Chat With Trader Guides

1st EDITION
17 PRO TRADERS
THE ONE THING

I Wish Someone Would've Told Me...
CHATWITHTRADERS.COM 03
Anand ‘Lucci’ Sanghvi

Options tape reader • Head Trader & Founder of Sang Lucci
“Don’t focus on the money.”
There have been two points in my life where I’ve focused entirely too much
on the money, and that has tremendously impacted my bottom line and
ability to pull out profits consistently from the markets. Once when I was
just starting out I focused too much on paying my bills and making a certain
amount of cash flow every month when unfortunately, Mother Market
doesn’t care at all about that. Constantly focusing on my financial woes
led me towards making bad decisions in the market, and subsequently
worsening my situation and even extending my learning curve.
The second point was after I had made significant money within a short
period of time to the tune of about $2 million inside of a year. The desire
for material possessions, second & third businesses, expanding operations
and biting off more than you can chew becomes a driving force, and you
become greedy with profits, often electing to hold on to positions for bigger
gains because the profits aren’t enough. Again, Mother Market doesn’t care
and if she doesn’t give you the follow through, whatever profits you have will
evaporate regardless of the advancements you want to make in your life.
Being influenced by the money is an easy thing to succumb to simply

because you’re staring at your P&L all day, but in the end everything has
to do about the trade you’re in right now and making solid decisions. The
money will come.
sanglucci.com Listen to my interview with Lucci at

@sanglucci chatwithtraders.com/ep-008.
Assad Tannous
Head Trader & Founder of Asenna Wealth Solutions.
“Prevention is the first step when dealing with emotions

while trading, prevention is the best cure.”
Find a strategy that you become comfortable with, that suites your
personality and exerts the least amount of emotional capital. Even then,
most traders have exaggerated emotional swings throughout their trading
careers. The problem is most traders become so emotional they fail to
identify they have lost emotional control.
An exercise I used when starting out to combat loss of emotional control

is to set an alarm to trigger at certain intervals, with intervals being closer
together in periods of high market volatility. When the alarm is triggered
make a conscious effort to calm down and look at yourself in the third
person. I still do it to this day but without the alarm.
asenna.com.au
@asennawealth
Davey Newall
Independent UK trader • Trading Coach
“Work hard to develop your own trading strategy

including the psychology to execute it flawlessly and
consistently.”
Surely, if you could learn just one successful strategy from an established
trader everything would be breezy. Simply implement their strategy and
become profitable.
In reality though, it’s not that straightforward. Why?
Well, new traders sometimes lack appropriate psychological resilience for

the ensuing battle. Can anyone really have 100% confidence in a strategy
they didn’t personally develop or research? As soon that strategy goes
through a losing period, psychologically and emotionally it easily destroys
any new trader. At the same time the established trader who developed
the system continues trading it, safe in the knowledge that this losing run is
totally normal and expected.
The new trader throws in the towel just before the next string of profitable
trades materialise.
Avoid this pitfall by creating a trading strategy of your own! Research and
refine it yourself. This will give you total confidence to trade your system
through thick and thin.
privatetradingcoach.com
@davey_ptc
Fil Lorinc
Futures trader • Coder
“Slow down and be patient; plan the trade, then trade

the plan.”
This is obviously a loaded directive, which for a long time I misunderstood.

At the outset I had an unfounded fear that if I followed this advice I simply
wouldn’t take enough trades, which in my mind translated to insufficient
P/L to sustain my trading operation.
My predominant challenge seemed to be that I’m a real human being with

real liabilities, real time constraints, and real pressures. Of course those
self-imposed constraints are not determinants of profitable trading; my
focus was misdirected.
Stepping back and building from the core the mechanics of a successful
trade plan (integrating risk/reward, empirical probability, and capital/
risk management controls) brought the picture together for me. Using a
base set of analytics, I created for myself an essential roadmap for when
I do and when I do not want to trade; unsurprisingly, the proof was in the
numbers. I’ve never looked back.
facebook.com/futurestradingfil
@fil_lorinc
Ilan Azbel
Algorithmic trader • Founder of Autochartist & Seer Trading Systems
“Throw out all existing arithmetic technical analysis tools

such as Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, RSI, Stochastic,
etc. They are useless.”
I have spent hundreds (and possibly thousands) of hours trying to

create systems using commonly used technical indicators, until I finally
realized that because they are parametric one can get the answer you are
looking for by simply changing the period of analysis. This makes them
meaningless for building systems that are sustainable over the long term.
Only use these technical indicators during the education phase of your
trading career; they can teach you about marketing dynamics and provide
you a basis for creating new and innovative ways of looking at market
movements.
Once you have some interesting ideas, learn R, then use more
sophisticated non-lagging smoothing algorithms like kernal regressions.
autochartist.com Listen to my interview with Ilan at

@ilanazbel chatwithtraders.com/ep-014.
Jason Leavitt
Swing trader • Founder of Leavitt Brothers
“Slow and steady wins the race.”
As an aspiring trader, I figured slow and steady is what large funds

endeavor to do. Low risk, steady moves, collect dividends, beat the market
by a small amount.
Active trading? We’re looking for 10% gains each month, not each year.
Because of this I passed on a lot of perfectly good set ups that didn’t offer
me “enough” upside potential. In fact there were times I sat in cash waiting
for great opportunities instead of taking the good opportunities offered.
This was a mistake.
Not only do little wins add up, they enable traders to develop a better
intuitive feel for the market and therefore better prepare them to act when
a great opportunity presents itself.
I wish someone would have told me to slow down and not set my sights so
high, that simply making a couple percent each month adds up over time.
leavittbrothers.com Listen to my interview with Jason at

@jasonleavitt chatwithtraders.com/ep-017.
Joel Kruger
Forex trader • Former currency strategist • Founder of JKonFX
“No such thing as ‘The Big Trade.’ ”
Why is it that when most people talk about what could’ve been, they focus
on what could’ve been great? I mean, how unhealthy is that? We only go
through life one time, and I would say, it’s far more important to be grateful
for what you have and spend more time appreciating what could’ve gone
wrong!
As young, aspiring traders, we tend to get caught up in this and often shoot
ourselves in the foot wondering what could’ve been if we just held on a
little longer. Instead, we should take more time understanding that it is
more important to recognize success in each small trade we take, while at
the same time appreciating how much worse a position could have been
had we not taken a small loss on a trade. Young traders have a tendency
to get sucked into the illusion of the big trade that will make their career,
and as they chase this illusion, they pull themselves further away from the
reality of what it takes to be a truly successful trader.
If it was only about one big trade, this would be nothing more than an
exercise in gambling. Sure you could hit that big trade, but what then?
How much does that really tell you about your capability to trade for the
long-term and make a career out of this? There is no such thing as ‘The Big
Trade,’ there is only the ‘Big Trader.’ The ‘Big Trader’ is the guy who wakes
up each day and over time, continues to turn out profitable results. It may
not sound all that glamorous, but I promise, it’s definitely effective.
jkonfx.com Listen to my interview with Joel at

@joelkruger chatwithtraders.com/ep-015.
John Welsh
Independent biotech trader
“Learning how to manage risk will make you the big bucks.”
When I tell people what I do for work, I don’t tell them I am a day trader. It’s
frowned upon. I tell them I am a risk manager. That’s what I have become.
I’m trading calculated risks when I see an opportunity. I don’t gamble, I look
for an edge that gives me the advantage over another trader. If I am wrong
on that perceived edge, I let the market tell me what to do and I take my loss
quicker than anyone else.
This is called managing risk, because no one is perfect in trading.
johnwelshtrades.net Listen to my interview with John at

@johnwelshtrades chatwithtraders.com/ep-018.
Lance Beggs
Full-time futures trader • Part-time trading educator
“The path to success is not one of finding the right system,

setup or indicator, but rather one of skill development.”
Often we’re told, “You just need to trade your system with discipline”. It
sounds logical, but it’s a false path, leading only to frustration as we get
stuck in the never-ending search for our Holy Grail trading system.
The reality is that a system cannot adapt to the uncertainty and variability
that exists in market conditions and environments.
The right path is one in which your edge comes not from your system,
but from your own skill and expertise. Develop skill in real-time analysis
of current market conditions. Develop skill in adapting tactics to suit the
current market conditions.
Immerse yourself in the charts. Study market structure – the support &
resistance structure, the trend structure. Study the way price moves within
that structure. And learn to ADAPT and exploit opportunity as it unfolds at
the right hand edge of the chart.
It’s not easy. But you can do it!
yourtradingcoach.com Listen to my interview with Lance at

@lancebeggs chatwithtraders.com/ep-013.
Recommended: Lance’s Price Action Trader course is an extensive resource

created to help you develop your trading skill – huge value. Learn more.
Matthew Owens
Stock, options and futures trader • Profit.ly Guru
“Stock trading is not a sprint, it’s an endless marathon

of learning.”
This statement is especially meaningful to me, as I find with many traders

they often get in the game thinking that there success will be almost
instantaneous. However, this is the antithesis of what the truth is.
Whether you are learning to be an investor, swing trader, or day trader,

slow down and take your time to learn. Do not rush into the market
expecting immediate results. Take the time to learn and trade, and
understand that you will be in a constant state of learning.
Be receptive to new information and understand that you must be flexible

enough to roll with the punches, but strong enough to survive the ever
shifting tide of the market.
triforcetrader.com Listen to my interview with Matthew

@triforcetrader at chatwithtraders.com/ep-007.
Recommended: To learn about the patterns and rules that helped Matthew
achieve almost a 600% return in ‘14, you can subscribe to his daily market
commentary and watchlists. Learn more.
Nick Radge
Head Trader & Founder of The Chartist • Author of Unholy Grails
“A single trade should never make you nor break you.”
The key trait for trading success is the long term application of a strategy
that has a positive edge. To find a strategy with a positive edge is quite
straightforward however, the application for any length of time and risk
management is where people come unstuck.
Most traders tend to have either limited psychological fortitude or

unrealistic expectations, both of which make it difficult to stick with a
perfectly good strategy for any length of time. At no time should a single
trade cause you to lose so much money that you have to stop trading.
A slow and steady long term application of a strategy with a positive edge
might not be sexy but it will allow you to stay in the market and earn some
extra income.
thechartist.com.au Listen to my interview with Nick at

@thechartist chatwithtraders.com/ep-004.
Peter Zhang
Partner at Sang Lucci • CEO of Flammarion Capital Partners
“Do not rely on trading money to eat.”
Overall, when starting off trading in the traditional sense (without salary), the
entire experience is very daunting and emotionally difficult to deal with as is.
Trading has always been analogous to competitive sports. In the end, what
separates you from scrub to average, average to expert, is simply how you
can manage your own psychology. With the weight of putting food on the
table, on top of performing in the markets, it can drag on your entire life.
Usually the worst scenario you can be in, is trading under additionally
stressful circumstances. Making logical decisions get thrown out of the
window, and then you’re in a bad trade. Once you’re in a bad trade, your
emotions take over, and it almost feels like life flashes across your eyes.
It’s important to stay calm and be able to make logical decisions when
trading, that should be the base layer of your emotional state. It should be
assumed that while trading, you’ll be in a heightened state of whirl-winding
emotions.
Otherwise, what ends up happening is a very bad feedback loop. Your

likelihood of blowing up your account skyrockets and your drive to trade
drops. The key is, you must anticipate far out, and you must be ready to take
a financial earnings hiatus to start trading solo. As always, a mentor can help
reduce that learning curve.
sanglucci.com Listen to my interview with Peter at

@pz_sl chatwithtraders.com/ep-009.
Steve Burns
Options trader • Author of New Trader, Rich Trader
“React to price action; don’t try to predict.”
The active pursuit of understanding price action and following its path of
least resistance should be every traders goal, rather than trying to predict
the markets or make great picks.
Profitability comes from identifying the long term trend and trading it
regardless of personal opinion. Learning to identify trading signals from
historic chart patterns using technical indicators is the simplest path to
trading success and profitability.
newtraderu.com Listen to my interview with Steve at

@sjosephburns chatwithtraders.com/ep-005.
Tim Biggam
Options trader for 30+ years • Partner at RB Trader
“It is psychologically demanding to be a trader.”
To be a great trader, you have to accept that you will be wrong... a LOT!
There will be long periods of drawdowns that will test your resolve, and will
to continue.
But like any great endeavor, the tenacity to overcome adversity and
persevere, while adhering to your beliefs and trading plan, will ultimately
get you through the tough markets, and make you better able to position
to ascertain new heights.
rb-trader.com Listen to my interview with Tim at

