{"id":1893,"date":"2009-09-02T17:10:52","date_gmt":"2009-09-02T22:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=1893"},"modified":"2023-04-06T14:24:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T18:24:11","slug":"your-job-is-not-to-make-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/your-job-is-not-to-make-money","title":{"rendered":"Your Job is Not to Make Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do all of these things have in common? We took down our leaderboard at our firm a few months ago. Today one of our traders left early because he got stopped out. The other day I was interviewing a candidate for our desk who defined a good trading day by how much he made or lost. What is your answer?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Sunday on StockTwits TV<\/a>\u00a0I offered my definition of an optimal trading day. First I considered whether it should be defined by your P&L, whether you were Number 1 in the firm, your mental state after the trading day, or some other metric. I chose an answer that falls under the category of some other metric. I particularly eviscerated the argument that you ought to judge your day by your P&L. It made for some good TV as well.<\/p>\n

Mike why is it wrong to leave after being stopped out? If I cannot trade then why stay? Because your goal for the trading day is not to make money. And your optimal trading day should not be defined by money. Your goal for the trading day should be to learn while improving and expanding your trading playbook and contemporaneously trading in the zone for at least 5 1\/2 hours. (Go watch the video on StockTwits TV if you want a fuller description of my optimal trading day.) If you leave before the Close you have forfeited hours on the demo where you can improve and expand your playbook. Getting stopped out does not mean you had a bad day. But leaving early ensures an atrocious trading day.<\/p>\n

New traders have got to stop trying to make money. It is sort of like that girl you know who really wants a boyfriend. The harder she tries to get one, the more she obsesses about landing one, the worse her chances. We all know we meet the people we were intended to be with by just living our lives.<\/p>\n

Trading is about skill development and discipline. Great traders make money because their trading playbook is stacked and they are constantly expanding and improving it. Money, P&L, is just an outgrowth of a killer playbook.<\/p>\n

I was interviewing a bright young trader yesterday who described trading as an activity where you either win or lose based upon your P&L. I gave him a hard stare. Each day is a learning opportunity. Each day can be successful if your goal is to improve and expand your playbook. In fact, you can have the best trading day of your career and get stopped out. Huh? Bella now you are really losing it. Say on this same day you watch the markets via a demo and add a new play to your playbook that you will crush for the rest of your career. That is a great day!<\/p>\n

You can be better tomorrow than you are today!<\/p>\n

Mike Bellafiore<\/p>\n

One Good Trade<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The PlayBook<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

No relevant positions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do all of these things have in common? We took down our leaderboard at our firm a few months ago. Today one of our traders left early because he got stopped out. The other day I was interviewing a candidate for our desk who defined a good trading day by how much he made or lost. What is your … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[4676,354,30,18],"class_list":["post-1893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-comments-2","category-mike-bellafiore-bellas-blogs","tag-day-trading","tag-optimal-trading-day","tag-prop-trading","tag-smb-capital","no-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nYour Job is Not to Make Money | SMB Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/your-job-is-not-to-make-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Job is Not to Make Money | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do all of these things have in common? 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