"Trader Awareness" - Quotes

[GlassOnion 12]

It seems that there is an abundance of "system" related posts.Since systems alone do not directly impact an individual’s ability to become a successful trader, I felt that it was time to try a different angle. Please don't misunderstand me on this, all the good folks here that have shared their systems are to be commended. I personally couldn't see myself spending as much time as they do maintaining their threads.

 

However, the 95% and the 5% are still on the opposite sides of the fence. The systems are of little use to those who seek them the most, because those who seek them the most lack a certain self - awareness. Having said that, I'd like to invite TL users to post useful quotes and snippets from various sources (books, magazines, personal experience, etc.), which they feel exemplify some of this much needed "awareness" (consciousness).

 

 

I'll kick it off with one of my favorites, and will do my best to keep posting as I find and remember others in the future. Please pitch in if you've got some goodies to share.

 

Taken From:

THE NEW MARKET WIZARDS (CONVERSATIONS WITH AMERICA'S TOP TRADERS)

By: JACK D. SCHWAGER

.

 

Interview with Victor Sperandeo:

 

Schwager – “You almost seem to be implying that intelligence is an impediment to successful trading. How would you explain that?”

 

Sperandeo – “Assume that you're a brilliant student who graduates Harvard summa cum laude. You get a job with a top investment house, and within one year, they hand you a $5 million portfolio to manage. What would you believe about yourself? Most likely, you would assume that you're very bright and do everything right. Now, assume you find yourself in a situation where the market is going against your position. What is your reaction likely to be? "I'm right." Why? Because everything you've done in life is right. You'll tend to place your IQ above the market action.

 

To be a successful trader, you have to be able to admit mistakes. People who are very bright don't make very many mistakes. In a sense, they generally are correct. In trading, however, me person who can easily admit to being wrong is the one who walks away a winner.

 

Besides trading, there is probably no other profession where you have to admit when you're wrong. Think about it. For example, consider a lawyer who, right before a big case, goes out with his girlfriend and stays up half the night. The next day, he's drowsy and inadequately prepared. He ends up losing the case. Do you think he's going to tell the client, "I'm sorry, I went out last night and stayed up too long. If I were sharper, I would have won the case. Here's your money back." It will never happen. He can always find some excuse.

 

He would probably say something like, "I did the best I could, but the jury was biased." He will never have to admit he was wrong. No one will ever know the truth except him. In fact, he'll probably push the truth so far into his subconscious that he'll never admit to himself that his own actions caused the loss of me case.

In trading, you can't hide your failures. Your equity provides a daily reflection of your performance. The trader who tries to blame his losses on external events will never learn from his mistakes. For a trader, rationalization is a guaranteed road to ultimate failure.”

__________________

[SIUYA 11]

Ed Seykota - Win or lose, everybody gets what they want out of the market. Some people seem to like to lose, so they win by losing money.

 

Understand why you are doing this, what you hope to get out of it and if you are starting from a base whereby you want to 'have fun', 'get sympathy','make a little extra pocket money','feel the big swinger', 'feel good/smart about beating the market' - then it will make things harder to actually make money.

[Mysticforex 13]

Bird watching in Lion Country

By DIRK DU TOIT

 

 

It’s not just about the trading

The idea for this book sprang from my years as a trader and later a mentor to people with little or no trading experience. I was trading my system successfully but more often than not I couldn’t seem to transfer the know-how to some of my students. No matter how hard I tried, some just didn’t make the grade. They weren’t necessarily wiped out financially, just confused, low on enthusiasm, perplexed by the unbearable lightness of it all. After a while I realized that certain repetitive mistakes were being made, and repeated. Often those mistakes were not even directly related to trading, and that was why I was not picking them up. Most beginners have absolutely no clue as to what “successful” means. While they also understand that trading is a serious occupation, a “business”, they still lack a clear goal, a business plan, an implementation strategy and methodology. Most just rush in, hoping to find some system that will allow them to “spot successful trades”.