@rb_trader chatwithtraders.com/ep-016.
Tim Walker
Independent swing trader • Author of How to Trade Like W D Gann
“The most important thing of all is to become a TRADER.”
Almost all the space in trading courses is devoted to how to analyse a

market or a chart. This is good but trading is a skill all on its own.
A trader is a person who buys and sells at a profit. It could be stocks and
commodities, used cars, antiques, real estate or anything imaginable. It
requires skills of instinct and timing and many other things.
An analyst almost never makes money; a trader will always make at least
some money. Someone who can do both has the keys to the kingdom.
timwalker.net Listen to my interview with Tim at

chatwithtraders.com/ep-006.
Wall St Jesus
Son of the Market Gods • Lord of Wiseguy Activity
“Learning how to lose in trading is just as important as

learning how to win.”
Understanding this has easily been the most important lesson in my

career. Once I came to the realization that, no matter how good I get at
trading, there will always be losing trades, that’s when I finally started to
see the light and things began to roll for me.
Admitting when you are wrong on a trade and being able to not only stop
yourself out, but also not look back is critical in this game. Without being
able to do this you will NEVER be able to succeed in this game long term. I
see it everyday: traders getting knocked out just because they never learn
to master this one critical aspect of trading. Trading is rather simple to me
now, WINNERS > LOSERS. Nothing else matters.
It’s not about trying to be right all of the time or feeling/sounding

intelligent. As a matter of fact, there is no way I’d be able to use my current
trading strategy earlier in my career because I avoided taking small losses.
Once you learn how to lose, trading gets a hell of a lot easier.
optionjesus.com
@wallstjesus
Zach Hurwitz
Equities trader • Trading coach • Systems developer • VWAP specialist
“Dissociate yourself from the identity — the image, the

persona — of being a trader.”
Instead, I should focus on developing technical skills more so than proving

to everyone — to myself, my family, girlfriend, or colleagues — that I
would one day become something impressive. All too often, developing
traders want the badge of honor that comes with making a living (or not) by
clicking a mouse. They want others to view them as intellectually superior
to salaried professionals, revering them as cowboys/risk-takers, as brave
radicals amidst a world of otherwise predictable careers.
That’s just bullshit — fluff that developing traders feed themselves to ease
the pain of not having an edge.
Coincidentally, that’s also the one common experience across all of us: the
feeling of what it’s like to be a beginner (and therefore, a terrible trader).
I’d rather be a bad trader who is honest about my skill level than a good
trader far too confident in my abilities — the former can grow to become
talented and self-aware, whereas the latter is essentially guaranteed to
meet an eventual risk explosion.
sanglucci.com/zach Listen to my interview with Zach at

@zachhurwitz chatwithtraders.com/ep-011.
2 ND EDITION
23 PRO TRADERS
THE ONE THING

I Wish Someone Would've Told Me...
Contents
BUSINESS
Tim Grittani pg 05
Michele Koenig pg 07
Bryan Wiener pg 09
PROCESS
Dan Shapiro pg 12
Jeff Davis pg 13
Bryce Edwards pg 14
Ari Pine pg 15
STRATEGY
Paul Singh pg 17
Craig Peters pg 19
Kevin Davey pg 21
Tom Basso pg 23
Nicola Duke pg 25
Luke Cummings pg 27
POSITION SIZING
Jack Litle pg 30
Jon Boorman pg 32
Trader Steve pg 34
PSYCHOLOGY
Chris Sayce pg 37
Stuart McPhee pg 39
Kam Dhadwar pg 41
Jesse (@PsychoOnWallSt) pg 43
PERSPECTIVE
Bert Mouler pg 46
FuturesTrader71 pg 48
John Carter pg 50
Tim Grittani
Day Trader • Equities
Trading is not easy; expect to fail before you can

succeed.”
Most people become traders looking to make a radical change to

their life. They’re fed up with their 9-5 job, low pay, and then they
stumble across a service promising riches and telling the stories
of successful subscribers who “made it”...
Who wouldn’t want in?
Unfortunately, many fail to understand the long road they

must travel before reaching success. I studied my ass off and
everything looked so easy in hindsight, but when I started
trading and my money was on the line, it was suddenly a whole
different ballgame.
Perhaps your story will be like mine, where you blow up your
account once early on before finding consistency—it took me 9
months of studying/trading before I did. Perhaps it will be like
others, where you experience some early success (or luck) before
eventually giving it all back. Whatever the case, expect glorious
failure.
I do not know a single millionaire trader who didn’t blow up

their account at least once before finally finding their niche and
learning to be consistent. You will likely be no exception.
So don’t start trading expecting instant earnings. You probably

won’t pay the bills with trading profits anytime soon. Definitely
don’t expect to get rich overnight and don’t trade far too large
when you’re in your learning period.
If I hadn’t traded small for my first six months, my blowup

would have been beyond recovery and I would not have had the
opportunity to later succeed. Go into trading with money you can
afford to lose, and let every loss be a lesson that helps you to
improve. If you fight through those early losses and keep them
manageable, the lessons you take away from them will set you up
for success down the road.

MORE ABOUT TIM GRITTANI
Interview: chatwithtraders.com/10
Website: tradetheticker.blogspot.com
Twitter: @kroyrunner89
Michele Koenig
Day & Swing Trader • Equities
Trading is a business and should be treated like one.”
Take the time to educate yourself about the basics...
What style of trading do you want to focus on—are you interested

in day trading or swing trading? What instruments are you
going to trade—stocks, options, futures? Do you understand
various order types, long/short, margin etc? Have you considered
whether you qualify for trader tax status?
These are the types of questions most traders starting out never
even consider. Most are in a hurry to start pushing buttons
without even considering some very basic questions which they
need to be able to answer.
Take the time to develop a plan...
What chart timeframes are you going to use—daily, intraday,

both? Are you going to use technical analysis or fundamentals?
What criteria are you going to use to determine your entries?

What risk will you set and how will you determine that? How will
you manage the trade while it’s active? How will you determine
when you exit?
Do you understand that losses are part of trading? How will you
handle drawdowns?
The emotional side of trading is the most difficult, and we’re

often our own worst enemies. There are always ups and downs
in trading, so having put some thought into the emotional side is
very important—most give little thought to this early on…
Many come to trading with a false view that it’s going to be easy,
but it’s very much the opposite. By spending some time to answer
these basic questions before you start trading will help you to be
better prepared, but also know that your plan will be a work in
progress as you develop as a trader.

MORE ABOUT MICHELE KOENIG
Website: tradeonthefly.com
Twitter: @offshorehunters
Bryan Wiener
Options Trader • Former-CME Market Maker
There will be extreme ebbs and flows in the options

market and you need to be able to deal with trading
droughts.”
Let me preface this by saying that I was recruited out of college to

become an options trader and had no trading inclination before
graduation...
As a young options floor trader, with a salary and time to learn

the market, I had the luxury of feeling out the industry. I came in
right after the internet bubble burst, in mid 2000. So there was a
decent amount of volatility, but it was kinda like the static that
you’d see on a TV which is leftover from the Big Bang.
After 9/11 happened the market volatility returned, but then the
drought happened between 2002-2005. During this time I still
had a salary and a bonus, so I was sheltered from what it would
be like when I finally went on my own—outside of the pit and
onto the electronic market, where I had no friendly advantage
for paper on the floor.
Soon after I began at Trading Machines, working under Haim

Bodek; I had a great salary and a great bonus for a few years. But
still I was sheltered from what it would be like in the future...
And that was delayed even further after I left Trading Machines,
as I found a great niche trading AAPL wings, making six-figures.
But post-AAPL split, I have been trying to find my new trade, and
it’s been a grind for over a year.
So what’s the takeaway?
In my professional opinion, don’t take a comfortable salary for

granted. Don’t go into trading full-time, giving up said salary,
unless you have a plan that you are so confident about that it’s
not even a question of whether or not you should do it.
I hear so many people say they want to quit their job to become a
full-time trader, even doctors and lawyers. Well, that might just
be boredom speaking for you... Consider this before you take the
plunge, because the water isn’t always warm.

MORE ABOUT BRYAN WIENER
Website: sanglucci.com
Twitter: @dirtyautomatik
Dan Shapiro
Day Trader • Former-Prop Trader
I wish someone had told me how important it is to be

perfect.”
We hear the expression all the time “no one is perfect”. Sure,
we’re all human beings who have many faults displayed daily.
However trading is its own animal.
None of us growing up wanted to be traders, heck most of us didn’t

even have a clue what trading was. Since there’s no blueprint to
success, when you open your first brokerage account, you have
to figure out things the hard way—through trial and error.
For the 10% of traders out there, the lucky profitable ones; value
and process is all we have to keep us from the other 90%. Our
rules are our lifeline. If we deviate from those rules, we die. In
trading we don’t have a luxury of a mulligan. You either trade
with a process or you die without one.

MORE ABOUT DAN SHAPIRO
Interviews: chatwithtraders.com/32, chatwithtraders.com/66

Website: accessatrader.com
Twitter: @danshep55
Jeff Davis
Algorithmic Trader • S&P Futures Specialist
There is no magic pattern, indicator or line on a

chart— the magic is only in your process.”
Until a trader understands this they will waste a lot of time and
energy. Charts, order flow software, and technical analysis are
just tools. The idea that some tool will lead to success or somehow
lead to consistent profitability is being sold to you from many
sources and is hard for aspiring traders to resist.
Realize that these are just tools used in the craft and how and
when you use them is what’s important. Spend more time on how
you will manage the trade once you are in one. Spend time on
what emotions will trigger and managing them.
This is your process. The magic comes in the actions you take.

MORE ABOUT JEFF DAVIS
Interviews: chatwithtraders.com/70
Website: medium.com/@shaq48_trading
Twitter: @shaq48_trading
Bryce Edwards
Day Trader • ASX Equities
Trading is just a series of processes. Develop, analyze,

refine and apply your processes.”
Most traders already have a process for scanning the market,

but they should also think about developing processes for all
elements of trading; for risk management, for scaling in/out of
positions, for regulating their emotions when they’re on tilt etc.
Particularly for short-term discretionary traders, the process

approach brings structure to their trading operations and helps
to somewhat suppress the rogue emotional human element.
By developing a series of processes and operating purely on their

application, you have the ability to create good habit patterns
whereby your natural reaction to unforeseen circumstances
will be to follow your process and do the right thing. Consistent
profitability can only come about by consistently applying a
series of processes.

MORE ABOUT BRYCE EDWARDS
Website: -
Twitter: -
Ari Pine
Head of TradeCo Global • Quantitiative Trader
Focus on process.”
At first I thought I would write about a very particular detail that

would have helped me most at my start (and for far longer than
that); not every trade needs to be a winner. In fact, if all of your
trades are winners then you are not taking appropriate risk.
But after thinking about it, it seemed to me that this fits into the
larger framework of process driven trading (this is a hat tip to
the successful Morgan Stanley group led by Peter Muller). The
process comes with an estimate of how many times you should
expect to be wrong. Wrong is actually the wrong word. Winners
and losers both make up trading; they are neither wrong nor
right.
Which leads to thinking about psychology and that need to

always have a winner. There is much talk about psychology in
trading; you won’t hear it from me. Either you have an exploitable
edge or you do not. If you understand your edge and you have a
reasonable idea of how to tell if it is degrading, then there is no
need for psychology. A preoccupation with psychology indicates
a lack of confidence in the process—that need to make money on
every trade. Get comfortable with uncertainty as this is useful in
all parts of your life. Even if your trading is not automated, you
should still know what your set ups and exits are. Again, this
ends up being something of a re-write of “plan the trade, then
trade the plan.” Yet you have to have a good idea of what your
edge is and where it is coming from.
In the end, if there is a “one thing” then that one thing is to focus
on process. Find an exploitable edge. Understand that not every
trade will be a winner but all trades are part of the whole. Then,
go out in the markets and beat that edge to death.

MORE ABOUT ARI PINE
Website: tradingtechnologies.com
Twitter: @std_dev
Paul Singh
Day & Swing Trader • Equities
Focus less on stock picking and setups—focus more

on managing the trade once the stock is picked.”
We are professional traders, not stock pickers. Picking stocks and

understanding setups is the easy part. Most traders have been
successful in other walks of life and mastered many complex
ideas. Understanding a setup is simpler than understanding the
tax code, the nervous system, or engineering ratios.
However, setups are not what makes a good trader. Once in

a trade, you need to know how to profit from it. This is more
complex as it brings into play; the mental game, our human
frailties, market understanding, risk tolerances, and ability to
adapt. This is what separates winning and losing traders.
As an example; I’m working with two students who both traded

GOOGL through a market sell-off (as did I). The Sunday before
the sell-off, we talked about how to handle a possible over
reaction, panic selloff and bounce. Our mental stops were hit,
but I explained very clearly how to deal with the gap down. If the
opening gap down level held, we would hold onto our stop. If the
morning level broke, we get out...
Trader A panicked and sold at the open for a 50 point loss. He

explained how relieved he was to be out of the position, despite
the big loss. He did not manage his emotions, which lead to
poor decision making. Trader B understood the market, his own
psychology, adapted his plan, and as of this writing is up 30
points on the position.
Two traders. Same stock. Same setup. Different trade

management. Very different results.
To become a winning trader, spend more time learning ‘how’ to

trade, not ‘what’ to trade.

