INSIGHTS INTO THE MINDSET OF SUPER TRADERS – Part 14

“Most traders will quit and stay away from trading after blowing up a few trading accounts. But those with grit will constantly reflect upon their actions and seek to better themselves, which separates the winners from the losers.”– Rayner Teo

Name: Martin Schwartz

Year of birth: 1945

Nationality: American

Hobbies: Professional trading and professional horse racing

Career

In 1967, Martin attended Amherst College. He also earned an MBA from Columbia University in 1970. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves from the year 1968 to the year 1973.  He also worked as a financial analyst at E. F. Hutton.

He saved about one $100,000 USD and went into full-time trading, buying a seat on the American Stock Exchange. That year, he made a profit of $600, 000 USD and in the following year, he made a profit of $1.2 million USD. But we need to know that prior to that time, he was a consistent loser in the markets.

In 1984, Martin became famous when he won the U.S. Investing Championship. He’s made great wealth from the markets. He authored a book titled “Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street's Champion Day Trader.” He loves to go for short-term market fluctuations, and being successful at doing that, he began managing money for other people.

From the year 2002 till now, Martin Schwartz has been winning in professional horse racing.

Insights

1. Contrary to some people’s opinion, it’s possible to become a successful trader using technical analysis. When Martin was trading based on fundamentals, he was losing. When he became a technical analyst he earned a fortune. However, there are also successful fundamental analysts. The lesson is that, you shouldn’t say something can’t work for others just because it isn’t working for you.

2. You need to approach the markets as a serious business; those who comply with this fact get paid from those who don’t comply.

3. You need to work hard before you can become a profitable trader. There’s nothing worth having which comes easily. Hard work is part of your probability of attaining success as a trader.

4. We want to make money, without being necessarily right. We need to master our ego and realize that making money is more important than being right. We make money by cutting our losses, and we lose money by letting them run. Martin Schwartz says that by preserving your capital through the use of stops, you make it possible to wait patiently for a high-probability trade with a low-risk entry-point.One of the great tools of trading is the stop, the point at which you divorce yourself from your emotions and ego and admit that you´re wrong.

5. Prepare for each trading day, for it matters much. No trades, no profits. You need to pull the trigger before you can hope to make any profits.

Conclusion: There are traders who’ve spent many years in the markets without being profitable. Isn’t it so frustrating when we keep on losing money in spite of the vast knowledge we’ve in the markets? We’ll be tempted from time to time to conclude that it’s impossible to make money trading Forex, yet we won’t give up because there is a kind of inner hope that would keep on pushing us to success. We definitely need to be courageous. We shouldn’t make things difficult for ourselves when trading. Majority of traders don’t want to agree that using difficult trading methods don’t increase profitability. 

This article is ended with a quote from Martin:

“Trading is a psychological game. Most people think they are playing against the market, but the market doesn´t care. You’re really playing against yourself.”

Further reading: Advfnbooks.com

What Super Traders Don’t Want You To Know: http://www.advfnbooks.com/books/supertraders/index.html  

Source: www.tallinex.com