TRADING PSYCHOLOGY: THE MIND OF A TRADER

Just what does it really take to become a successful trader in today's markets? To answer that question adequately one must first understand the mind of a successful trader and what his/her thought processes are. Today's markets have changed dramatically just in the past few years and those changes are due to a variety of different factors. For one, our technology has increased dramatically allowing the once insolated trader to have the very same information and powerful trading platforms as the institutional market makers.That alone is very powerful! We also have the power of the internet and the information which can be transferred from the first point of origin to its readers in a matter of seconds. We have the ability to see level two information allowing the trader to have at his fingertips what was virtually "inside" information just a few short years ago. These factors coupled with the growing desire for independence and freedom among those willing to risk venturing out on their own in the trading arena, has made successful trading today not only possible - but more importantly, probable.

So once again we ask, 'What does it take to become a successful trader in today's markets?". It takes understanding one very important concept regarding two very important emotions which guide today's markets - regardless of what those markets are actually selling. Before we get into just what exactly those two emotions are, let us first examine the nature of people. For that is what we truly are trading - we are not trading currency, equities, cattle, or coffee beans. No my friends, although we might physically be trading those commodities, we are really trading PEOPLE! Every time you place an order to buy anything, you must first understand that there must be someone out there who is willing to sell you what it is you want to buy. Who is smarter? You for buying it from him - or is he smarter, for selling it to you? You see, trading my friends, is the ability to see what others do not. To be truly successful as a trader one must have the ability to see beyond what the present is telling us and instead look beyond the present to anticipate the future - for it is the innate ability to anticipate the future where true wealth really lies. There is a point somewhere down the line during the course of a series of trades where someone, who could not look beyond the present, lost out big on a trade. If someone sells one Swiss June Contract for 6200, and then a buyer purchases it and turns around and sells that same contract for 6210…somewhere down the line, that contract is going to be overbought and there is the unfortunate soul out there who is the only one who sees the value in buying that same Swiss contract for 6240! Now when he tries to sell it, no-one, and I mean no-one is willing to buy it because no-one sees anymore value in it at 6240 - no more future value, that is, and of course the currency price falls. This process of buying up and selling down, is my friends fed by the two very things that drive the market, the two very things that shape our very existence, for it runs in cycles and is the cycle of life. Those two things are emotions and those two emotions are Greed and Fear. To understand that one very basic yet powerful concept, is my friends, the key to understanding and most importantly to conquering today's market. …