MORE ABOUT PAUL SINGH
Website: themarketspeculator.blogspot.com.au
Twitter: @pauljsingh
Craig Peters
Algorithmic Trader • Equities
Focus on what actually works, don’t spend time on

grand theories.”
If, like me, you have a strongly analytical mind, we have the
tendency to over complicate things in the pursuit of ideas and
theories to more accurately capture market behaviour.
I have personally wasted at least a couple of years in total, in

such pursuits, only to realise that much simpler techniques yield
the same trading performance. For example; when setting profit
targets, I now use a simple percentage target most of the time.
While it would be an oversimplification to say that the pursuit

of some sophisticated ideas wouldn’t be fruitful, close scrutiny
of such ideas during backtesting, should be done as early as
possible. This will prevent you from wasting too much time, and
investing too much emotional capital in bad trading ideas.
One more thing that’s been key in my development over the past
ten years is; thinking about whole portfolio risk, not just risk per
trade.
I’ve had the message of only risking 0.5%-2% per trade drummed
into me so many times that it’s has never been a problem for me,
thankfully. As much as this rule is one of the most important

rules to follow, I’ve been severely burned by overtrading and
taking too much risk in my portfolio as a whole...
Today’s markets seem to have much more correlation across

international boundaries than in the past. Therefore three trades
in seemingly unrelated stocks, can end up being affected in the
same way by the same piece of economic news/event. So I limit
the number of trades I have on at any one time to a total of six, or
up to twelve if I keep very tight risk management stops in place.

MORE ABOUT CRAIG PETERS
Interview: -
Website: -
Twitter: -
Kevin Davey
Algorithmic Trader • World Cup of Futures Championship Winner
Having one trading strategy is not enough.”
Back when I first started creating algorithmic/mechanical

trading strategies, I constantly searched for the “perfect”
strategy. You know, the one strategy that would, by itself, make
me fabulously wealthy...
I spent a lot of time and effort looking for that strategy. Many
times, my historical backtest told me I had such a strategy, but
every time I started trading such a perfect strategy with real
money, I almost always lost.
It took me a long time to realize one of the secrets to successful

trading; you need to trade multiple strategies. There are
numerous reasons for this...
First, every strategy will likely eventually stop working. If you

only have one strategy, and it breaks, you are in trouble.
Second, when you have a bunch of strategies, the strategies can

be “good,” but do not have to be “great.” And good strategies are
easier to create than great strategies.
Third, markets change over time, and having multiple strategies

lets you participate in whatever the day’s hot market is. With
multiple strategies, you’ll have your fingers in every market

opportunity.
But the biggest reason why you should create and trade multiple
strategies is diversification. The concept of diversification is well
documented in financial literature, and it turns out not only to
be academically acceptable, it is great in the real world, too.
Simply create strategies for different markets, with different

timeframes and different strategy themes (trend, mean reversion,
etc) and you’ll have a diversified portfolio. Trading such a
portfolio really helps control the drawdown, while still allowing
profits to accumulate. It is the best of both worlds, and I wish
someone had told me about it years ago!

MORE ABOUT KEVIN DAVEY
Website: kjtradingsystems.com
Twitter: @kjtrading
Tom Basso
Trend Follower • Market Wizard
Risk, volatility and money management are far more

important to success than how to buy and sell.”
I started out in trading looking at all sorts of trading strategies

and this was before personal computers, so I had lots of tedious
work. When I finally got to a place where I could make it work,
I spent the next 20 years learning how to improve that strategy
with various ways of controlling risk, controlling volatility,
diversification theories, hedging techniques and margin control.
Only then did I have something I felt was truly robust.
Why is this important?
The general area of money management, which includes

diversification, market selection, risk and volatility control, and
hedging, smoothes the performance. In other words, making
that performance more robust in varying conditions, helping
the psychology of the trader to allow him/her to hang in there
during tough markets. Without these in place, it’s going to be a
wild ride and most can’t take the heat.

MORE ABOUT TOM BASSO
Nicola Duke
Swing Trader • Futures & Forex
Exits are as important as entries.”
When people first start learning to trade they’re on an endless

search for setups and usually the big “swing for the fences”
trade. But how you take profit in a trade and get out when you’re
wrong, is just as important as how you enter—it can make the
difference between whether or not you’re profitable.
When I first started I had a strategy with an edge, I was really good
at seeing and executing the trades, but really bad at managing
them so I wasn’t profitable. Nothing is more destroying than
having a winner come all the way back to a scratch or a loser.
Having a fixed method for taking profit that is as robust as the

one you have for selecting trades means that exits are automatic
and so much easier. For some, that means taking partial profits
at fixed signals, and for others that means all in or all out. I
personally like to take partial profits and try to run the rest. This
was my turning point to becoming a profitable trader.

MORE ABOUT NICOLA DUKE
Website: -
Twitter: @nictrades
Luke Cummings
Hedge Fund Manager
Trading without an ‘edge’ is otherwise known as

gambling.”
Having an edge and understanding not only what it is, but

also why it works is non-negotiable, if you plan on becoming a
successful trader.
An edge is essentially a technique or approach that will give

you a higher probability of being profitable than not. It need not
be elaborate or complicated—it’s something that gives you an
advantage against the market.
But more important than what your edge is, is actually

understanding why it works, i.e. what exactly are you doing
that gives you an advantage? If you don’t know, then you’re
in trouble. Because markets are dynamic and you need to be
prepared to adjust your approach accordingly. If you don’t know
why your approach works, then it’s going to be difficult to make
adjustments as circumstances demand it.
Additionally, an edge needs to be repeatable. If you’re edge can’t

be consistently exploited then your career as a trader is going to
be short lived.
The ability to identify and continually exploit an edge is what

separates a professional trader from a novice. In the absence of a
known edge, profitable trades are nothing more than the result
of temporary good fortune.

MORE ABOUT LUKE CUMMINGS
Website: longandshortofit.com.au
Twitter: @lukecummings81
Jack Litle
Global Macro Trader • High-Stakes Poker Player
Focus on the how, when, and why of making big bets.”
Learn how to size your big bets properly and learn how to trade
cautiously and conservatively when big bets aren’t appropriate
(which is most of the time).
Virtually every single superstar trader or investor you’ve heard

of grew rich from big bets. What do George Soros, Stanley
Druckenmiller, Warren Buffett, Paul Tudor Jones, Bruce Kovner,
Carl Icahn, T. Boone Pickens, and Jesse Livermore have in
common? They all knew and practiced the art of the big bet.
The big bet is multi-disciplinary. Silicon Valley legends like Bill

Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Sergey Brin
were masters of the big bet—in respect to betting big on their
best ideas.
If you see a guy walking down the street with a supermodel-

caliber girlfriend on his arm, guess what? He had to approach
her at some point, which meant betting big on his own self-
confidence.
Winners know how to bet big.
The big bet principle is woven into the fabric of the universe
because of the way opportunity is distributed. Opportunity

distribution is not smooth or frequent—it is lumpy and rare. It
tends toward outliers and fat tails. Opportunity maximization
thus favors a simple formula: Stay cautious and conservative
most of the time—and then, when true opportunity presents
itself, be incredibly aggressive.
There are two pieces of conventional trading wisdom which

are completely wrong. The first is, “take care of the losses and
the profits will take care of themselves.” Baloney. If you fail to
aggressively maximize your best opportunities, you won’t rise
above the churn. The second wrong piece of advice is, “never
bet the farm.” Instead it should read, “bet the farm on rare
occasions—and always have a farm in reserve.”
The art of the big bet is rarely discussed. It is one of the hardest
trading lessons to master. But doesn’t this make sense? There’s a
reason why only a small percentage of traders get rich.

MORE ABOUT JACK LITLE
Website: mercenarytrader.com
Twitter: @mercenaryjack
Jon Boorman
Trend Follower • Chartered Market Technician
The one thing I wish someone would’ve told me before

I started trading is the importance of position sizing.”
I could easily say something about the need to be patient and

disciplined, as those are important, but the truth is people did
tell me all those things, and when you’re young you don’t listen.
Traders are only human and need to make their own mistakes for
behavioural lessons to hit home and to develop mental fortitude.
But had I have known the role position sizing plays and truly
understood just how significantly it can impact your trading,
I feel I could’ve reached the current path in my journey much
quicker.
I’ve traded for many portfolio managers over the years and I don’t
believe any of them size positions in their portfolios to account
for a stocks volatility or for when they are wrong on an idea.
Their mandate was more about weighting their exposure in a
portfolio relative to a sector or an index.
Even as a prop trader years later, having never been taught the
concept, I still wasn’t position sizing in the way I do now...
It was only after I went through a long period of losses and

introspection that I broke everything down to its component
parts, having been inspired by the work of Van Tharp on the

subject, and I came to recognize the basic building blocks of any
positive expectancy trading system.
Exits relative to entry determine whether a trade results in a

profit or loss, but position size determines by how much. For
that reason, position sizing is a major variable in any system—
when used correctly it can help you manage risk effectively and
succeed in achieving your objectives.

MORE ABOUT JON BOORMAN
Website: jonboorman.com
Twitter: @jboorman
Trader Steve
Trend Follower • Trading Coach
Spend time to understand the basic maths behind

winning.”
A big “ah-ha!” moment for me was getting a grip on the concept

of expectancy, and understanding how the basic mathematics of
small losses countered by the occasional big winners, combined
with a reasonable win rate, could work.
I found out that successful trend followers could win over a long
period of time, while at the same time they were losing on most
of their trades—how good is that?
A lot of people cannot grasp or accept this. They have a belief

that, to win, they have to win more times than they lose. There is
also a need in a lot of traders that they need to be proven right
on a trade or an investment—they refuse to cut their losses
when things go against them. Trend following and the concept
of expectancy, proved this was not the case. Certainly when I
started trading I fell into this trap, along with having weak risk
control.
This realisation came around the same time as determining to

risk only a small portion of my trading capital on each trade, so
there was a seismic shift not only in my performance, but also on
controlling my emotions. Once I “got it”, accepting losing trades,

or even a run of losses, became a whole lot easier—knowing that
over the long haul the basic mathematical logic held up. Then
it was solely down to me to remain disciplined and committed
through the bad times and the good.

MORE ABOUT TRADER STEVE
Interview: -
Website: thetrendfollower.com
Twitter: @uktrendfollower
Chris Sayce
Trend Follower • Equities
Make use of two trading accounts.”
I once read a blog by a successful investor who had a ‘crazy punt

fund’ in this he used to make all the bets he wanted to make that
were not part of his strategy. The idea is actually rather sound
from a psychological point of view...
In Market Wizards’ Jack Schwager asks Ed Seykota if when he

interferes with his system, does it affect his bottom line. His
answer was that he needs to interfere occasionally, as it is a side
of his personality that if not allowed to express itself could come
out in more damaging ways.
Put another way, let’s say you have a winning system but you’ve
lost patience with it. Well you can address the patience issue at
a later date, but the fact you know the system is a winning one
means you should probably continue trading it.
You could do so by opening a second brokerage account; use one

to trade your plan with complete discipline, and use the other
one to experiment. Of course, it goes without saying that you
must still apply appropriate risk control to the ‘crazy punt fund’!
My experience from when I first started trading, was I found

a system that I was okay with—it made money and suited me.
However I got bored, changed things around, applied new ideas

etc. After 18 months of tinkering I went back to my initial system
and looked at the trades I’d made. It was clear, if I had of stayed
with my initial strategy I would of made a lot more money...
Now the positive in this situation is that I gained a lot of necessary

experience which I use everyday. But if I had of applied my
rule of two trading accounts, I would of walked away with the
experience and a lot more money!

