There is no such thing as easy money when it comes to trading. You won’t make a quick buck when you first start out, but with the right amount of work, practice and discipline, you’ll be well on your way.
The market is a wild and unforgiving beast. Over the years that I have been involved with markets, I’ve seen a rather alarming number of traders get viciously chewed up and spat out indiscriminately by it.
The market doesn’t care who you are, how smart you are, what your background is and what you believe you are entitled to. The market only trades and it handsomely rewards those who get it right. And it leaves those who get it wrong by the side of the road. There is no middle ground, there is no discrimination. You are either right, or you are wrong. And price relative to your position is the only thing that determines this.
So now that the scary stuff is out of the way, there is some good news. Every single person can become a trader. As mentioned above, the market does not care if you are smart or well educated, it treats us all the same.
This means that each one of us has an equal opportunity to become a great trader. The stock market is probably the only great frontier left in which someone can start with almost nothing and literally make millions.
Trading is a skillset that can be learnt and practised over time. The trick to becoming a great trader is very simple: just survive the learning period.
Over the years that I have been actively involved in markets, I have been fortunate enough to learn some invaluable lessons, both firsthand and from several great mentors. Even though there are probably enough lessons to fill an entire encyclopedia, I find the following lessons to be some of the more important ones for traders at pretty much any stage of their trading careers.
1. Becoming a great trader takes longer than you think
Esta historia es de la edición 24 May 2018 de Finweek English.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición 24 May 2018 de Finweek English.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
THE HEALTH OF SA'S MEDICAL SCHEMES
As the Covid-19 pandemic abates, finweek takes a look at the financial performance of some of the largest players.
The effect of Gilbertson's departure
With Ntsimbintle Holdings now the major shareholder of Jupiter Mines, it could change SA’s manganese industry.
Making money from music
Why investors are increasingly drawn to the music industry.
Conviction is key
Sandy Rheeder plays a critical role in Mukuru’s mission to open up financial services to the emerging consumer market in Africa through tailor-made technology solutions and platforms.
The post-pandemic toolkit
How CFOs can use technology to support growth.
Big city living exodus
Mini cities like Waterfall City and Steyn City are redefining city-style apartment living.
Big compact, big value
Handsome, with a hefty level of standard specification, the roomy Haval Jolion compact crossover is a great value proposition.
On barriers to entry
There are various ways in which a company or sector can achieve competitive dominance. They usually make for good investments.
Fear and greed in one index
To buck the trend, when markets are hot or cold, is a tough thing to do. However, it can deliver solid returns.
Africa's largest data centre facility coming soon
Vantage Data Centers plans to invest over R15bn for its first African data centre facility in Attacq’s Waterfall City.
