{"id":19048,"date":"2012-05-24T15:31:47","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T19:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=19048"},"modified":"2012-05-24T15:34:05","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T19:34:05","slug":"a-sad-anecdote-of-a-failed-trader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/a-sad-anecdote-of-a-failed-trader","title":{"rendered":"A sad anecdote of a failed trader"},"content":{"rendered":"

I received this email from a trader this week:<\/p>\n

Hey Mike,<\/p>\n

We talked awhile ago, about how your book “One Good Trade” has helped me and my 5 friends on the trading desk at our prop trading firm($$$$ Capital).\u00a0 I have been trading for about 12 months total and about 6 months live.\u00a0 I have found that your website blogs and tweets during the day have really helped me excel my trading curve.\u00a0 My prop trading firm is more of a “Do it yourself” type of firm, and I feel in trading to succeed you need a mentor to guide you through all the ups and downs of the market. Therefore, I came to realized that you, your blog, and SMB capital have been more of a mentor then my firm in general. I don’t think that is right at all. If I want to be successful, I have to find the place, environment, and people that are going to help me achieve that. \u00a0 I would be grateful if you took a look at my attached resume, because I have conviction that your firm has the resources I need to become a successful intraday trader.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I responded:<\/p>\n

Please send me your trading runs for the past 4 months.
\nThxs for the interest.<\/p>\n

Mike<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His sent results were: 1k down days, almost no positive days, and never even a hint of progress in four months of data.<\/p>\n

I was reading Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere<\/em><\/a> where Tadas Viskanta<\/a> tackles the issue of the failure rate of a professional trader.\u00a0 Barry Rithlotz <\/a>is sited and compared the difficulty of becoming a professional trader with that of a professional athlete, clarifying it was easier to be a pro trader but still very challenging.\u00a0 The trader above should not be considered in the failure statistics.<\/p>\n

1) He was not a professional trader.\u00a0 He was a guy who sat in front of a computer at an arcade offering a rental service.\u00a0 You rent my space and my computers for commissions on your trades.\u00a0 It is like a bunch of buddies getting together and renting the basketball floor at Madison Square Garden for a few hours of pick up.\u00a0 That does not make them professional basketball players.<\/p>\n

2) How exactly do you lose $1k in a trading day when you have not shown and ability to make money?\u00a0 That is irresponsibly, unprofessional and unacceptable. \u00a0 Who the hell was allowing this Newb to rip it up like this?\u00a0 To whomever was managing\/monitoring this Newb: please get out of business<\/em>. This trader’s intraday loss limit should have never risen to above $150 given his results.<\/p>\n

3) What was gained from this experience?\u00a0 The gentleman still does not know how to trade.\u00a0 He learned almost nothing from this experience.\u00a0 This is sad.<\/p>\n

4) I have read most of the overly negative trading forums complain that training is not worth the cost.\u00a0 Stick this anecdote in those forum posts please you snarky know-nothings.\u00a0 Your forums poor advice contributed to the useless trading start of the Newb above.\u00a0 This gentlemen really wanted to be a trader.\u00a0 He just wasted a year and well over 25k failing at his passion while having no chance to succeed.<\/p>\n

To become great at anything requires coaching.\u00a0 That is why Phil Mickelson has three coaches just on his golf game.<\/p>\n

There is too much data in the marketplace for a Newb to know where to start without guidance.\u00a0 In this market you have virtually no chance without a wonderful support system helping you improve everyday as a Newb.<\/p>\n

5) There will be traders who are trained well and fail.\u00a0 There will in fact be a lot.\u00a0 Not everyone can do it.\u00a0 Just like millions play golf, pay for lessons, and never make the PGA Tour.\u00a0 Just like hundreds of millions play soccer when they are young and do not play for Manchester United.<\/p>\n

But if trading is your passion why not give yourself the best chance to succeed?\u00a0 Why not really learn how to trade? \u00a0 Why not learn the work you must do daily to improve?\u00a0 Why not learn how good you can be as a trader?\u00a0 Why not surround yourself with other pro traders who can offer mentorship?\u00a0 Do you really want to be like the Newb above?\u00a0 And if you give your passion your best effort, are trained well and fail, well then that was an experience worth having.<\/p>\n

Bella<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I received this email from a trader this week: Hey Mike, We talked awhile ago, about how your book “One Good Trade” has helped me and my 5 friends on the trading desk at our prop trading firm($$$$ Capital).\u00a0 I have been trading for about 12 months total and about 6 months live.\u00a0 I have found that your website blogs … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[1990,1376,29,1828,1996,1354,1989,1349],"class_list":["post-19048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-comments-2","category-mike-bellafiore-bellas-blogs","tag-day-trading-class","tag-p","tag-prop-trader","tag-smbu","tag-trading-class","tag-trading-coach","tag-trading-course","tag-trading-mentor","no-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nA sad anecdote of a failed trader | SMB Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/a-sad-anecdote-of-a-failed-trader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A sad anecdote of a failed trader | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I received this email from a trader this week: Hey Mike, We talked awhile ago, about how your book “One Good Trade” has helped me and my 5 friends on the trading desk at our prop trading firm($$$$ Capital).\u00a0 I have been trading for about 12 months total and about 6 months live.\u00a0 I have found that your website blogs ... 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