An amateur news trader? Well, does not seem easy to admit but most people do not make it past the amateur phase when dabbling in the financial markets. Everybody has the desire to make it big like professional traders on Wall Street but unfortunately, a desire is not enough.
Not sure if you are still an amateur? Here are the main points.
FOCUS ON BIG PROFIT POTENTIAL
If you are still getting carried away by all the things you will buy in a few months from your brilliant trades – all the Ferraris, and yachts, and big houses, then you are certainly focussing too much on the profit part of the equation. You find yourself in a fantasy world of unlimited success and brilliance. Better, you realize sooner than later that it is just a dream. A nice dream but still a dream.
A PROFESSIONAL NEWS TRADER FOCUSSES ON MINIMIZING LOSSES, PROFITS WILL FOLLOW
YOUR EGO IS TOO BIG
You are invincible. You know better and you want to show it. Hmm. Please don’t. You do not need to impress anyone with your trading, not even yourself. Trading and your ego do not match well. It is best to do not let your ego take over your trading business. Once the ego does, you will have the need to risk too much, be too irrational, want to make losses back, not place protective stop losses and so on and so forth. All major trading mistakes are driven by your ego. Stop your ego.
A PROFESSIONAL NEWS TRADER HAS SOLID RISK MANAGEMENT
YOU THINK YOU HAVE A TRADING STRATEGY
Hmm.. When in fact you don’t. Maybe you bought a new trading indicator or a fancy piece of software. But without a trading plan and a solid set of rules of how to use these indicators and programs, all you have are indicators and software. No trading strategy. A trading strategy tells you precisely when to enter, when to exit and most importantly – how much to risk. Even expensive trading courses focus too much on the trade entry and not so much on the exit. But the exit strategy is even more important. Do not get fooled!
A PROFESSIONAL NEWS TRADER HAS A TRADING STRATEGY THAT WORKS
YOU DO NOT EVALUATE YOUR TRADES
Evaluating and analyzing past trades? Bah, sounds boring. No need for that. Think again. A tremendous amount of time should be dedicated to analyzing and evaluating past trades. In order to see if you are on the right track with your strategy and trading goals. If you do not keep track of all of your trades, it is too easy to get lost in the chaotic jungle the trading universe really is. Do yourself a favor and have a trading log. Your trading performance will thank you!
A PROFESSIONAL NEWS TRADER EVALUATES EACH TRADE
YOU GIVE UP TOO EARLY
Sometimes nothing will work out and all you have is losses. All these great trade setups turn into losses. Many losses in a row. It is not seldom that even the best strategies can have long losing streaks. It is of utmost importance to still stick to the strategy. Maybe it is just that. A losing streak that will turn into profits very soon.
A PROFESSIONAL NEWS TRADER HAS PATIENCE