Core Trader Skills

Several weeks ago I wrote an article titled, Trading: An activity vs. Trader as Business Owner. The main idea was that traders are entrepreneurs. To underscore that statement, here is the definition of an entrepreneur from the BusinessDictionary. “Someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the…

This is part one of two articles on ‘soft’ skills. These skills provide a missing piece to your trading proficiency and can take your trading performance to the next level. Have you ever . . . . . . started solving a problem only to discover you were working on a symptom of the problem—and…

Learning is NOT a luxury for traders. It is an essential skill for greater success. As you develop whole-brain thinking, the way you design your models and implement them can take you beyond what you have thought possible with your trading efforts. Synthesize intuitive and rational-brain thinking strengths. Some of the articles we suggest you…

The author references chess while sharing his thoughts on performance: “A chess student must initially become immersed in the fundamentals in order to have any potential to reach a high level of skill. He or she will learn the principles of endgame, middle game, and opening play. Initially one or two critical themes will be…

You can increase your effectiveness as a trader by expanding your skills in HOW to think, not just WHAT to think about. Discover the several different types of structured-learning processes you can choose from. In 2001, WindoTrader Corporation (our software development company) began offering WindoTrader, a Market Profile based software application. At the same time,…

In 1967 I took a course on “how successful people think.” The instructor used the analogy of a tree with branches to share with us what he used to solve problems and make decisions. To say the least, I was blown away by the concept; I still use it multiple times a day in one…

Rational thinking helps you understand the value of tracking. You can keep track of what you need to do and when you need to it for the best chance of achieving the success you seek. Here is a story about rational thinking that we hope you will appreciate. Have you ever seen 14 pieces of…

“The two hemispheres of our brain don’t operate as on-off switches— one powering down as soon as the other starts lighting up. Both halves play a role in nearly everything we do.”—Daniel Pink. You are better informed while making decisions that matter in your trading practice when you resource both your logical AND intuitive brains.…

In his latest book, Flash Foresight, Burrus defines the essence of his book’s title, as a “sudden burst of insight about the future that produces a new and radically different way of doing something that will open up invisible opportunities and solve seemingly impossible problems before they happen.” His client list includes Microsoft to American…

Control and manage your perpetual learning journey as a trader: WHY? Because learning plays a major role in your success. WHAT? Because knowing ‘what to learn’ is essential to achieving success. WHO? Because who we learn from and with is key. In this article we’ll focus on three areas of your learning journey as a…

As traders, we spend more time making decisions than we do trading! Though it’s natural to take decision-making for granted, problem-solving and decision-making are processes that we can optimize. Why is it that only a few traders invest significant amounts of time learning how to increase their skills in this area? Having worked with traders…

A commitment to gather resources and expand your trading knowledge-base can augment your skills, help develop your values, impart important insights, and increase your ability to prioritize and synthesize all you’ve been learning. To set the context for this article, we’ll begin by quoting definitions from Wikipedia for both learning and education as well as…