MORE ABOUT CHRIS SAYCE
Website: -
Twitter: @chrissayce
Stuart McPhee
Forex Trader • Author of Trading in a Nutshell
Most of the actions required to trade successfully are

counter-intuitive.”
Many decisions and actions that are required of us are counter-

intuitive. Let me give you some examples...
As we are trading to make money, it is intuitive to think about

and focus on making money. It is counter-intuitive to focus on
protecting the money that we have.
If we open a trade and it moves into a losing position, it is

intuitive to hold on to that trade in the hope that it will soon
return to break-even and we can close the trade with minimal
loss. It is counter-intuitive to close that losing trade at a loss as
it denies us the opportunity of at least breaking even and getting
our money back.
If we open a trade and it moves into a profitable position, it is

intuitive to close that trade to realise the profit and keep the
money or, at the very least, move our stop close to the price. It is
counter-intuitive to hold off from closing the trade, providing it
the opportunity to continue moving higher.
If we experience a losing streak of several losing trades in a row,

resulting in a decrease in our trading capital, it is intuitive to

commit more money into the next few trades in order to win our
money back sooner. It is counter-intuitive to scale back the size
of our trades in order to manage our risk and protect our capital.
Finally, when we first start trading, it is intuitive to think that

our decision to enter a trade, being the first decision we make, is
the most important and will ultimately affect whether our trade
is a winner or loser. It is counter-intuitive to think that other
things like the size of our trade and where our exit is are more
important.

MORE ABOUT STUART MCPHEE
Website: stuartmcphee.com
Twitter: @stuartmcphee
Kam Dhadwar
Futures Trader • NLP (Neuro Linguistic Practitioner)
Specifically, how could you become a more disciplined

and a more patient trader?”
Without having a specific set of techniques to build discipline

and patience you only ‘know’ these are important traits, which is
simply not enough. It’s like knowing that you need to lose weight,
but if you don’t know ‘how’ you are lost dreaming about it.
When trading without these traits you’ll constantly be reminded

(by the market) that this is something you need to improve on.
All traders learn to know; any trading strategy without the
discipline to follow it and the patience to wait for the right
trades is pretty much useless. Which results in mindless trading,
frustration and self-doubt—because you cannot trust yourself to
do the right thing.
The only way you’ll become the trader you aspire to be, is
purely through dedication and commitment to becoming a
more disciplined and a more patient human being (not just as
a trader). This will mean being motivated through a thorough
understanding of:
• Why are you in this business in the first place?

• Why do you need this discipline?
• What will happen if you don’t obtain it?
Think about the situation you’ll find yourself in if you don’t

commit right now to becoming a more disciplined human being,
then commit to a lifestyle full of discipline—consider how you
eat, sleep, live, and trade.
Learn the importance of mindfulness and self-awareness in

everything that you do. When you get this and you practice it,
you cannot help but become a more disciplined trader, as it’s
now in your blood and in the core of who you are.

MORE ABOUT KAM DHADWAR
Website: thetradingframework.com
Twitter: @l2st
Jesse (@PsychoOnWallSt)
Day/Swing Trader • Equities
Take it slow. Start small. Crawl before you ball.”
Many new traders want to go big right away, skipping the most
vital part of what they need to learn for how to become a career
trader...
The most important rules you need, to graduate from being

a greenhorn to being green in the bank, are developed in the
beginning—the other 1% come later when you eventually learn
how to trade with size.
The initial 99% consists of learning how to manage your emotional

game. Technical analysis, scanning, execution, scaling in/out,
price & volume—those aspects of trading are the easiest to learn.
Mastering your emotions takes time. A lot of time.
Also, too many new traders want to go full-time immediately. The

problem with this is, even if you have a tremendous amount of
success starting out, if you aren’t emotionally prepared for your
sole source of income to derive from a completely unpredictable
source, you’re gonna bury yourself trying to comeback from a
big loss or a losing streak.
Embrace the process, take pride in the journey, and put your dick
back in your pants because the only person you’re competing

against is yourself.
The tortoise will always beat the hare.

MORE ABOUT JESSE
Website: psychoonwallstreet.wordpress.com
Twitter: @psychoonwallst
Bert Mouler
Algorithmic Trader • Machine Learning
Look at what everyone else is doing—read books,

articles, forum posts—then do things differently.”
From trading the markets myself and being lucky enough to know
some very proficient traders, I’ve come to realize that they have
one thing in common; boundless creativity. There are literally
millions of ways to make money in the market. However, to be
truly great, you have to step outside the box.
I’m a systematic trader, therefore I’m much more comfortable

risking capital on a trade when I have a large sample size (e.g.
1,000+) of trades that have been successful X% of the time with
an expected payoff of Y. I keep to a set of very simple principles.
I use machine learning to discover novel algorithms and trade
as many markets as possible—remember; diversification is the
only free lunch.
Always be mindful of your biases, both as a human and as a trader,

and spend the least amount of time in the markets as possible.
If you’re not there for the six sigma events, you are much more
likely to survive in the long term. Know the maximum potential
profit a market can provide and strive to capture 1% of that.
Make sure to evaluate the signal content of your predictors—do

you really think you’re going to outperform using the same tools
that everyone else uses? And keep your trade to parameter ratio
(# out-of-sample trades / # free variables) high.
Finally, as always, utilize proper money management. A “tiny”

edge utilized over and over and over will result in “huge” long-
term profits. You don’t need to be right all the time—you don’t
even need to be right half the time.

MORE ABOUT BERT MOULER
Website: profluentcapital.com
Twitter: @bmouler
FuturesTrader71
Futures Trader • Former-Prop Firm Owner
Your education so far is designed around conformity

and predictability. Trading is about probability,
constant change and modifying yourself to fit the
market.”
In 15 years of trading and training prop traders, I have learned

that the greatest part of the struggle to being a consistent trader
is modifying who you are as a person.
Everyone has been taught that if you do one thing, you should
expect a predictable outcome. Trading doesn’t work this way.
Trading is about probability and stacking the odds while
minimizing risk. Trading is about being deliberate about the
time you spend in front of the market. Time is unrecoverable
once it passes—don’t throw it away.
The best chance you have of making it is to understand that you

have to make it your own approach. Do this as a business owner.
You have to modify yourself to fit what the market says it wants
to do. You have to respect risk like an alligator handler respects
the primal response of an alligator—so never take your eye off of
risk. Look inwards. The inability to look inwards and be aware of
your relationship with fear and with losing is the reason traders
make money in theory but not in real life.
Want to do this for real?
Then understand why price moves and focus on the auction.

Understand how you respond to fear. Learn to calm your mind
through meditation. Define what a trade is worth to you. Take
the trade and let the market tell you if it agrees with your current
bias.

MORE ABOUT FUTURESTRADER71
Website: futurestrader71.com
Twitter: @futurestrader71
John Carter
Options Trader • Author of Mastering the Trade
A true trading journey involves unlearning most of

what you were taught in the first few years of your
trading life.”
It’s not magic; it’s just math, news and price have very little in
common, and so on—these are oversold readings...
What happens in the past has very little to do with what will
happen in the future. The reality is that markets move in such a
way as to trick most of the people, most of the time.
Have you ever noticed how an “obvious top” is never obvious

until well after the fact? During the heat of the moment, the goal
is to suck people in short, and then rip their heads off. Or suck
people in long with a break to new highs, so the markets can be
taken down to shake out the weak hands.
Why is this? For a market to move, there has to be angst.

Complacency in a market means that both buyers and sellers are
happy with the current price. If they are both happy, then the
stock isn’t going to move, as no one is buying or selling. That just
doesn’t work in today’s markets, where probes for support and
resistance are the norm.
The markets’ job is, in essence, to get people on the wrong side
of the trade. Suck them in long, or suck them in short, and then
spit them out.
The key to navigating these waters is to sit back and realize,

anything can happen. And if anything can happen, this means
you don’t know what is going to happen next. And if you don’t
know what is going to happen next, then there is nothing to fear.
Set your risk parameters and stay on the path of least resistance.

MORE ABOUT JOHN CARTER
Website: simplertrading.com
Twitter: @johnfcarter
Jerry Robinson
Swing trader · Investor · Economist · Best-selling author · Founder of FTM Daily

What’s the reason why most traders never succeed?
@FTMdaily
No system. The majority of traders don’t have a system. They’re

attracted by the amount of money they can make, and the lifestyle
that trading affords.
Although I’ve got to admit, the lifestyle is very good when you
succeed as a trader – you have the ability to work from anywhere
in the world. I’ll tell you a personal story about one of the very
first traders I met, it left this lasting impression on me. In fact
this might be the most motivating thing that drove me to become
a trader…
I met this older guy (who was probably in his late sixties), he
had a yacht which he lived on for 5-6 months out of the year,
with his wife. He would trade during the first few hours each
morning and close his computer by midday – he was done. He
would trade companies like Walmart and IBM, and he would
make $1,000-$2,000 each day using options. Because he had a lot
of money, when IBM or Walmart moved 10¢20¢ he would make
a lot of money with very low risk. I saw what he was doing I was
like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, this is fantastic’. Because at the
time I was working a slob-job where I wasn’t happy and I’d think,
‘Man, I have to make my life something like this’.
With the Internet the way it is now, computers and everything

we have access to, you really can trade from almost anywhere.
You can do it from a yacht (out in the middle of the ocean), or

from home in your pyjamas. Trading is really sweet in that
respect. But often new traders see this and they caught up by it,
they forget that in order to get there they have to have a plan. So
“Many times, many times, people are excited by the dream and vision of what
people are life could be as a trader, but they don’t build the bridge and set
excited by the forth the hard work that’s required to get there.
dream and I went through a period where I lost money for an entire year. It
vision of what was the worst time in my trading career; I could not make money
life could be to save my life. I was incredibly frustrated and I almost threw
as a trader, in the towel. And I think back on this time – what if I had done
that?!
but they don’t
build the This is one of the things that I tell new traders; do not give up if
bridge and set you really want this. If you really want to succeed, if you really
forth the hard want to have that lifestyle that you have in your mind then you
work that’s cannot give up, you have to continue. When you lose money you
lick your wounds and keep going, but if you stop trading then it’s
required to get
over. Now I will say this, if you don’t have a system that’s not my
there.”
recommendation to you, because you’ll continue losing money.
JERRY ROBINSON
Here’s the thing you must remember, the guys on Wall Street are
smarter than you, me and everybody that we know put together.
Or if they aren’t smarter than us, they’re certainly more slippery
than we are (that’s a cultural way of saying it, trading is a dirty
game). They see guys like you and me coming a mile away. When
we type in an order for 100 shares of a particular stock, they know
exactly who we are, and they know how to shake us out and take
our money.
So that’s why it’s important for traders to have a system, not to

give up, and to understand that you can’t do this without gaining
some knowledge and experience.
Now there’s a lot of seminars and coaching programs out there,

many of them are thousands of dollars – I’ve never done any of
those yet I still succeeded. Instead, I read through many trading
books, looked at strategies used by other traders, and started
experimenting with some of them. This is how to find out what
works for you. Sit down, take the charts that you trade, print
them out and draw on them. Look at them and become intimately
familiar with the tools of your trade. But most of all, realize that
it’s going to take time.
Unfortunately there’s a lot of TV infomercials and websites out

there that make it sound like ‘anybody can make a million dollars
overnight by trading this one stock that you don’t know about,
but I do, so pay me and I’ll tell you’. No, it doesn’t work that way.
You have got to have a system of your own, if you want to do this
long term.
Aaron’s take:
• To survive and excel as a trader, you must have a set of rules

or parameters (a system) that you can stick to. Without this,
you’ll only ever be as great as your last guess.
• High priced trading education is not absolutely necessary.

