The Trader's Pendulum: The 10 Habits of Highly Successful Traders

Chapter 1The Successful Trader versus the Average Trader

Fred Boros, a man in his early thirties, had reached his breaking point. He pushed away from his desk, stood up, and switched off his computer screen. It had happened again. Things just weren't working out as he had hoped. He began to pace back and forth in his office.

Fred had been trading stocks for over a year and had envisioned that by this time, he would have been successful enough to move out of his cramped apartment and up the financial ladder. Previously, Fred had worked as an engineer with a large defense contractor, a job that paid him well but required long, unfulfilling hours. He had wanted a fuller life outside the cubicle prison. But it didn't seem to be working out.

The Conversation that Changed Fred's Life

One evening, two years earlier at his neighborhood health club, Fred had the conversation that changed the course of his life.

While waiting for a pick-up game of racquetball, Fred started talking with an ex-work associate. The man told him how he had escaped from the corporate world and became a self-employed day trader. He was full of excitement about his new life, and had spun such a wonderful story that Fred was excited to know how he, too, could be free and financially stable.

Fred became obsessed with learning to trade. He invested his time and money attending seminars, read every book he could get his hands on, and paid expensive membership fees to join online forums where he could exchange notes ...