A graduate of our college summer training program pinged me about visiting.
Hi Bella,
I’ve taken the SMB Foundation for college students last summer with RJ, Dan, and Andreas, opened up an account (edited) and have been trading since September. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m the guy from Toronto who plays ping pong. I’ll be visiting New York City for the Victoria day long weekend and leaving on Monday May 19, would it be okay if I came by the desk to say hello on Monday after the close. It would also be great if you had a few minutes for us to chat, I also have a couple of books you know very well that I wanted to get signed for quite some time.
He stopped by yesterday, sat in on These Guys are Good (our review after the close with experienced traders from our desk), chatted with some of the guys and me. Our discussion offers a teaching moment. This trader was not spending enough energy on what he did well.
The former student had been trading for about four months at break even. He was frustrated that he was not doing better.
I asked, “What are you doing well?”
The trader murmured about Trend plays and then quickly changed the topic into great detail on what he does poorly.
I listened and said, “That is a lot on what you do not do well and not enough on what you do well.”
The answer from the trader above is common. First, break even is very good for your first four months relative to the general trading population. If he were an in-house trader, we would like for him to have progressed to slightly positive. But still break even is excellent progress.
Second, too many traders obsess about what they do poorly and not enough on what they do well. Good traders build from their strengths. A trading author wrote that in The PlayBook.
Third, the first 6-8 months are mostly about getting experience with different trading patterns. Try scalping. Try momentum trading. Take a few hacks at trend trading. Fade your little heart out as well. Swing trade. Basket trade. Arb. Play with high beta stocks. And then here is the key: after attempts at these different styles take note of what makes sense to you.
Stop being so hard on yourself. Enjoy the process.
You can be better tomorrow than you are today!
Mike Bellafiore is the Co-Founder of SMB Capital and SMBU, which provides trading education in stocks, options, forex and futures. Bella is the author of One Good Trade and The PlayBook.
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