Obviously I agree with the above statement that traders are made not born. Acquiring a desired skill requires continuous effort, knowledge and experience. No one is born perfect; it is one’s own hardwork that makes them who they are. So as in forex trading, to become a successful trader dedicated knowledge & experience is required.
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FAQ Nature Vs Nurture – are Good Traders Born or Made?
foroom lluzers
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This thread and article is from ouside the zone , from inside the trading zone the picture is totally different .Walk the talk is when traders met reality , this article barely covers the walk.The walk is extremely difficult , and google search of 95% of traders lose confirms this.
The famous turtle Richard Dennis could not follow his own rules and lost about $60 m in 1987/88 , according to Wikepedia.The orignal turtle method is no longer effective .He closed 3 funds in 2000.The little information of how Turtles made money is great , but little information is dangerous .
If they were born ,they die early but if they were made they have to be re-made frequently,like the turtle systems .
Good traders are brought up in a disciplined buddhist monk enironment ,they are good meditators.Their environmental upbringing makes them the ideal mindset for trading.
Unfortunately traders are not born , we are born with an ancestral brain that is naturally wired to lose in the markets .To understand this you will have to listen to almost 30 free webinars on psychology on youtube , these are by top trading psychologists.Traders will also have to read several books on psychology , before they understand "what makes a successful trader".There are some good articles in the psychology section.
The orignal article is very good , but there is a lot more to the 10 points . that needs to be understood.
The famous turtle Richard Dennis could not follow his own rules and lost about $60 m in 1987/88 , according to Wikepedia.The orignal turtle method is no longer effective .He closed 3 funds in 2000.The little information of how Turtles made money is great , but little information is dangerous .
If they were born ,they die early but if they were made they have to be re-made frequently,like the turtle systems .
Good traders are brought up in a disciplined buddhist monk enironment ,they are good meditators.Their environmental upbringing makes them the ideal mindset for trading.
Unfortunately traders are not born , we are born with an ancestral brain that is naturally wired to lose in the markets .To understand this you will have to listen to almost 30 free webinars on psychology on youtube , these are by top trading psychologists.Traders will also have to read several books on psychology , before they understand "what makes a successful trader".There are some good articles in the psychology section.
The orignal article is very good , but there is a lot more to the 10 points . that needs to be understood.
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greg.darren
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Trading is a set of skills and it is not necessary that successful traders are born with those skills. Good traders are those who strive to work towards it. They have a discipline and patient mind to learn from the basics till the advance practical knowledge is attained. With a proper set of rules and money management skills and yes having control on emotions, a trader can be nurtured to be a successful trader.
alextrader79
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50/50
A trader wouldn't become a pro without hard work...
A person with no skills wouldn't get them. Maybe he is a bad trader, but a good dancer. Everyone has his own skills...
So I consider these things to go hand by hand
A trader wouldn't become a pro without hard work...
A person with no skills wouldn't get them. Maybe he is a bad trader, but a good dancer. Everyone has his own skills...
So I consider these things to go hand by hand
NVP
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all part of market noise ..........markets just evolve ...they are never unbeatable....thankfully
N
NVP
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alextrader79
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There is a saying "You can’t soar with the eagles if you’re hanging with the turkeys". There is one common denominator among the trading greats : Paul Tudor Jones, Louis Bacon, Bruce Kovner, Michael Marcus, Jack Schwager and Ed Seykota. They all started their trading career with Commodities Corporation. According to Timothy Morge who also started his trading with Commodities Corporation, the firm was transformed into a powerhouse when they brought in Amos Hostetter. Amos was instrumental in the success of the firm and left behind a legacy of great traders. Unfortunately Amos never wrote a trading book.
paramaniac
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Born or Made
Excellence in anything only depends upon one thing and one thing only and that’s Practice.
We wholeheartedly believe that some people are simply genetically predisposed to excel whilst the rest are not and it’s a popular theory because it does seem to confirm what we see on a daily basis and throughout our lives.
However, dig down deep enough and what we are seeing, in reality is the ‘ability’ to practice and to practice correctly and it’s that which separate the elite from the rest, not good breeding.
Excellence in anything only depends upon one thing and one thing only and that’s Practice.
We wholeheartedly believe that some people are simply genetically predisposed to excel whilst the rest are not and it’s a popular theory because it does seem to confirm what we see on a daily basis and throughout our lives.
However, dig down deep enough and what we are seeing, in reality is the ‘ability’ to practice and to practice correctly and it’s that which separate the elite from the rest, not good breeding.
Pat494
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While I agree with your practice theory I would like to add another and that is make your habitual environment conducive to profitable trading. Scrap your old Che Guevara posters etc, and replace them with pics of the financial greats etc.
And as for good breeding ? With the tech revolution in biology etc. it could help.
Nowler
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falco-del-fiume
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This is some of my thoughts on of trading/investing, my own personal opinion, based on investing since the late 1970s and the many books I have read both in investing , the investment classes at UNL Grad School and psychology classes at SLU medical school.
1st you must find your style. Here the Zichy test can help you a lot. It’s found on page 27 (?) of Peter J Tanous’ book “The Wealth Equation”. If you are honest with yourself, you will learn your style. Knowing your trading style is very important. The test is similar to the Meyers-Briggs Personality Inventory Test and indicates your probable style of investing.
2nd Those of you trading with real money and those that are not paper trade paper trade paper trade. At University of Nebraska I was told to paper trade at least a year. I suggest paper trade until you find your niche. Are you a Scalper, a Day Trader, a Swing Traders, an Intermediate Trader is sometimes, a Long Term Trader like me (my time horizon is four months to several years) or Warren Buffett and Michael Burry MD. If scalping is your niche maybe you should apply at Kingstree Trading in Chicago, where they will train you and if you make the cut they will furnish you with the funds you need. Find a good coach. I like Long Term Trading. Years ago my “Yes” moment occurred. I had taken those classes to save the practice of medicine but investing was/is fun.
