Netpicks has seen traders come and go over the years and we’ve been able to see a number of recurring themes in traders in regards to their trading edge.
We also believe it’s possible to recognize certain trader types whereby personalities broadly conform.
Therefore their strengths, their weaknesses, the things which they’re able to do with ease and the challenges they will likely face can often be identified by the recognition of their type.
Of course there are going to be crossovers between types and also individuals will have specific traits that are unique to them, but thinking like this can be a great starting point.
Forsaking One Trading Edge For AnotherOne such type is the “kid in a candy store” (KICS) type. Simply put, the KICS type trader wants to explore everything new and exciting to them.
Every new system or indicator has them jumping about as they love finding out about different approaches traders can take. And while a healthy interest in these is certainly a good thing, there’s a point at which it becomes detrimental to a trader.
* It’s good to have a broad understanding of how different market players are trading.
* It’s good to have the ability to select effective parts of these alternative approaches to bolster your own method.
* It’s good to recognize how markets shift over time and how therefore, some methods dwindle in their efficacy and some experience a greater degree of success than they previously did.
But if a KICS trader is not successful – and often will never be so (depending on their definition of success) – there’s a distinct danger that with each new thing, rather than it adding to their knowledge and experience it becomes the sole focus of their efforts.
The problem is also that not every trading system available has a true edge in the market.
Even then, overall, an actual trading edge is quite small.
When looking at an edge with your system, ask yourself why something should happen when what you have determined as a signal occurs.
A trader will have the best of intentions but will often times simply jump to another method (and they will have to prove that has an edge) and that takes time. During that time, the losses pile up as this trader tests/trades this system.
What happens next?
The last thing which was going to be the latest and greatest in their quest to succeed gets dropped in favor of what’s now surely going to be the winning formula.
Quest For Perfection From Fear Of FailureSo what is it that drives this sort of defining behavior in certain traders?
Why are many unable to just buckle down and work with what is right in front of them?
I believe it’s a manifestation of the fear of failure. Don’t get me wrong here, they believe to their very core that it’s possible to make it as a trader and to think otherwise would be a betrayal of reality as they know it to be.
But they haven’t found anything which they have been able to make successful.
As they use a system, they find imperfections that they didn’t initially see that makes it less appealing. The deep seated fear of failure means that any level of concern about an approach forces them to explore alternatives as failure is simply not an option.
* They want only the best.
* They believe that success is possible and the rush of excitement and optimism when they find a new technique masks their misgivings about their own ability to succeed.
* They don’t want to fail.
* They don’t want to face their own demons.
Because they’re looking for immediate results, they often skip over things like psychology and money management in favor of finding a trading solution which simply makes them money. But a system or indicator is just one part of long-term successful trading.
A trading system that has an edge is not the only key you need.
So whatever the strategy, unless an individual is willing to get their hands dirty with the less glamorous side of trading, they will likely never achieve consistent success.
And so to overcome the issues a KICS type trader experiences, it’s perhaps even more of an imperative than with other trader types that you have to change your trading mindset.
Take Your Trading Losses With GraceYou must first realize that by the very nature of trading, every trader will take regular losses as a matter of course. Often times you will have a string of losing trades.
Understanding that you have no way of being certain when those losses will come and therefore the importance of being true to the execution of a strategy and trade plan with a proven trading edge is essential to your success.
You must trust your trading system and therefore your trading edge to truly find the success you desire.
This is what trading day to day is about – not chopping and changing as you go along.
The trouble is that people don’t see this from successful traders. And why would they?
Most systems aren’t sold on the merits of how effectively they take their losses are they?
But in fact it’s these kinds of details that have the potential to determine the success of a system in the live markets.
Not only that, but some of the most important information that can change your level of performance is staring you right in the face.
Trading statistics about things such as success by time of day, trading errors and how a market moves subsequent to your exit can have a huge impact on the level of performance of a strategy.
The issue with statistics is that without a well-planned journal (which you do, right?) this data either becomes so time consuming to gather that a trader won’t want to tackle it or it is lost entirely.
Stick To One Trading EdgeSo if you are this sort of trader who can’t resist new and exciting systems and indicators and quickly move on to the next, maybe it’s time to step back and think how much effort you should really be putting into this part of trading.
There are many different traders who make money using differing methods and there are many different traders who lose money using differing methods.
And so by focusing on trading strategies and indicators alone, you’re missing out on other really important aspects that could make the difference to your performance.
Find a method and then work with it until you have enough information to understand whether it works or not in terms of really being an edge.
And if you still get all excited by investigating new ideas, by all means do so.
But instead of dropping your current method, figure out whether there’s anything that you can borrow from the new technique in order to support how you already trade.