What is necessary is a genuine drive to succeed and the
perseverance to push through times when you feel like
throwing in the towel. Behind every truly successful trader
are many years of hard work and grit.
Steve Burns
Options trader · Author of New Trader, Rich Trader · Founder of New Trader U

@SJosephBurns
Risk management is a universal principle amongst the traders

who have ‘made it’ over a long period of time. This goes to show
that if you cannot manage risk, and you put your entire account
at risk enough times, you will eventually blow up. As Victor
Niederhoffer found out, even though he was an amazing trader
who had some of the best returns ever, he blew up several times
due to poor risk management. So if it’s too costly for you to be
wrong once, then you will blow up at some point.
You also need strict discipline to follow a trading plan. Without the
discipline to follow your plan, it becomes worthless. Regardless
of how good you are as a trader, if you don’t have the discipline
to maintain correct position sizing, and continue taking entries
and exits as specified in your plan, you’re not going to make it.
Besides poor risk management and a lack of discipline, the other

reason why a majority of traders fail, is due to their inability to
react. Many trading legends were successful because they had
the ability to react to what was happening (going all the way
back to Jesse Livermore, and Nicholas Darvas). Where as some
traders focus on predicting (instead of reacting) and believe they
cannot be wrong, which means they’re also likely to blow up.
There’s also perseverance. If somebody decides they’re going to

be a winning trader and they’re not going to stop until they are,
then generally only time separates them from success.
Aaron’s take:
• Without a sound understanding of how to manage risk, you

will eventually run your account into the ground. No one
trade (or series of trades) should have the potential to take
you out of the game. Trade positions relevant to your account
size.
• When you lack the discipline to follow your trading plan,

stop - you’re moving into dangerous territory. Get to the root
of the problem and figure out what’s gone wrong before you
continue. If this means sitting on the sideline for a few weeks
or a few months, that’s fine. The market will still be there
when you’re ready.
Peter Zhang
Major in Quant Finance · Partner at Sang Lucci · CEO of Flammarion Capital Partners

@PZ_SL
Unfortunately, many aspiring traders are looking to get rich

quick... They’re either looking for fish*, or looking for services
that give them picks, and many times, they get addicted to a
couple good trades even though they’re losing money over time.
I’ve seen these traders go down the spiral of, ‘I just need a better
* Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
service provider’. Instead of owning up to the fact that they don’t

know how to trade, they continue following everybody’s picks.
They’re stuck on a vicious cycle (like a gambling addict), where
they just continue to find more and more service providers, they
continue to dump money into them, and they cannot come to grips
with the fact they don’t know how to trade. They never even get
to the point where they can adjust their own psychology, because
they’re not even really trading – they are just piggy backing on
others. I feel like that’s a large majority, unfortunately.
Then there are those who are really trying to trade; they may
open a prop account, seek out a good education, and they learn
some of the best practices. But a lot of times, the difficulty for
these traders is they may not be losing money, they’re just
scratch (floating around breakeven). Which may indicate they’d
be better off as a maker in the market versus a taker – meaning
they don’t cross the spread, and that’ll actually turn them onto
profitable trading.
Another issue for traders in this category is, they don’t learn real
stomach tolerance. So they always get stuck ordering position
lots of 200/500/1,000 shares. They haven’t come to terms with the
reason why they’re making mistakes, is because they don’t have
the right stomach tolerance. They can’t think in terms of, ‘If I
buy 1,000 shares at this breakout right now, I can make a couple
hundred dollars or breakeven. So maybe I should just buy 2,000
shares, because that’s how I’m going to make greater amounts of
money’.
Therefore, as a hand trader they’re not what we call ‘linearly

scalable’, because their emotional tolerance and stomach
tolerance doesn’t scale this way. They need to learn the art of
working an order into a trade, and letting trades breathe a little

more - these are more professional hand trader ways of looking
at the market. Although it’s tougher to quantify, this is often an
area where they can scale up their trading to go from breakeven
to profitable. It will require them to learn a little more, as well
as learning more about themselves. It’s just unfortunate a lot of
traders are not in the camp of learning how to fish, and they
don’t look in the right areas.
So most of the time, the deeper problem is right there within

themselves and their inability to project properly onto the
markets. They’re not able to look back and say, “I did not have
a good morning, and therefore I’m going to make sure I trade
“It’s really hard 50% less than I usually trade this afternoon”. It’s really hard for
for traders traders to come to terms with the fact that it’s actually their own
to come to ego which prevents them from being successful. And many times
they’re taking trades while trying to match their ego with the
terms with the
next best trader.
fact that it’s
actually their It’s important to understand your own psychology, who you are
own ego which as a person, what your lifestyle is like, what your behavior is like
– and learn how to use this to your best ability.
prevents them
from being Personally, I know I hate breakouts. So if it’s a breakout market
successful.” I’m actually going to scale back. I like when the markets are
choppy, I’m a premium seller. Therefore I know when I should be
PETER ZHANG increasing my exposure and playing a little more aggressively –
if it’s my type of market.
Unfortunately traders in the first year (or even two years)

are generally looking for those hot picks, and they don’t ever
get to the point where they can actually try to do a little bit of
reflection. That’s just the unfortunate nature of the ‘greed’ that

is sold out there. It’s very hard to be reflective and that’s one
of the unfortunate truths for aspiring young traders (even older
traders, it’s sometimes harder for older traders who are trying
to learn).
Aaron’s take:
• Blindly following another person’s trades is not the way to

develop real trading talent. Forget alert services, save your
money and focus on learning how to form your own trade
ideas.
• An ignorance of market microstructure will occasionally be

the cause for unprofitable trading. Although as you zoom
out by timeframe this becomes less likely. But nevertheless,
market structure affects each and every participant, so it’s
beneficial to know what goes on below the surface.
• Make a conscious effort to increase your stomach tolerance,

over time. This means you become more comfortable with
taking losses, which will allow you to scale effectively, and
trade advanced methods when you’re ready to level up.
Zach Hurwitz
Equities trader · Trading coach · Systems developer · Founder of TheVWAP.com

@ZachHurwitz
Many traders fail in the moment because of poor risk

management, arbitrarily oversizing their trades. But they also
fall short in terms of focus – rarely will traders master a single
subject, let alone ever build skill in many subjects. Style drift
depletes a trader’s energy, time, and enthusiasm.
“Rarely will It’s understandable that traders can’t choose one style easily
traders – where do new traders even begin? – and so they often let
master a popularity proxy for ‘success’. After they’ve slugged through a

myriad of ‘common’ approaches, they’ve got little left to devote
single subject,
to a subject worth mastering (once the trader finally stumbles
let alone
across a worthwhile strategy).
ever build
skill in many I’m guilty of this, too. Early on I explored options and futures
but found myself drawn back to equities (and more importantly,
subjects.”
pattern-based trading). Once I recognized my strengths – and
perhaps more importantly, identified what fulfilled both my
intellectual curiosity along with my financial needs – I stopped
spinning my proverbial wheels and began building sustained
progress. Sustained progress builds confidence; confidence
leads to consistency; consistency is what we all seek in our own
trading.

Aaron’s take:
• Many traders fail to ever master a single strategy. Therefore,

they never learn the full process of how to develop mastery
with anything they attempt. Continually changing strategies
is an energy drain and a time suck. Once you identify an
approach that resonates with you, drive it into the ground
with investigation.
Adam Ryan
Futures trader · Founder of Optic Trader

@OpticTrading
A lot of aspiring traders give up too soon, because they don’t

realize how difficult it’s going to be to succeed.
Part of the problem is, if you listen to what many educators are
saying, “Trading is so easy, look how I made a thousand dollars
with just 30 minutes of work,” and they really ram it down your
throat. Then you have people who get into trading, thinking
‘wow, this is going to be so easy’. Although once they get into it,
they quickly realize it’s not easy – in fact it’s extremely difficult
and they generally give up.
So I believe that many traders give up too soon, and that’s why
the majority never reach a high level of success.
Aaron’s take:
• Have an awareness of marketing hype – trading is not

easy. Plain and simple. But on the same note, it’s also not
impossible... So be prepared for challenges, persevere, learn
from your mistakes, and one day you quite possibly will pocket
a thousand dollars with 30 minutes of work. Just don’t expect
that day to come next week.
Lance Beggs
Full-time futures trader · Part-time trading educator · Founder of Your Trading Coach

@LanceBeggs
There are many reasons…
The first one is their relationship with loss. People come from
different backgrounds and jobs where income is pretty secure.
But in this game you eat what you kill. If you do not perform today
and get a few kills, you do not eat, you make no money. Trading
is a performance activity in an environment of uncertainty, so
you need to expect losses. You need to accept that losses are just
part of the game, and you need to learn how to manage them.
That is something that traders often don’t understand, and you
can’t understand until you’ve got experience – so it takes time.
Additionally, they don’t have a proper process for growth and

development. Many are looking at this game from a systems
perspective, and that’s why there’s a whole industry geared
around this. The easiest way to make a million bucks trading, I
believe, is to sell systems. There are countless forums filled with
mediocre advice, and failed traders showing their systems. And
this is why many get stuck in the systems mindset. I make fun of
it, yet that’s where I was during my earlier years as a trader.
“Traders aren’t Essentially, they approach trading as a systems game, instead

immersing of one as a process of growth and development. For those
themselves in with the wrong perspective, it would be worthwhile reading

about deliberate practice and effective methods of growth and
the game, in
development.
the study of
price action; By looking for this shortcut, traders aren’t immersing themselves
they aren’t in the game, and the study of price action. They aren’t building
‘deep domain knowledge’. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts;
building
you’ve got to hit the books, hit the charts and study this game.
‘deep domain
All the answers, everything you need is there in the charts, get in
knowledge’.”
there and study them.
LANCE BEGGS To summarize, many traders simply aren’t using the right process
for learning. They’re looking for the quick buck systems and not
treating it as a process of skill development. That’s probably the
main reason, but there are many more traps around – this is not
an easy game.
Aaron’s take:
• Losing trades are unavoidable. No trader has ever achieved

a 100% win rate, nor do they need to. In fact, the majority of
professional traders are wrong more often than they’re right.
This is where effective risk management comes into play.
• Shortcuts do not exist. The greatest way to reduce your initial

learning curve is with some old-fashioned study of price
action. The answers to your trading success do not rest within
someone else’s neatly packaged system.
Jason Leavitt
Swing trader · Position trader · Founder of Leavitt Brothers

@JasonLeavitt
First of all, the traders that don’t succeed don’t have a plan. They
just don’t. They hope, they fantasize, they dream, and they want
things to go their way, but they don’t have a plan. They don’t
know what they’ll do if the market goes up, they don’t know what
they’ll do if the market gaps up, they don’t know what they’ll do
if the market gaps up and then sells off. They pretty much just
wing it…
They get into a position and they don’t know where their stop is,
they don’t know if it’s a short term trade or a long term trade,
they don’t know if they’re going to scale out, they don’t know if
they’re going to add a new position if it breaks out and then pulls
back. They literally just fly by the seat of their pants, because
they don’t actually have a plan.
Think about a football team, can you imagine if they showed up

and didn’t have a game plan – that would never happen! They
spend an entire week looking at game films, and practicing
certain plays based on the type of defense that the opposing team
is likely to play. Then they actually workout and practice many
different plays in order to capitalize on this. And traders have to
do the same thing; they have to have a detailed plan.
Even though 90% of the plan will never matter, at least they’ll
contemplate, ‘What will I do if the market does this,’ and, ‘what
will I do if the market does that?’ If they have ten of these
different scenarios that they’ve thought out, obviously most of
them are never going to happen, but going through the motion
of outlining a plan is an extremely helpful exercise.
All traders need to sit down and say, “What’s my plan for today?
What am I going to do if this happens? What am I going to do if
that happens?” Play devil’s advocate – that’s what they need to
do, but they don’t.
Another thing aspiring traders often do is ‘style drift’. They

constantly jump from one strategy to the next, to the next. One
day they’re swing trading stocks and playing chart patterns,
then a month later they see something on a message board and
get tempted to trade Fibonacci retracements. Now instead of
playing breakouts, they’re buying pullbacks, and perhaps they’ll
slap a new technical indicator on their charts also. So they’re
constantly shifting from one style of trading to the next.
Although in saying this, it is necessary when you first start out.

