What is a Trader?
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Having been inspired by Ben’s education series and after a question from a member, I’ve decided to start a rolling commentary about my trading journey with the ultimate goal of answering the question, ‘what is a trader?’ The word ‘trader’ will mean different things to different people but I thought that the best place to start would be by saying what a trader is not.
It’s not getting up at 10 am, walking out to the sundeck of your yacht, opening your laptop, hitting buy or sell a couple of times and then retiring to the golf course or country club for the day. All of the traders I know work at their craft and spend significant time doing so. They look for edges, they endeavour to improve their efficiency, drive trading costs down, maximise their returns, improve the ‘system’… all the time.
Trading does not come easy and anyone who tries to sell you that dream should be treated with suspicion (and perhaps contempt). There are no day-long courses that will teach you everything you need to know about trading. Sure, they can help you on the journey but they won’t give you a complete, instantly profitable strategy. Nor is buying someone else’s strategy off the internet likely to yield long-term, profitable results.
Trading requires some inward reflection, some introspection to figure out who you are when it comes to your engagement with the market. What amount of risk you are willing to take, what types of instruments you like to trade, how much time you can dedicate, what strategies you will use and whether or not you have the staying power to work through the rough patches to find the elusive gold. For beginners, there will be many mistakes along the way. Fortunately, I have made most of them and I can show you how to avoid them (or at least minimise their impact). For those of you who are experienced, it’s never a waste of time to review your strategy, consider new ideas and try to improve your results. In time, I will cover the following;
- Trading strategy
- Trading techniques
- Trading psychology
- The importance of a plan
- Technical analysis
- Fundamental analysis
If there are any topics you would like me to cover with regard to trading, please email trading@marcustoday.com.au. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the commentary.
Cheers, Chris.
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