What Separates Professional Traders
1) Mind Set
The first big difference between professional traders and those that aspire to be pros’ is mind-set. The pro knows that over a particular period of time he is going to generally make X amount of money. He has a positive mind set, and understands that his risk to not making his money comes, not from having losses, but from not taking trades.
2) Stops
The professional views stops completely different than non-profitable traders. The pro’s attitude is “why even trade if you think you are going to get away with risking 20 or 30 pips”. The pro will use what are called “catastrophic stops”, and rarely gets stopped out via those stops because market conditions will shift and give the trader a heads up to take the position off, or reverse it long before that catastophic stop gets hit.
3) Experience
The trader knows what kind of market he is in at all times because he has experienced it before. He knows what the current trends are because that is all that matters — being in the now. He shows up every day with his lunch bucket in hand. His positions shift with the market and he gives himeself enough room to be an hour, or even a day early. And he is never late.
Jay Norris is the author of Mastering the Currency Market, McGraw-Hill, 2009 and a Trading Instructor at Trading-U.com. To schedule a complimentary, interactive tutorial with Jay on determining market direction and hear more about “Live Market Exercise” go to One on One Tutorial
DISCLAIMER: Futures, options and Forex (off-exchange foreign currency futures and options, or “FX”) trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. The valuation of futures, options and Forex may fluctuate, and, as a result, clients may lose more than their original investment.