Because in order to zero in on what works for you, you have to
experiment with several different styles. But once you do zero in

on what works, you have to stick with it, and avoid the temptation
to go elsewhere. So ‘style drift’ can be a big issue when new
traders are starting out.
“They get into In addition to this, they don’t take a loss. When they get into a
a position that position that goes against them, they should get out, but they’re
goes against afraid of taking a loss, so instead of exiting they bargain and
negotiate with the market. They say, “If it can just go back up, I’ll
them, they
get out at breakeven,” and then it goes against them even more.
should get out,
Next they say, “Well if it can just go back up to where it was two
but they’re days ago, then I’ll get out with a small loss,” but it doesn’t go
afraid of back up, it keeps moving against them. Before they know it, a
taking a loss” perfectly normal loss turns into a huge loss. This creates a major
problem. Not only do they suffer because of the money that they
JASON LEAVITT lost, but also their confidence is shot, their emotions are shot
and it spirals from there…
One other problem that many traders have right now is

‘information overload’. It wasn’t a problem when I first started,
but it is right now. Even though TV is less prevalent now that
it was back then, with all the websites, blogs, and services
(i.e. Twitter and StockTwits), there is no end to the amount of
information you can get. And no matter what a trader wants to
do, or what their opinion is, they can easily find support for that
opinion.
Now, just to recap, these are the main points of failure:
• They don’t have a plan.
• They don’t know how to zero in on one thing, and they’re

constantly changing their strategy.
• They don’t take a loss.
• They don’t ignore the excessive amount of information that’s

out there.
So if you flip this around and you want to know how to become
successful:
• Have a detailed plan, outlining exactly what you will do in

different scenarios.
• Hone in on something that works for you.
• Make a deal with yourself that you will never let a small loss
turn into a big loss.
• Try to ignore a majority of the information that’s out there,

because most of it’s noise.
Aaron’s take:
• Refer to Jason’s summary above – he nailed it!
John Welsh
Biotech trader · Fundamental analyst

@JohnWelshTrades
It all goes back to the mental aspects of trading. Many people

don’t understand their personality flaws from everyday life also
apply to trading, i.e. being insecure, not being humble, needing

support, and needing conformation from other people.
Therefore, if you’re involved with a group (or a chat room), it’s

important to realize that just because the group is thinking one
way, that doesn’t necessarily mean the group is right. Often what
happens mentally, when a group trade goes wrong and a trader
loses money, they then try to chase the loss and make the money
back. But it doesn’t work that way. That’s why a lot of traders fail,
because they’re getting confirmation from other people. They’re
not doing the research and homework themselves.
If you look online, the most profitable (and popular) products

around are alert services. What this tells you is most traders
just want to know what to buy, no questions asked – and those
people are truthfully not making any money. You know, if you
want to learn how to fish, somebody needs to teach you how to
fish. In order to learn you need to be able to study why somebody
is buying, instead of following blindly just because they made a
good call two months ago. So that’s why I believe the majority of
traders fail, because they are too busy following ‘the group’.
Aaron’s take:
• Traits of your personality will often reflect in your style of

trading. Some of these traits will help to you form quality
trading practises, and others may have the opposite effect.
It’s about having self-awareness, and the ability to control
both your positive and negative characteristics.
• Build the confidence and skill necessary to formulate and

execute your own trade ideas. You are not required to have
the same views as the majority. While it’s often hard to go
against the grain, just remember, most market participants
do lose money. Markets move money from the hands of many,
to the hands of a few.
• Revenge trading – forget it! If you happen to lose money in a

particular stock, there is absolutely no reason to make it back
from that same stock. Leave your ego at the door, and don’t
worry about trying to prove a point.
Stuart McPhee
Equities + FX trader · Author of Trading In A Nutshell

@StuartMcPhee
Many traders aren’t taking the time to do everything that needs

to be done, in order to trade successfully. They’re not taking
the time to study and understand how to manage risk. They’re
not taking the time to become more disciplined as a person,
and as a trader. They’re also not taking the time to develop a
plan, validate rules and test them, as well as prove and disprove
different strategies. Additionally they’re not taking the time to
become methodical in their process, structured and organized
as a trader.
This means they’re not treating it as professionally as they

should, and I’m going to say the word again ‘time’ – not investing
the time.
Here’s a great analogy I use…
I play a lot of golf, which is one of the reasons why I don’t like
looking at a screen for ten hours a day. But I am not a professional
golfer, I don’t make one cent from playing golf. In fact it costs me
money; I recently bought a set of clubs that cost a lot of money,
and my membership fees cost a lot of money. While I don’t make
any money playing golf, and I’m not a professional – I still love
playing golf. BUT it’s a hobby.
“Too many And from what I see, too many traders treat trading as a hobby.
traders treat They enjoy it, they spend time doing it, they’re happy to do it,
trading as a but at the end of the day it costs them money. They don’t take
the next step of becoming professional. So to many, trading is a
hobby.”
hobby and not a profession. Golf for me is a hobby, but trading
STUART MCPHEE
demands more of my time and respect.
Aaron’s take:
• To be a great trader, requires an immense dedication of time.

In this sense, trading is no different to any other area of life
where your goal is to ultimately become a pro. Amateurs will
forever struggle, because they do not invest the time to help
themselves breakthrough.
• “There is no room for amateurs in the game of life.” I’m a huge

fan of this quote from Tim Walker, and I feel as though it neatly
summarizes Stuart’s point. If you’d like a detailed explanation
of this quote, I suggest listening to Tim’s interview on episode

006 of the Chat With Traders podcast.
Adam Grimes
Diversified trader · Systems developer · Author of The Art & Science of Technical Analysis

@AdamHGrimes
False expectations. I could just leave it there...
When most people go into trading, they don’t understand what

success looks like. They don’t understand what success looks
like along the way as they overcome obstacles, or even what their
ultimate success will look like.
They go into this expecting something other than what they’re

going to get, even if they are very successful. There are a lot of other
reasons that cause traders to fail like being undercapitalized, not
doing the work. Or just going into trading for the wrong reasons.
But I think the number one reason most traders fail is due to
false expectations.
Aaron’s take:
• Setting realistic expectations for yourself as you become a

trader can make a world of difference to your mindset (and
results) along the way. By setting the bar artificially high, it’s
likely you’ll feel like a constant underachiever. But, also be
mindful not set the bar too low, as it’s healthy to push yourself.
Mike Bellafiore
Prop trader · Co-founder of SMB Capital · Author of The Playbook + One Good Trade

@MikeBellafiore
It really depends on what type of trading that you’re doing. Many

new traders choose a type of trading, a product, or a timeframe
that doesn’t best fit their personality and their thinking talent.
Specifically; if you don’t think fast, then you’re not going to
become a really good active trader. Instead, you may be better off
as a global macro trader.
Aaron’s take:
• Develop an approach that meshes with your own personality

type. Attempting to trade an approach that doesn’t feel right,
is like trying to force a square peg in a round hole – it doesn’t
work.
David Bush
Quant trader · Systems developer · 1st Place winner of BattleFin

@Alphatative
While I certainly speak for myself on this topic, I imagine many

other traders are like this also; we come to the market with rose-
colored glasses.
I still remember looking at my father’s TV, seeing the ticker tape

and this is probably 21 years ago now. So I certainly went into the
market thinking, ‘Wow, there is so much opportunity’. But once
you get thrown down a staircase or two and you’re hurting, you
realize; this risk part is pretty important, that was not fun, and
you don’t want to live through that kind of trade, experience or
drawdown ever again.
“It’s a matter So your lenses constantly change while you develop as a trader,
of being but some people are just going to say, “You know, I just don’t
prepared to want to dig that deep, it’s too challenging. You mean I’m going
to have to look into my psychology, and examine my own belief
dig deep.”
system? Come on, that has nothing to do with trading…” But of
course it does, it has everything to do with trading. Especially as
a discretionary trader, since you’re more prone to succumbing to
biases, and usually with larger positions. So it’s a matter of being
prepared to dig deep.
Just like multiple systems can diversify one’s strategy (by

removing a single point of failure), I like to surround myself
with people who are brighter than me, and who think differently
than me. This way I’m exposed to more ideas, more knowledge,
and more perspectives, so I’m constantly exposing myself to new
ways of thinking. But I feel like this is more than some people are
up for, and to me, that’s probably the number one reason most
traders fail.
To succeed as a trader, you need to overcome a lot of biases and

be able to take a hard look into the mirror. Understand it can
be rough in the early stages, and it can be rough later on too.
There are going to be bad periods for any approach or strategy,
although as you develop you’ll be better prepared for these times.
Especially as a quantitative trader, because you should know
your risk parameters and the size of a normal drawdown etc.
So if I can condense this down to two words, I’d say ‘digging deep’
– that’s what is required. But some traders are going to leave it at
a certain level and aren’t willing to push on to get to where they
could be.
Aaron’s take:
• The life of a trader is one of constant growth and betterment.

However, some will reach a point where they plateau; they
become comfortable with who they are, and what they
already know – these are the ones who will never reach their
full potential. The ones who go on to become great traders
embrace the fact they don’t know everything, they push their
comfort zone and they’re prepared to ‘dig deep’.
Ivaylo Ivanhoff
Swing trader · Position trader · Co-founder of Social Leverage 50

@Ivanhoff
In the beginning most traders don’t have an edge. And even

when they do find a setup with an edge, most don’t concentrate
enough efforts on learning everything about that set up to make
it profitable for them. Most traders will try to trade a particular
setup, but if they don’t see results within a few weeks they’ll move
on to something else. So they constantly jump from one thing to
another, and they never become masters of one particular setup.
I believe that if you learn one great setup, and trade it for the first
couple years you will become successful. Of course you still have
to know when to trade this setup, because there will be times
when you need to sit on the sideline and do nothing (your setup
won’t have an edge in certain market conditions). Over time
you’ll be able to start adding new setups. But in the beginning,
less is more – so you have to concentrate on one specific setup.
The best part is there are many working setups that are shared
for free in the public domain, and many great books that you can
buy for a small cost. This way you can take a working setup from
another trader that you know is already profitable, which you
can then tinker to fit your own lifestyle, or based on your own
study of past winners.

Aaron’s take:
• By now you should be noticing the theme of ‘style drift’ is

prevalent throughout this guide, reason being, it causes many
novice traders to become stagnant.
• The point from Ivan’s response which I’d like to highlight,

is the importance of understanding when your setup has an
edge. With most setups there will be certain market conditions
where your expectancy to profit decreases. The added benefit
of becoming intimately familiar with a single setup, is you
will begin to pick up on which market conditions deliver
greater results.
Brad Jelinek
Prop trader · Futures markets

@JelinBra
The first thing you must have is that desire and fight inside of
you – you have to really want to do this. Because as a trader,
everyone goes through tough times and dark days. But it’s that
knowingness and willingness to do anything it takes that keeps
you moving forward. You can’t defeat someone who keeps getting
up after every setback.
The second thing is to learn that when you understand something,

you need to trade it larger. And when you’re not trading well,
you need to cut down your size (drastically sometimes) and be

prepared to exit positions quickly. If you can do this you’ll stay
alive – and if you’re alive, you’ll be able to figure out a way to
get back to trading normal size again in the future. So it’s about
managing yourself this way, in addition to the desire to succeed.
Aaron’s take:
• Trading will test you, and there will be moments when you’re
pushed to the verge of breaking point. So if you cannot uphold
a high-level of commitment, you will crumble when the going
gets tough. On the other hand, if you have a lionheart and an
undeniable passion for what you do, you’ll be unstoppable.
• When you hit a rough patch, reduce your position sizes. One
may be inclined to do the opposite as a way to reaccumulate
losses quicker, but in reality, this is how things escalate from
bad to worse – fast.
Andrew Falde
Options trader · Systems trader · Educator at SMBu

@AndrewFalde
One reason is, traders enter the market with a lot of confidence
because they are often smart, or they may be more intelligent
than a lot of their peers, family or friends. So they look at trading

and say, “Okay, most people fail at this however I am generally
smarter. I have a good head on my shoulders, and when I try to
understand something I do well. I’m also passionate about this.”
They also say, “I have what it takes, because most of my friends
aren’t even interested. So if they were to try they would probably
fail. But I’m well suited for success, because I have other success
in my life.”
I have seen very successful businessmen and investors that come

to trading, and they receive negative feedback from the market,
meaning they lose money. They approach it the same way they
approach anything else in their life…
Lets use sports as an example; if you’re losing, you practice

harder, try harder, learn more and through sheer effort you’re
going to improve and achieve better results. Or in business; you
can work longer hours, cut your prices and make decisions that
allow you to control how you’re going to achieve greater profits.
“They have So in many areas of life, willpower will lead you to overcome the
to learn very issue at hand, and you’ll be rewarded with positive results. And
quickly their those who are attracted to the markets, have often experienced
this in one way or another...
willpower has
no place in the But when it comes to trading, they have to learn very quickly their
markets.” willpower has no place in the markets. Using their willpower
they say, “I’m going to hang on to this trade until I am right. I am
ANDREW FALDE going to will this system to work. I am going to will this trade to
work. I know I am going to be right”. This is the approach they
bring to the market, and the worst thing that could happen is
they get rewarded for it a few times. Lets say they call the top in
something that’s highflying or up big for the day, and it drops

right away, they’ll say, “Oh, that’s great. I should’ve taken a
bigger size”.
Then it happens a second time and they do it again, this time

with a little more size. But they don’t even realize that the whole
market was consolidating so every pop was faded. Then all of a
sudden the December rally comes and the market breaks out, yet
they say, “Oh well, I’ve been conditioned, I know it works. I’m
going to short this thing.” But prices take off, the whole market
goes up 6%, their stocks go up 11%. Yet the whole time they’re
just trying to will it and figure out why it should go down, why
it’s got to work out, and why they’re right. And through sheer
willpower they think it’s going to work out for them.
Instead the mentality that works is, to know when you’re wrong,
and understand there’s nobody who can be right 100% of the time.
As soon as you’re wrong, and you get to a point that has exceeded
your expectation of what should happen, then you need to do
something about it.
This is one of the reasons I love to trade options; I don’t always

have to close the position. For my psychology that works great,
because I still get to hang on to my idea. Using options I can take
other approaches to defend myself, by bringing in a different
trade that can enhance the position, without closing the original
one.
So that’s why I believe most traders never make it – they bring

success from other areas of their life and try to apply it to the
market, but the market doesn’t play by the same rules.

