am sure your new project will be an amazing place for trainees to become transformed into masters. Of course, I also sympathize with traders who recognize the full cost of that type of training might be too much for their other loves in life. SMB’s style is discretionary and requires a deliberate type of fundamental transformation for its traders. Perhaps traders who are not able to follow Colvin’s principles might look into less discretionary forms of trading (automated, grey box, investing or longer-term swings, corporate research, etc.).
I’m looking forward to tracking your site in the upcoming year… cheers in 2010.
I’m looking forward to tracking your site in the upcoming year… cheers in 2010.
Aaron,
Yes to become great at anything requires a daily grind. But I wonder if Colvin left open the door that when we pursue work we are most passionate about that we enjoy more of the practice than most. For example I enjoy most of the time I spend writing. When I am trying to put together a few paragraphs, time stands still. I am immersed in the process. While I have spent a great deal of mental energy thinking, rearranging words, and searches for creativity, I am lost in the process. This makes it easier for those following their passions to do the work necessary to be great.
Mike
Mike,
Thanks for the reply! Yep. Then you really love writing. And someone who really loves writing, and thrives on the painful process of improving at writing, will have a much easier transformation towards mastery.
There are traders who really love improving at trading. Not just trading itself (most people enjoy that), but the actual process of IMPROVING at trading. Students who love to journal, love to dissect their decisions, love to receive feedback, love to read blogs, love to network with other traders, love to analyze themselves on video, love to research the heck out of ideas, love to run the simulator, love to trade in microlots for weeks at a time until consistently profitable and painfully-slowly scale up in size and earn the right to trade more shares through actual weeks of consistency… traders who love the process of becoming a better trader.
That’s the question we should all ask ourselves, I suppose. Do I really love the process of growth in trading? Will I actually commit to journaling? Do I have the discipline to not use my preferred lot size until I have scaled up to it, one week at a time, earning every advancement from a green week prior? Have I considered all the things I will have to give up to become a great trader? Do I have the support of loved ones in this career path? Do I really care about trading more than _______?
Thanks again Mike –
Mike,
Thanks for the reply! Yep. Then you really love writing. And someone who really loves writing, and thrives on the painful process of improving at writing, will have a much easier transformation towards mastery.
There are traders who really love improving at trading. Not just trading itself (most people enjoy that), but the actual process of IMPROVING at trading. Students who love to journal, love to dissect their decisions, love to receive feedback, love to read blogs, love to network with other traders, love to analyze themselves on video, love to research the heck out of ideas, love to run the simulator, love to trade in microlots for weeks at a time until consistently profitable and painfully-slowly scale up in size and earn the right to trade more shares through actual weeks of consistency… traders who love the process of becoming a better trader.
That’s the question we should all ask ourselves, I suppose. Do I really love the process of growth in trading? Will I actually commit to journaling? Do I have the discipline to not use my preferred lot size until I have scaled up to it, one week at a time, earning every advancement from a green week prior? Have I considered all the things I will have to give up to become a great trader? Do I have the support of loved ones in this career path? Do I really care about trading more than _______?
Thanks again Mike –