TRADING PSYCHOLOGY
Put Yourself Back In The Trading Picture
Life On Hold
by Adrienne Laris Toghraie
If you have put your trading on hold, you
undoubtedly have a compelling reason. To support your case for being stuck,
you can find countless others who will nod in agreement and understanding
as they wait to tell you their own sad tales. On the other hand, there
are traders whose roadblock stories are just as compelling as yours, but
who are successfully trading, nonetheless. How do traders overcome their
excuses?
NO MONEY
As a new money manager, Joe had only $250,000 to manage. His own operating
funds were based on a standard fee of 2% of capital and 20% of the 54%
profit that he was earning for his clients. Despite his outstanding track
record, the income from his business was barely $20,000 a year. After paying
his expenses, Joe was living from hand to mouth. Deeply frustrated, he
had only enough funds in his bank account for six more months of trading
operations. Understandably, his financial situation started to affect his
trading profits, and eventually, he was forced to close up shop. Joe's
reasons for being unable to succeed were:
- Insufficient capital.
- Having no one to market his success as a money manager.
- Lacking the time or ability to market himself.
Tim could have been in a similar situation had it not been for the fact
that he had learned how to market, sell, speak, and write his way to becoming
a money manager. Through the Toastmasters organization, he had learned
to speak before groups about trading. In the course of reading books for
his Toastmasters speeches, he had also learned about selling and marketing.
The books he read directed him to write articles and seek out public venues
for his ideas. While studying marketing at a seminar, Tim met David, who
became his marketing and sales representative. In less than the time it
took Joe to fail, Tim had his trading firm managing $10 million.
LEGAL BUREAUCRACY
Recently, I have been hearing from traders about dramatic court cases
that have caused them stress and delay. A few of these traders have stopped
trading, while others are fighting to sustain their trading performance.
These cases run the gamut from divorce settlements, child custody, and
inheritance battles to business-related issues. Here is one example of
a legal battle that created havoc in a trader's performance and the strategy
that took him off his holding pattern and on to trading again.
...Continued in the September 2001 issue of Technical Analysis of
STOCKS & COMMODITIES
Adrienne Toghraie is a trading coach operating out of Cary, NC. She
can be reached at 919 851-8288.
Excerpted from an article originally published in the September
2001 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine.
All rights reserved. © Copyright 2001, Technical Analysis, Inc.
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