Aaron’s take:
• Being ‘smarter’ than the average person isn’t a prerequisite

for profitable trading, and neither is success in other areas
of your life. Truth be told, these two factors often attribute
to new traders being overly confident, only to be humbled by
the almighty force of the market. The market is a beast of it’s
own, which commands respect.
• Having the stubbornness and willpower to hold on to a losing

trade is a sure-fire way to damage your account. Know where
you’re getting out before you get in.
• The worst thing that can happen to you, is you profit from
breaking your rules, because this means you’ll be more
inclined to do it again. Then before you know it, you’re trading
without a plan and every decision is based off of a gut feeling.
Brian Shannon
Swing trader · Author of TA Using Multiple Timeframes · Founder of AlphaTrends

@AlphaTrends
Besides the fact you have to have capital to start, there’s no

barrier to getting involved. You can start out as a day trader right
from day one, when you most probably shouldn’t. And that’s why
traders get impatient with the market. Because they don’t find
out who they are, what their personality is best suited to, and
what their appropriate timeframe in the market is, until after

they’ve made too many big mistakes.
They want to get involved in the market right away, and they
see it as an opportunity to make easy money. When in fact, it’s
extremely difficult. Trading success first comes from having a
solid understanding of yourself.
“Often their Often their downfall is a combination of impatience and ego.

downfall is a When they get into a trade and see the price moving against
combination them, they begin pulling up news, looking for other opinions and
their ego does not allow them to take a quick loser when they
of impatience
should.
and ego.”
Even though they went into the trade with a plan and said, “I’m
BRIAN SHANNON
going to cut my loss here,” their ego gets in the way and says,
“no, just buy a little more, it’s definitely going to bounce.” All
along, they’re compounding their problems.
So the reason why the majority fail comes down to, not
understanding their appropriate timeframe and being impatient.
Also, not learning the mechanics of how the market actually
trades, and not understanding the psychology of money flow
before they start the sizing up positions.
Aaron’s take:
• Slow down, prepare. Many people come to trading and want

to dive in right away, without taking the time to investigate
which approach, timeframe, and market may be suitable for
them. It’s only after they get seriously hurt, do they stand
back and look at what went wrong – which was essentially a

lack of preparation.
• Ignoring the psychological reasons that motivate buyers and

sellers at certain levels, may lead to unnecessary losses. By
understanding markets on a deeper level (beyond price) you’ll
be able to better anticipate future movements.
Howard Lindzon
Trader · Investor · Hedge fund manager · Angel investor · Co-founder of StockTwits

@HowardLindzon
They don’t have the right mentorship, so they just give up.
Learning to trade and invest is a long process, and often people

are deterred by a really bad experience along the way. Plus this
is not for everybody. But most people give up because they can’t
find a mentor, or they caught during the years of a bear market.
Also the media drums into people that you cannot beat the
market. While I agree it’s not easy to beat the market, I don’t
think ‘beating the market’ should even be in your vocabulary – it
should be about ‘destroying the market’!
If you’re going to trade, why would you do this to earn 12% a year
when the S&P is 9% a year? I do this because I want to have years
of 80-100% returns, or greater.
So most traders give up because they have the wrong expectations,

and started for the wrong reasons – that’s the main problem. But
“Most traders they also give up due to having the wrong framework for getting
give up started.
because they
Most of the time you can solve these problems now that you
have the wrong have podcasts etc, with people telling you the truth about their
expectations, own experiences, which you can learn from. This type of media
and started wasn’t as easily accessible in 1990 when I started, but now there
for the wrong is no excuse not to dig into a few podcasts, or try a few financial
sites and see if you can find a mentor through these channels.
reasons.”
And expectation wise, the same thing…

HOWARD LINDZON
I would say to anybody, “What is your expectation?” If they just

want to earn more than cash, well they should dollar cost average
in a low cost ETF. But when a trader says, “You know, I think I
can make 80% a year.” Then I say, “Expect to lose and have years
when you are down 40%. But if you’re willing to ride them out,
then you should get in, start learning and find a strategy that fits
your risk profile.”
Aaron’s take:
• Many traders give up because they struggle to find the

mentorship that’s required. But with the advances in
technology and the Internet opening windows of opportunity,
everyone now has some degree of access to successful traders.
However, if you refuse to take advantage of this – then
it’s wasted. So put yourself out there, and begin forming
relationships with those who can help you improve.
• Having clear expectations about what you aim to achieve

from participating in the markets, will help you to build the
necessary framework to get there.
Peter Brandt
Legendary trader · Classical chartist · Author: Diary of a Professional Commodity Trader

@PeterLBrandt
They are afraid to lose – that’s the number one reason. I see so
many traders who are afraid to put on a position, because they’re
worried about being wrong.
Whereas I don’t have a problem with being wrong on a trade. In

fact, I naturally assume that I will be wrong on a trade – that’s
my default position... And because of this, I approach money
management differently.
“I naturally The second reason, is they trade too big.

assume
They oversize their positions, they trade too much, and they’re
that I will be
too aggressive; trying to build up a position that’s larger than
wrong on a their account can support. This is particularly true in futures
trade – that’s and forex. Not so much in stocks with a cash or margin account,
my default because you’re reined in based on what your capital is, and you
position...” soon run out of buying power. Where as this is not the case in
futures and forex, but even still, seldom do I have more than 15%
of my capital committed to margin.
The problem is, novice traders come into the futures markets
and they say, “My goodness, the margin on one contract of beans
is $3,000 and I have $30,000 in my account, I think I’ll buy 10
contracts.” Well, I buy one contract of beans for every $100,000
in my account, or 10 per $1,000,000. When I tell them this, they’re
shocked at how small I trade. So I believe a mistake that many
aspiring futures traders make, is trading way too large.
Aaron’s take:
• As a trader, you’ll need to get accustomed with the fact that

you are often wrong. If you have a fear of pulling the trigger
because you want to avoid being wrong, then there’s likely an
underlying issue. Maybe you’re trading too large...
• Just because there is an insane amount of leverage being

offered to you, doesn’t mean you should take it. Leverage is a
double edged sword, and you must treat it with caution.
And this brings us to the close...
Like I mentioned at the very beginning, I believe there are huge

benefits to understanding WHY most traders never succeed.
While I know this topic may be considered as somewhat of a
buzzkill, having now completed the guide you must admit; these
are the pitfalls that more traders need to be made aware of, if
they wish to succeed.
For that reason, I congratulate you on making it all the way

through, and taking another step forward to improve your
trading. The ultimate goal of creating this guide was to help you
become more self-aware of your own trading habits, and to serve
as a valuable resource that you can easily reflect on from time to
time. I hope it serves you well.
If you have any questions, comments or queries I encourage

you to email me at aaron@chatwithtraders.com, or tweet me at
@chatwithtraders.
Now go out there and crush it!
Aaron Fifield
Chat With Traders
Listen to the full interviews
Jerry Robinson: chatwithtraders.com/ep-001-jerry-robinson
Steve Burns: chatwithtraders.com/ep-005-steve-burns
Peter Zhang: chatwithtraders.com/ep-009-peter-zhang
Zach Hurwitz: chatwithtraders.com/ep-011-zach-hurwitz
Adam Ryan: chatwithtraders.com/ep-012-adam-ryan
Lance Beggs: chatwithtraders.com/ep-013-lance-beggs
Jason Leavitt: chatwithtraders.com/ep-017-jason-leavitt
John Welsh: chatwithtraders.com/ep-018-john-welsh
Stuart McPhee: chatwithtraders.com/ep-019-stuart-mcphee
Adam Grimes: chatwithtraders.com/ep-021-adam-grimes
Mike Bellafiore: chatwithtraders.com/ep-022-mike-bellafiore

David Bush: chatwithtraders.com/ep-023-david-bush
Ivaylo Ivanhoff: chatwithtraders.com/ep-024-ivanhoff
Brad Jelinek: chatwithtraders.com/ep-026-brad-jelinek
Andrew Falde: chatwithtraders.com/ep-028-andrew-falde
Brian Shannon: chatwithtraders.com/ep-029-brian-shannon
Howard Lindzon: chatwithtraders.com/ep-035-howard-lindzon
Peter Brandt: chatwithtraders.com/ep-036-peter-brandt
...
Plus, more trader interviews are available online at

chatwithtraders.com.
Contents
Foreword pg 04
Why You Need a Mentor pg 06
When Am I Ready For a Mentor pg 08
Who Will Mentor You pg 10
What Should A Mentor Teach You pg 15
How To Get Maximum Benefit From Mentoring pg 16
Final Words pg 18
Foreword
As I read through my emails each week, there’s one question that
pops up more than anything else—and it’s a good question. But
the only problem is, I feel like an email is not the ideal medium
to give the detail response it deserves, without going on to write
3000 words like I have here.
Seeing as you’re taking the time to read this guide, I imagine

this is the question you’ve been asking yourself also. So what is
it? Well, the question I’m referring to goes something along the
lines of…
“How do I get a trading mentor?”
Like I said, it’s a good question, and I like that you’re thinking
this way. But you might be surprised to know, that the purpose of
writing this guide is not to give you a rigid step-by-step process
for how to get a trading mentor. As far as I’m aware, such a
process does not exist. The role of a mentor will serve a different
purpose for everyone. So let me explain…
When I use the word “mentor”, I’m using it as a general term to

describe a flexible and often informal relationship that can vary
from person to person and field to field.
Mentoring is organic. It’s not something that should be pigeon-

holed, nor does it refer to one person who should do or act in a
certain way. I would like you to keep this in mind as we continue.
The real purpose of writing this guide is to give you a ‘loose

framework’ for how you may be able to find someone who plays
a bigger game than you do right now. And to give you some ideas
about how you may be able to best approach someone, build

and maintain a relationship with this person, and how to set
expectations.
To further set the scene; if you would of hit me with this question
about how to get a trading mentor at the end of 2014, I would have
been stumped for an answer. But having had the opportunity to
speak with many successful traders (many who owe at least a
portion of their success to a mentor-like figure), I’ve picked up a
thing or two about actively seeking help, and it’s only right that
I pass this on to you.
Why You Need A Mentor...

I once heard someone say, “There’s no such thing as a self-made
millionaire”.
At first I was somewhat puzzled by this. I was almost going to

disregard such a bold claim, until this person went on to explain
why…
He described everyone who makes it to the big league as having

a support team behind them, these team members may be in the
spotlight or behind the scenes. So lets break that down; whose
on the team? Accountants, partners, banks, lawyers, co-workers,
and you guessed it—mentors too.
So that should tell you something... If you plan on really making

something out of your career as a trader, shift your mindset from
thinking of trading as a one-man sport and start thinking about
how you’ll build your team. If you continue to push ahead on
your own, you’re potentially going to have a tough time making
progress.
One of the great benefits of having a mentor, is having the

ability to bypass some of the major learning hurdles that stunt
the progress of many traders. A trader who is mentoring you,
who has years of experience, has likely made all the mistakes
you can imagine (plus more), and can therefore steer you in the
right direction when you’re heading off course.
Just on a side-note, while discussing ‘learning hurdles’, it’s

important to highlight that the learning curve for a trader never
completely ends. Yes, it’s pretty steep in the beginning and tapers
off over time, but don’t feel as though there is a final destination
you’ll arrive at where everything is beer and Skittles (as they say).
Peter Brandt is a prime example of this, even after 45+ years of
trading and an incredible track record, he still considers himself
to be a ‘student of the market’.
Since we’re digging into why you need a mentor, we should

address something that’s often confused, which is the difference
between mentoring and coaching (or education)…
It’s my interpretation that a coaching arrangement is more

formal, structured and often involves monetary payment from
the student. Broadly speaking, a coach is often called upon to
help solve a specific problem over the course of a fixed amount
of time. Whereas mentoring is typically opposite to this, which
is what we’ll continue to focus on throughout the reaminder of
this guide.
In this section I’ve outlined the overarching reasons why having

a mentor is beneficial, but ultimately it’s up to you to decide why
YOU need a mentor. So try to be as clear as possible in your own
mind, about what you want to achieve from your relationship
with a mentor.
“Learn from someone who is

already where you want to be.”
ROBERT KIYOSAKI
When Am I Ready For A Mentor?

