“I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”– Thomas Edison 

“…If trading is only about money, you have very little chance of success.”– Dr. Van. K. Tharp

In recent times, some people have questioned the morality of online trading. Obviously, the question comes from lack of real understanding of trading.

Trading had long been done before the advent of the Internet: the Internet technology simply made it easier and easily accessible. In other areas of life and business, most things that were done before the advent of the Internet have now gone online. Think about hotel reservations and university applications for examples.

There are different types of markets, and Forex is just one of them. For examples, one can speculate on the prices of agricultural products online, and the risky nature of doing that doesn’t make it immoral.

It’s clear that trading online isn’t a sin – just as reading religious literature online and joining a service online isn’t a sin. We can now listen to sermons online, which wasn’t possible 50 year ago. Does that make it a sin?

With fast advances in science and technology, the ways we do business will forever keep on changing and evolving. A few or several decades ago, trading was done mainly in the pit, but things have changed now. Thanks to the Internet. 

James Altucher says that when he was 13 years old, the job he’s doing now didn’t exist. His daughter might end up doing a job that didn’t exist when she also was 13 years old. Those who don’t adapt to the changing technological ways of life will pay a heavy price for their myopic views.

At the beginning of his book, “Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do,” Robert H. Schuller (RIP) mentions what happened to his dad as a farmer. All his labor, crops, property and so on, were all destroyed by a violent storm. All his hard labor was in vain. Does that make it immoral to be a farmer?

Apart from the fact that there are certain factors beyond the control of the farmer (like weather conditions, poor harvest and economic forces); the farmer can sell at loss or at profit. That doesn’t make it a sin to be a farmer. In fact, farming is a noble profession. Trading is a noble profession too.

Robert’s dad continued working as a farmer. Though he seemed totally hopeless and helpless, but there was inner hope in him. What later happened to him? He was already a successful trader when he died.

One popular celebrity said she doesn’t believe in marriage. She was married about 32 years ago, and the marriage crashed in less than 2 years. Since then, she’s been preaching against marriage. Certain male and female celebrities also don’t believe in marriage. Does that make it wrong to get married? I know many people whose marriages are super successful. Marriage isn’t compulsory; neither is it evil.

A trading legend makes money trading stock and loses money trading futures, options and Forex, and he concludes that one can’t make money from Forex. Another legend that makes money from stocks, options and Forex says they’re excellent markets. What can you conclude from that? It means that the fact that one person is losing in a market doesn’t mean that others can’t make money from the same market. 

The world-famous Dr. Van K. Tharp has been using what he calls “oneness formula” to transform lives of traders. He mentions something like an inner guide who leads and guides traders to become successful not only in trading, but in other areas of life.  According to him, if you are not organized or tend to procrastinate or run away and hide each time you encounter some major psychological issue that impacts your life, then you don’t have a chance at becoming a successful trader.

This is what one of the beneficiaries of Van Tharp’s works has to say:

“There was a time I identified a negative association about God and trading, and sometimes I felt uncomfortable with the idea of trading. But then, I learned how it was just a belief. Just that. And I can always change any belief I want, and when I see things in a different way, there is no conflict between God and trading.” - J. Ernesto D. M. (Source: Vantharp.com).

Anne-Marie Baiynd is a successful trader as well as religious. This is what she’s to say:

“I strive for God to be in charge of my life. I live as a speck of dust, flawed, sinful and self-serving by nature. My existence is defined by emptiness without the existence of the All Mighty God. I am accepted and loved, nonetheless, and that creates within me, a great joy and contentment knowing that all my triumphs and successes come from God.”

Sir John Templeton, a market wizard, also said: “We are trying to persuade people that no human has yet grasped 1% of what can be known about spiritual realities. So we are encouraging people to start using the same methods of science that have been so productive in other areas, in order to discover spiritual realities.” (Interview with Financial Intelligence Report).

Bruce Bower, a hedge funds manager, is a Christian who goes to Church regularly. Joes Ross, one of the most experienced and the most eclectic traders in the word, is a good Christian. There are good Muslims who’re also traders. There are good Hindus, Buddhists, etc. who’re good traders as well. There are proficient traders all over the world who belong to major or minor religions. This is a level playing field.

Failure Is a Good Thing

Please see the quotes from Thomas Edison and from Dr. Van K. Tharp above. Failure is embedded in success. It’s part of success. It gives you opportunity to do your trading intelligently. Failure helps you to see how not to trade. When you do trading and fail, you learn how not to trade, and you use another method. Even if the new method fails, you try another method… Until you come across a trading approach that works for you. 

Those hugely successful people that you now envy took risks. They could’ve failed just like many others, but they were fortunate. If they failed, they’d try again and again. Mark Zuckerberg, who thinks of himself as an atheist, says the biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.  

The fact that you fail or the majority fail in something doesn’t make it sinful. Good trading is a serious business, not gamble. However, it’s not without risk, just like any other things in life.  

Trading is definitely no sin. Good trading principles aren’t against any other religions.

This piece is ended with the quotes below:

“I pray to Jesus Christ every day, but that is not a means to handle trading. I ask Him to guide my decisions, and that I would do my investing to glorify Him. Because I use my rules, there is little, if any, stress over trading. My processes are designed to take my emotion out of my infrequent buying and selling.”  – David J. Merkel

“I love the markets: They are alive, they move, they have spiritual energy. They are an expression of the universe and of course they are my mirror, just as they are your mirror. They are the medium through which I choose to express myself and grow.  I am grateful for this and the technology that allows me to participate and trust that the markets will always be there, no matter what change is upon us in the coming years.”- Mercedes Oestermann van Essen (Source: Thebuddhisttrader.com)

Source: www.tallinex.com