Trading on Target: How to Cultivate a Winner's State of Mind

“INTO-WISHING” AND HOPING THAT YOU WILL BE THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE

The people who become traders in the belief that they can be the exceptions to the rules of successful trading are off on the wrong track from the start. These wishful thinkers believe that they will be successful without getting an education in the technical aspects of trading and without putting together a business plan. Instead, they rely on what they read in the news or what they observe about a particular stock or commodity. If the fundamentals fail them, they might fall back on a ritual, such as holding onto a rabbit’s foot and turning three times to the right. “Why not? It worked the last time.”

Ultimately, these are the same people who support those who make money in the markets. They have no plan, no training, and no carefully developed, tested system. They become the fodder for the markets, the income-producing prey for the professional traders.

What causes new traders to enter the profession with such a naive, over-inflated view of their invulnerability? To name a few:

• Greed
• Laziness
• Egotism
• Lack of experience

The problem with the “into-wishing” approach to trading is that it guarantees failure in the form of losses. There are no good trading lessons to be derived from it except that it does not work.