There’s much that could be said on this subject, but I’ll keep
this brief and straight to the point. There are two things that
immediately strike me as prerequisites you should consider,
before attempting to chase down a mentor. These are, one—
experience, and two—knowledge, here’s why…
Experience
First, you’ve got to touch the stove to know it’s hot.
Reading a book or listening to a podcast about the realities of

trading is not the same as having lived it out in real-time. You
need to experience the pain and frustration of being an entry-
level trader, and know first-hand how easy it is to get burnt by
Mother Market.
And to take it one step further, even when you feel like a total
loser, you need to continue striving for betterment without being
deterred. You need to be able to prove to yourself that you can
take a few hits without throwing in the towel, until then you’re
not worthy of a mentors time.
So, (some) real market experience goes without saying.
Knowledge
Equally important is how well you understand markets and grasp

common trading principals. Knowledge-wise you should feel like
an intermediate trader, even though your account balance may
not reflect this (that’s okay). In other words, you need to be able
to talk the talk…
A mentor is not there to answer generic questions or teach you

the absolute basics. The internet is a beautiful thing, Google is
your friend, and books are dirt cheap. Be proactive and educate
yourself as much as possible—while of course, staying focused.
There will eventually come a point when you either; hit a (genuine)
roadblock, or the rate at which you’re learning compared to the
amount of time and effort you’re putting into your study begins
to plateau.
A potential mentor wants to know that you are serious and

committed, and what steps you have taken to get there on your
own. Remember, you’re essentially asking someone to take time
out of their day to expend brain energy on you, so prove that
you’re worth it.
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to

listen, and a push in the right direction.”
JOHN C. CROSBY
Who Will Mentor You...

Right, so who’s it gonna be?
It’s wise to spend some quality time thinking about who, as a

mentor, would be a good fit for you. As cheesy as it sounds, this is
someone who really could change your life, so best not to throw
caution to the wind.
Identifying a Potential Mentor
Obviously a mentor should be someone much more successful

and knowledgable than yourself, but within reason. If you
identify [insert famous, incredibly wealthy, genius person] as a
potential mentor, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
As an analogy, lets imagine you’re an up ‘n coming basketball
player...
What’s the likelihood of being mentored by Kobe Bryant or

Michael Jordan? Yes, it would be super badass, but the chances
of it happening are slim to none. Instead, being mentored by
someone such as a retired minor league coach is much more
realistic, and there’s no doubt you’ll still benefit in a major way.
It’s also important that you use a good judgement of character.

As you’ve probably experienced by now, in trading there are
some individuals who are not entirely honest and not exactly
who they claim to be... Just something to be mindful of, if you’re
not already.
Where to Look For a Potential Mentor
While a mentor won’t come knocking at your door, it’s very

possible that you could meet someone willing to mentor you
without stepping a foot past your door. As traders, the internet

and social media has opened up unlimited opportunities for us.
Take Twitter for example, you’ll find all sorts of traders knocking
about there. Many active traders are constantly sharing insight,
giving their take on the market, and speaking about the positions
they’re trading. Plus you can see what they’re reading from the
links and articles they pass around. This is a good way (and
a quick way) to get a sense of what someone is all about, and
whether or not their style of trading clicks with the way you like
to trade.
It’s also totally fine to tweet someone you’ve never met before,
without being worried about coming off as “creepy” (as you
might appear on a platform like Facebook), or even jump into
an existing conversation if you can add value or give another
perspective.
Pro Tip: A helpful and often underused feature of Twitter is the

‘list’ functionality, this is an easy way to categorise and easily
monitor who you follow.
But Twitter is not the only option, it’s just one of many. You may
also consider getting involved in Facebook groups, like the Chat
With Traders one which is free to join. Here you can interact with
other like-minded traders, and there’s also some really decent
traders in the group who regularly offer support too.
Another suggestion is to follow the personal blogs of traders

who have an approach which resonates with you. Read, share
and comment on their articles, even drop them a line via their
contact form—start building rapport.
The main thing is to put yourself out there, because people are
attracted to ambition, drive and enthusiasm (unless they’re
intimidated). I wouldn’t mind betting, you’ll end up finding the
person who becomes your mentor in a way you least expected.
Like I hinted earlier, we live in a world without borders and

technological advances are booming. So remember, someone who
may potentially mentor you doesn’t need to be in the same city or
even the same country as you are. With the power of Skype and
other communication apps, you can speak for hours on end with
someone on the direct opposite side of the world, and it won’t
cost you a cent.
Pro Tip: Use Calendly.com for a painless way of scheduling times.

This free tool takes all your available times and automatically
converts them into your mentors timezone.
Reaching Out and Forming a Relationship
This should be obvious, but before you even consider reaching

out to who you think would make a great mentor, you must
research and absorb all you can find out about the person. This
is the sort of preliminary preparation required to make the most
of your interactions—homework comes first. Okay, moving on…
One of the common mistakes made by those seeking a mentor,

when reaching out, is asking the person to “be your mentor” right
off the bat. That’s a big ask—far too big for the first interaction.
It’s kind of like asking someone to marry you on the first date!
Instead get to know them, start small and see where it goes.
It’s not enough to ‘want’ a mentor or even be ‘lucky’ enough to

find one. There’s no way around it, mentoring is a relationship.
You need to develop a relationship with this person, which will

take time and will not happen over night.
So to get the ball rolling, a natural way of doing this might be to

ask for their input on a specific topic or a single question. When
doing so, make sure they know you respect them, give them a
small ego boost (but also keep your dignity, don’t be a complete
suck up).
If you’re communicating by email and you don’t get a response

within a week or so, then send a short follow up. If you do this
right it’ll be received positively and you’ll come across as someone
who is eager to learn, but if you follow up a day later it’ll likely
have the opposite effect.
Once you get a response, it’s important to make sure they know
you’re grateful for their time. The ultimate way of showing this
is by taking their advice, putting it into action and sharing the
result with them. This not only shows you’re serious, but it will
also give you another reason to make contact with your potential
mentor.
From there, do what feels right… Maybe you’ll ask another

question in a few weeks time, or you might reply to a couple
tweets they post. Then when it feels natural (there’s that word
again), think about asking for a brief 15 minute Skype call with a
specific purpose.
All this time you’re simply nurturing a relationship with someone

who may eventually become your mentor. If at any point you’re
unsure how to best approach this, just put yourself in their shoes.
How would you like to be approached by someone asking you for
help? What would make you want to give up your time for the
gain of someone else?
On the otherhand, if the response you received was the opposite

of what you were hoping for, that’s okay. Going into this you need
to expect to hear “no” numerous times, but every no is one step
closer to a yes—so don’t be discouraged. You’re making a real
effort to better yourself, which takes courage and many people
don’t even have that!
Why would someone want to give up their time to

mentor you?
If we go back to ‘put yourself in their shoes’, it’s natural to wonder

why someone else would want to mentor you. So why would they?
Well, there’s two main reasons that come to mind right now:
1. Paying it forward. Established traders know how difficult it

is in the beginning, and chances are they had someone who
helped them out during their early stages. So in someway
they may feel obliged to pass their wisdom onto someone who
they believe has the potential to be a great trader.
2. Helping you helps them. When a trader is forced to vocalise

their approach and communicate it to someone less
experienced in a way that they’ll understand, this actually
helps to crystallise things in their own mind too. Additionally,
some traders are incredibly passionate about what they do
and like the opportunity to discuss it with someone who is
hungry and shows a genuine desire to learn.
“No one learns as much abut a subject

as one who is forced to teach it.”
PETER DRUCKER
What Should a Mentor Teach You?
Managing Expectations
Make no mistake, scoring a mentor does not guarantee you a

one-way ticket to trading riches. A mentor will guide you in the
right direction and should care about your development as a
trader, but at the end of the day, you still need to put in the hard
yards for yourself. There is no free ride.
In many cases a mentor may not teach you their exact trading
strategy (or strategies), and that’s rarely a bad thing. Because as
you’ve probably heard numerous times on the podcast, those who
are successful trade a strategy that aligns with their personality.
As Nicola Duke highlighted on episode 63, her mentor of many
years never once showed her a single setup or told her what stock
to buy or sell.
A good mentor will likely focus on how you can best develop a
profitable methodology of your own and what they believe to
be true about markets. This will probably challenge some of the
preconceptions and thoughts you already have about trading,
but don’t check out—keep an open mind, listen and trust what
they’re telling you.
Their role is to push you beyond your comfort zone, call you out
when you drop the ball and be honest with you. So encourage
and embrace raw feedback from your mentor, even if it’s not
what you want to hear in the moment.
How to Get Maximum Benefit From A

Mentor
Like your mother told you as a young one; manners will get you
a long way. So don’t be a punk—always show your appreciation!
You need to understand your mentor is sacrificing time which

could be allocated to their own trading, or spending quality time
with their family and friends. Therefore you should never take
the opportunity to learn from an experienced trader for granted.
As I emphasised earlier, mentoring is a relationship, and like

every healthy relationship it’s a two way stream. Don’t be all
take, take, take. If there’s anyway you can make your mentors
life easier in return, do so without hesitation. An example of this
could be:
• If he/she needs a website and you have prior experience

designing websites, put your skills to use.
• If you are a programmer, you could offer to analyse their

strategy or automate some part of their trading process.
• If you live in the same city and your mentor has an office,
offer to come in and help with paper work.
… it doesn’t matter what it is, be creative and try to return the

favour as much as possible. This way your mentor won’t feel as
though it’s a chore to speak with you, and the relationship will
last much longer.
Next, you must fully commit to becoming a better trader. When

your mentor gives you a piece of advice or an action item, go
ahead and act on it. I’d encourage you to go above and beyond
too, this will show that you’re not relying on your mentor to hold
your hand and you have some real initiative.
The last thing I’ll share is, work in with their availability. If your
mentor happens to be in living in an opposite timezone and is
only available at 4:30am on the weekend, get up and show up.
Take whatever time you can get—remember; it’s you that needs
this, not your mentor.
If you get six months down the track and you find it doesn’t
work out, don’t take it personally. People are busy. The positive
is you’ve probably learned a lot regardless and since you’ve been
through the process of linking up with a mentor once, you can
certainly do it again!
“Value learning over money—you must value

learning above everything else. This will lead you to
all the right choices. Choose a place that has people
and mentors who can inspire and teach you.
In fact, it is the height of wisdom to find the perfect

mentor and offer your services for free. Such
mentors will often divulge more than the usual
trade secrets.”
ROBERT GREENE

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1st EDITION

THE ONE THING

Anand ‘Lucci’ Sanghvi

“Don’t focus on the money.”

Being influenced by the money is an easy thing to succumb to simply

sanglucci.com Listen to my interview with Lucci at

“Prevention is the first step when dealing with emotions

An exercise I used when starting out to combat loss of emotional control

“Work hard to develop your own trading strategy

In reality though, it’s not that straightforward. Why?

Well, new traders sometimes lack appropriate psychological resilience for

“Slow down and be patient; plan the trade, then trade

This is obviously a loaded directive, which for a long time I misunderstood.

My predominant challenge seemed to be that I’m a real human being with

“Throw out all existing arithmetic technical analysis tools

I have spent hundreds (and possibly thousands) of hours trying to

autochartist.com Listen to my interview with Ilan at

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

As an aspiring trader, I figured slow and steady is what large funds

leavittbrothers.com Listen to my interview with Jason at

“No such thing as ‘The Big Trade.’ ”

jkonfx.com Listen to my interview with Joel at

This is called managing risk, because no one is perfect in trading.

johnwelshtrades.net Listen to my interview with John at

“The path to success is not one of finding the right system,

It’s not easy. But you can do it!

yourtradingcoach.com Listen to my interview with Lance at

Recommended: Lance’s Price Action Trader course is an extensive resource

“Stock trading is not a sprint, it’s an endless marathon

This statement is especially meaningful to me, as I find with many traders

Whether you are learning to be an investor, swing trader, or day trader,

Be receptive to new information and understand that you must be flexible

triforcetrader.com Listen to my interview with Matthew

“A single trade should never make you nor break you.”

Most traders tend to have either limited psychological fortitude or

thechartist.com.au Listen to my interview with Nick at

“Do not rely on trading money to eat.”

Otherwise, what ends up happening is a very bad feedback loop. Your

sanglucci.com Listen to my interview with Peter at

“React to price action; don’t try to predict.”

newtraderu.com Listen to my interview with Steve at

“It is psychologically demanding to be a trader.”

rb-trader.com Listen to my interview with Tim at

“The most important thing of all is to become a TRADER.”

Almost all the space in trading courses is devoted to how to analyse a

timwalker.net Listen to my interview with Tim at

“Learning how to lose in trading is just as important as

Understanding this has easily been the most important lesson in my

It’s not about trying to be right all of the time or feeling/sounding

“Dissociate yourself from the identity — the image, the

Instead, I should focus on developing technical skills more so than proving

sanglucci.com/zach Listen to my interview with Zach at

THE ONE THING

Trading is not easy; expect to fail before you can

Most people become traders looking to make a radical change to

Who wouldn’t want in?

Unfortunately, many fail to understand the long road they

I do not know a single millionaire trader who didn’t blow up

So don’t start trading expecting instant earnings. You probably