Many of you who are in your first year of trading have probably found some facts to be true. The market is not conquered by discovering a magical technical indicator. It is also not easily conquered just because you are willing to work at it 20 hours a day. It is also pretty frustrating to find that regardless of your education and prior success in business; the market does not care. It can give pain on an equal opportunity basis.
Maybe some of you have read the book, “How I Made $2,000,000 In the Stock Market”. If you have, you probably smiled as you saw the author attempt all of the sure fire approaches to beat the market, all to no avail. You likely smiled, because it reminded you of yourself in the beginning.
Learning and studying technical analysis is key in finding strategies that you can use. It is what our seminars like Professional Trading Strategies (PTS) teaches. Once you find and understand them, many people feel they have conquered trading. In truth, you have only completed the first step. It is similar to a new student who has just graduated medical school. He may be filled with knowledge, but not many people would choose him to operate if their mother needed an operation.
Having the knowledge is great. Then you need to turn that into a strategy. After you form a strategy, it must become of an overall system or plan that includes rules to guide you through the process. These include money management rules, a view of the market, and when to stand aside to name a few. All of this helps to put the odds in your favor. However, it is not the whole package. It is like that medical student who graduates after four years of medical school and wants to operate. He cannot. He must intern, take more school, and intern more. All this must happen before he holds a knife. Was the four years of school wasted? Of course not. The same is true for a trader. All the study is not wasted just because the trader is having troubles shortly after taking his or her first seminar. There just needs to be an understanding of discipline, psychology, and some time for seasoning.
After lots of ‘seasoning’, what will remain of the truths about trading? Here are a few. Never take the market for granted. Never think that your goal is to beat the market. Think rather, that it is your job to ride its coat tails on the days it lets you. The trend is your friend. You will find this to be true as long as you trade. Missed money is better than lost money. Patience is a virtue. Some of the best emails I have received over the last number of years that I have been teaching the Live Traders method have come from students I trained that said, “Jared, the most important thing you did for me was to give me permission NOT TO TRADE when a trade was not in alignment with my trading plan or understanding of the market environment.” Remember this information as it will help in your overall view of trading.
The markets cannot be conquered overnight. It takes time, patience, discipline, education and lots of experience to succeed. If you are to succeed as a trader, you WILL earn it. No one will give it to you. Having said that, the taste of victory is sweet because it also comes with the freedom, flexibility and income to do whatever you want, whenever you want! Hard work pays off!