3rd Once it is fun the steps you have to take will no longer seem burdensome. Continue to paper trade a bit longer but now every time a trade goes wrong give up something you really like (for me no ice cream for a week and for two weeks if I did not follow my plan). The trivia of your pursuit will no longer seem trivia but fun. Now is the time to commit real money to you trading. And time to find a coach/trainer. You are close to becoming a competent trader/investor, one who knows how to stay alive. If long term investing is your style, stick with John K but tell John your style. (Aside: When I was a teenager I caddied for an unknown golfer in the US Open from South Africa, Gary Player ranked now as number 8 by Golf Digest. At the Open at Southern Hills he came in 2nd. I noticed that Gary Player brought a coach with him. The three of us sat in the club house and the two us discussed with Gary his play for the day stroke by stroke. He was most interested when the shot was not perfect. I am sure that Gary was much better than his coach or I). You will slowly become a master trader/investor. I think off hand it takes ten years to go from being competent to being really good, so be patient.
4th Trade sizing is often neglected. Mark Andrew Ritchie, the trader from Colorado worth 1 Billion dollars in “The Big Short” developed his own rule for trade sizing. One is participating in a bet on a coin toss and has 10000 dollars. 55% of the time the coin comes up heads. One can bet on heads. How much to bet? Bet all? When it comes it tails and it will one is now bankrupt. Bet 50%? Mark demonstrates that the best amount to bet is 8% of you bank rolls. Another method was developed by John Kelly, a modification of which for bets with multiple outcomes works but is a bit cumbersome. Trade sizing by Kelly’s criterion results in much variation of account size. Thus many trade a ½ Kelly which reduces final outcome after 1000 bets by 30% but variation by 90%. After a while I realized that risking 5% of total value of portfolio was very close to a ½ Kelly. As my personal rule of thumb I now risk no more than 7.5 per cent and often less (gut feeling) but never ever more.
When you think you have read enough, you haven’t. The four legs to the trading bench are psychology, chart–reading (technical analysis), fundamental analysis and trade sizing (add Greeks for option trading).
Your style probably comes from genetic makeup but style is only one part of being a good trader.
1st you must find your style. Here the Zichy test can help you a lot. It’s found on page 27 (?) of Peter J Tanous’ book “The Wealth Equation”. If you are honest with yourself, you will learn your style. Knowing your trading style is very important. The test is similar to the Meyers-Briggs Personality Inventory Test and indicates your probable style of investing.
2nd Those of you trading with real money and those that are not paper trade paper trade paper trade. At University of Nebraska I was told to paper trade at least a year. I suggest paper trade until you find your niche. Are you a Scalper, a Day Trader, a Swing Traders, an Intermediate Trader is sometimes, a Long Term Trader like me (my time horizon is four months to several years) or Warren Buffett and Michael Burry MD. If scalping is your niche maybe you should apply at Kingstree Trading in Chicago, where they will train you and if you make the cut they will furnish you with the funds you need. Find a good coach. I like Long Term Trading. Years ago my “Yes” moment occurred. I had taken those classes to save the practice of medicine but investing was/is fun.
3rd Once it is fun the steps you have to take will no longer seem burdensome. Continue to paper trade a bit longer but now every time a trade goes wrong give up something you really like (for me no ice cream for a week and for two weeks if I did not follow my plan). The trivia of your pursuit will no longer seem trivia but fun. Now is the time to commit real money to you trading. And time to find a coach/trainer. You are close to becoming a competent trader/investor, one who knows how to stay alive. If long term investing is your style, stick with John K but tell John your style. (Aside: When I was a teenager I caddied for an unknown golfer in the US Open from South Africa, Gary Player ranked now as number 8 by Golf Digest. At the Open at Southern Hills he came in 2nd. I noticed that Gary Player brought a coach with him. The three of us sat in the club house and the two us discussed with Gary his play for the day stroke by stroke. He was most interested when the shot was not perfect. I am sure that Gary was much better than his coach or I). You will slowly become a master trader/investor. I think off hand it takes ten years to go from being competent to being really good, so be patient.
4th Trade sizing is often neglected. Mark Andrew Ritchie, the trader from Colorado worth 1 Billion dollars in “The Big Short” developed his own rule for trade sizing. One is participating in a bet on a coin toss and has 10000 dollars. 55% of the time the coin comes up heads. One can bet on heads. How much to bet? Bet all? When it comes it tails and it will one is now bankrupt. Bet 50%? Mark demonstrates that the best amount to bet is 8% of you bank rolls. Another method was developed by John Kelly, a modification of which for bets with multiple outcomes works but is a bit cumbersome. Trade sizing by Kelly’s criterion results in much variation of account size. Thus many trade a ½ Kelly which reduces final outcome after 1000 bets by 30% but variation by 90%. After a while I realized that risking 5% of total value of portfolio was very close to a ½ Kelly. As my personal rule of thumb I now risk no more than 7.5 per cent and often less (gut feeling) but never ever more.
When you think you have read enough, you haven’t. The four legs to the trading bench are psychology, chart–reading (technical analysis), fundamental analysis and trade sizing (add Greeks for option trading).
Your style probably comes from genetic makeup but style is only one part of being a good trader.
The nature vs nurture debate is becoming increasingly redundant in light of recent advancements in the burgeoning discipline of epigenetics, which involves the study of processes (methylation, histone modification etc) which influence the expression of a phenotype but do not involve changes to the DNA sequence. That is, our experiences can influence gene activity by processes - such as histone modification or DNA methylation - and subsequently stimulate the expression of a given phenotype without changing the nucleotide sequence.
