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Hi,
Most traders lose - some say 95%.
The obvious question is "Is it necessary that such a high percentage lose?"
I don't know.
But someone has to pay for the costs - brokers, clearing houses, market
makers, exchange computers and their programmers ... So if some
traders 'win big', a larger number of traders probably have to
lose. If it has to be 95% - that is a different matter.
What is probably true is that to be a winner you have to pass two different
tests:
- have the odds with you and use them,
- not have characteristics that will eventually make you a loser.
Now the second condition might seem redundant - surely to be a winner you
must not be a loser. Yes, but it is amazing how many apparent big winners
end up as losers - for example by overtrading.
They make money because they fulfill the first condition beautifully - a
winning trading system/methodology and the discipline to follow it - and
then some unusual combination of their personality and practice and market
conditions - often a very big, fast move - and they are bankrupt through
overtrading.
Have you ever been overtaken at 100 plus mile per hour on a 50mph speed
limit road (use 200kph and 100 kph if you prefer) only to see the crash
several miles (kilometers) later? We all have an interest in this
self-destructive behaviour because often innocent lives are sometimes lost
and relatives grieve.
Some traders have the seeds of self-destruction. A small percentage
(about 20%) of traders I have coached seem to draw failure towards
themselves in many ways. This group includes traders who consistently
lose, traders who win and lose, lose and win it back, as well as apparently
winning traders who occasionally make spectacular losses.
The common characteristics of this group include:
- taking situations and others language personally,
- failing to take emotions as a warning sign but wallowing in them
or projecting them onto others,
- being unaware of characteristics of organisations they associate with,
- ...
It is this last issue of organisations selected that I am drawing attention
to here.
For example they select inappropriate (for them) :
- brokers,
- bank accounts,
- telephone services,
- Internet Service Providers (ISP),
- ...
I am reminded of the significance of ISP choice by several recent 'mailbox'
full' returns.
This seems an innocuous way of discussing the idea of drawing failure
towards oneself. In this discussion of selection of ISP may be seen
several lessons for successful trading.
I never cease to be surprised how the majority of these 20% have been drawn
to one particular ISP for their email address. It is one or the more
popular ISP's but disproportionately chosen by this 20%. It is almost as
if they have searched out one of the poorest ISP's available. It is
certainly not the cheapest ISP.
One of the characteristics of this particular ISP is that when their
servers are busy, emails are not received within the usual few seconds or
minutes nor are emails sent received promptly. Delays of several hours
are not unknown but apparently not perceived by the users of this ISP.
Since, by definition, peak times for email servers are when most
transactions take place, a high proportion of their emails are
significantly delayed (several hours delay can be significant for emails
for those with almost instant expectations of email) - a sort of snail email.
So the majority of 'crossed in the email' messages seem related to this
ISP. I can recall only one other recent occurrence with respondents using
using other ISPs.
The self-same ISP is one of the few ISPs that still gives 'mailbox full'
returns. It is over three months since I received such a response from
a mailbox at an other ISP.
Today I received three such responses from three different respondents
using this particular ISP. Unless these users send themselves email (!)
they will rarely get to hear of this problem - most people do not tell
their email friends that they have the email equivalent of body odour.
In fact many of their email friends cannot easily tell them of the problem
- because they cannot send them an email without it being returned!
How much business, information, joy do they lose through ignorance of the
characteristics of their ISP?
Do you draw problem relationships towards yourself - and how would you find
out? For the ISP issue - just send yourself an email at different times
of day as a test! Of course if your mailbox is full, you will not be
reading this!
For other trading issues:
- draw up a list of attributes for your ideal broker and ...
- take your strong emotional reactions as a life lesson for you,
- notice taking events and words personally and ...,
- evaluate the reliability and redundancy of your outgoing and
incoming telephone services,
- assess the ideal attributes of your bankers and ...
And when someone exhibits a very strong emotional reaction to anothers
words - do not hinder their learning process by making it look to them as
if it the other person who is the problem. You are being cruel, trying
to be kind. Their emotional pain is part of the learning process - do
not kill it at birth. Maybe they will be wiser when you have a strong
emotional reaction to anothers words.
Regards, Ric.
www.traderscalm.com
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