Trader A has overperformed since his start at SMB relative to his experience and peers. Trader B has underperformed relative to his experience with us. Trader A went to a middle of the road school. Trader B has a very impressive educational background. Both love trading. Both are guys you build a firm around.
So what separates the two? Their language. And this is found curiously in their daily trading reviews.
Here is a daily review sent to me by Trader A. Notice the language emphasis on daily improvement and what he learned from the trading session. Take particular notice of the new play he built that made sense to him. Wow, is that awesome work!
I am happy and disappointed at the same time:– I felt like there was so much money out there today… stocks moving so signicantly.. andthe worst thing is I was involved in a bunch of them and didn’t truly capitalize– Just in tsl, shld, rcl, and swn I hit out a few cents before over 1 point moves… I gotta bea little more lenient… were are my ideas truly busted?… that and have to be able to getback in things– This was a day to make (more)… and in the stocks I was in… so I leave reallydisappointedWith that said there were some thigns I felt good about– I did hit so many lows and highs and still made respectable money…– I finally put together a positive close together… and that was through a strategy Ithought off yesterday… I put together a 5 position basket… and 1 position kind ofworked and one really worked and I made 400 in it… so I am going to try to get back tothat in the 2-2:30 hour.. to build my basket…I really leave today thinking it was a total missed opportunity.. but really optimistic about thenext few weeks.. while the market volatility has decreased… individual stocks are breaking out,following thorugh… things are cleaner… it just seems like trading is a bit easer the last few daysI am trading larger share size and I am not jumpy… I can hold 1000 shares for the real move…I am losing the desire to take 10 cents in every trade… because I know I can spread myself outnow and only need a few ideas to really work…The goal for me today was to not become overconfident and force anything.. I think I let thingscome to me… got into my setups… and I am chasing the easy money lately which I see a lot ofpeople around me trying to stay with thigns that aren’t as moving… or try to buy steep pull ins…Iam sticking to my guns… consolidations in stocks trending and I will continue to as we get intoearnings season
And then the daily review language from Trader B who was underperforming. Notice how much attention is paid to his lack of P&L. Notice there is less learning from the day than from Trader A. Notice there is a lack of specificity to his reasons for undeperformance.
bella, i am absolutely disgusted with my executions today, i barely made any money, i churned and wrote more tickets than i have ever written, i did not pick my entries well at all and i didn’t lay on the risk at the right times, i am so upset at myself for not making more money on a day like today, this was the best day the market has had since xmas and i made ($XX) net, that is absolutely unacceptable, i can’t get over this ($XXX) mark, in november i had no problem hitting those kind of numbers on a regular basis but i have this mental block, i haven’t had my gross p&l over ($XXX) since the first week in december, that is unacceptable, tomorrow i am not trading before 950, no excuses for not learning from the past two weeks, i make all my money during the middle of the day and lose money every open, i write in my review about being more thoughful in my trading and that is a huge part of improving my results that i need to correct, i am very excited for tomorrow but i really need to focus on not making the same mistakes that i made today, let me know if you have any thoughts on my review, thanks
Trader B will go on to become a successful trader but he won’t if he continues to use the language above. His language was pointed out to him with suggestions for more constructive language. In fact recently he has made nice progress. As expected, Trader A continues to outperform his peers.
Bella
2 Comments on “The Language of the Successful Trader”
Trader A focuses timing, position sizing, overall market conditions, and confidence. Essentially he is skills/ setup oriented. The contrast with trader B is very evident. Great post, thanks.
I personally think that the financial industry focuses way too much on what school someone attended. I personally employed hundreds of people and can say without a doubt I would hire the person that wants it, needs it and loves it over someone with a prestigious degree. I read how prop firms recruit from the best schools. May I ask why? These kids have no life experience. If the trading thing doesn’t work they can easily find another career. However take someone who will work hard and love what they do, and they will blossom over any ivy league graduate. Just my thoughts.
Kathy