Trader Mindset

Subscribe to the show   Focusing on your process can keep you placated.   It can also help prevent you from getting too emotionally invested in an outcome that you don't have any control over.   This is good advice and something that can help in life also.   We talked about having an expectation about a trade that you've been stalking for several weeks.    One where you saw the set up a mile away,...

Subscribe to the show What parts of your process can you delegate and even improve your results? You can learn to trade and make money without being there. Click here to get your free copy of The Inner Voice of Trading audiobook .

Subscribe to the show You can spend weeks stalking a chart and have the set up work perfectly, only to have the name reverse, sometimes in the same day. You put all this work in and the name doesn't have the common courtesy to go up... How do you feel about that? For some of you, it can lead to disappointment or anger. If that's the case, you can sometimes become derailed and trade on those emotio...

Subscribe to the show It happens from time to time that you make a huge win.   You should celebrate it and understand that they don't happen all the time.   Many traders will intuit that they are "on to something" and without any thought, start to trade larger.   They also start trading names or asset classes outside of their core ability.   Plan to grow methodically and not get to invested in the...

Subscribe to the show   What does trading mean for you in your life?   What do you want your money to do for you?   When you know the answer to some of these type of questions, figuring out the best asset class and trading style will be easier.   Know and master yourself first, then figuring out the trading part is much easier.   Click here to get your free copy of The Inner Voice of Trading audio...

Subscribe to the show   Attitude is the one thing that I can't teach you.   I can help you change your paradigm and that in turn can help you have a good attitude.   However, you're going to want to do the work.   Sometimes attitude can carry you when nothing else is working. According to General James Mattis, to the "USMC, attitude is a weapon system."   Think about that for a minute...   How do...

Subscribe to the show   If you know someone who trades across asset classes and trading styles, they are likely gambling.   A person becomes the casino when they stick to one asset class and one style of trading, and get that down cold.   Making predictions, fading the Fed, and fighting the tape are all examples of gambling.   Tell them to keep their opinions to themselves and focus on getting goo...

Subscribe to the show   Many traders learning the craft are governed by the need for success for public purposes.   Some like to peacock.   Some are just flat-out greedy.   You'll make a more progress sooner if you're clear about what your motivations are.   In the end, consistent behavior predicts where you end up in life, not throwing around size trying for hero trades.   Click here to get your...

Subscribe to the show A trader can gun for 100% RoR, but at what cost? You need to conjugate what you're doing with risk (and time). Your open trade equity shows allocators the risk that you're taking for the returns your endeavoring. Most allocators are looking at daily vol and risk-adjusted returns. If your ethos is to chase hero-sized returns, you have to know that those are often a result of g...

Subscribe to the show Commodities are cyclical whereas equities are secular. You can take advantage of that cyclicality by trading seasonally or by trading commodity spreads. When you combine that with good risk management and maybe some trend following tactics, guess what happens? Click here to get your free copy of The Inner Voice of Trading audiobook .

Subscribe to the show   Alan "Ace" Greenberg had a great rule that he mandated on the Bear Stearns trading floor: "If the name is down coming into Friday's close, it trades."   He didn't wait for stops to be hit. If the prop trader was long and there was an unrealized loss, they sold it before the close on Friday.   This simple, but brilliant rule is one that you might want to employ.   By selling...

Subscribe to the show   Things don't always go as planned.   Give yourself some room to expected the unexpected.   This is the best way to hedge against your blind spots for which you have many.   Click here to get your free copy of The Inner Voice of Trading audiobook .  

Subscribe to the show   Your sole purpose in life is to play superior defense.   Where do you think you can express that ethos the best?   Click here to get your free copy of The Inner Voice of Trading audiobook .  

Subscribe to the show   Nothing happens randomly.   You decide that you want to trade voluntarily.   Whatever happens after that is your responsibility regardless of the outcome.   The best traders I have known over the years are the ones who live in a paradigm of personal responsibility.   Let go of judgment of yourself and others and focus on risk management.   That's what traders are at the end...

I think it's important to trade small at the beginning of your career so that you can find out what your edge is. Once you have it, then you scale and trade larger.  You should think of it like panning for gold (to find your edge). The goal isn't for large trading gains right away, but to discover and shine the light on your edge. 

It's more than rate of return...

Marshall Ulrich is an American legend. As a mountaineer, he's climbed the Seven Summits - completing each on his first attempt.  The Seven Summits consist of Mount Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimajaro, Mount Elbrus, Mount Vinson, Puncak Jaya, and Mount Kosciuszko by order of elevation.  Marshall has completed 130 ultra marathons, each over 100 miles in distance.  Most notably, he's known for com...

Steven M. Sears is a contributor to Barronsonline.com and the former editor of the Striking Price column of Barron's magazine. He is the author of The Indomitable Investor: Why a Few succeed in the Stock Market When Everyone Else Fails published by Wiley.