Difference between Amateur & Professional Trader

By | April 22, 2013 3:06 pm

Amateur trader are the ones who enter market to make money quickly and in turn lose most of their trading capital come back again with trading capital go bust again and cycle keeps on repeating for 3-4 years and eventually they quit market thinking its all manipulation which goes on.

Amateur trader  blames market for the outcome of a bad trade. Reasoning will be like

1. All market  analysts are crooks and they are paid to give wrong recommendation.
2. I just went away from screen and my stock collapsed.
3. Why it happens to me everytime i take trade and market moves opposite to me.
4. My friend gave me a bad tip.
5. Market Operators  pump and dump the stock.
6. The specialists are playing games.

The mark of a professional, however, sounds like this:

  1. It is my fault. I traded this position too large for my account size.
  2. It is my fault. I didn’t stick to my own risk parameters.
  3. It is my fault. I allowed my emotions to dictate my trades.
  4. It is my fault. I was not disciplined in my trades.
  5. It is my fault. I knew there was a risk in holding this trade into earnings, and I didn’t fully comprehend them when I took this trade.

The obvious difference here is accountability. The beauty of trading is you need to confront your “real self “, You need to handle your emotions and face them while you are trading which is most difficult task.

This is also known as “living in a fog.” A person can drift around through life in their own private world, where they are pretty special and can do no wrong. Unfortunately, trading rips off this mask, because you cannot dispute what has happened to your account. This is also known as “confronting reality.”

Some people say that traders are born, not made. Not so. If you choose to see the world as it is, then you can start trading successfully tomorrow.

3 thoughts on “Difference between Amateur & Professional Trader

  1. Saleem

    Good Evening Bramhesh,

    What you have said here is really what we know, but forget once the opening bell rings.

    I used to trade when I was doing my 12th (well, you’d probably call it gambling 🙂 ) and lost what little I had when I lost focus on the rules I had set for myself.

    Sometimes, I feel it helped me a lot as it changed my perspective on how I consider myself, meaning being obnoxious didn’t help much.

    I do have to thank you for a part of that, because I used to follow you blog during that time for intra-day tips.

    Today, I am unlearning and relearning what I thought I knew, everyday. I now know this takes time, however I feel its worth every second I spend on it. Trading does not feel like judgement day anymore. 🙂

    Thank you for your help.

    Regards,
    Saleem.

    Reply
  2. sunil

    Bramesh bhai pukka practical approach keep posting such nitty gritty articles that are always necessary for a trader like morning cup of tea

    Reply

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