Everyone has a different approach when it comes to the market. Some people play the long side, the short side, options, commodities, futures, currencies, etc. In addition, some people buy strength, weakness, etc. No matter what your strategy is in the market, all that matters is that you control risk and produce CONSISTENT results.
What defines a person as someone who is the best in their field? One word: CONSISTENCY. Michael Jordan is not one of the best basketball players ever to play the game because he scored 30 points ONCE in a game. It is because he averaged 30 points PER GAME over a 15 year career. Paul Tudor Jones is not considered one of the best traders and money managers out there because he was positive ONE year. It is because he has been CONSISTENTLY positive over the past 25 years.
The main focus for all traders should be: Protecting the downside and producing consistently positive results. You don’t want to be a boom and bust trader who makes a ton of money in the uptrends, only to give it back in the downtrends. Trust me, I did this a few times early in my career and it’s not fun. After doing a great deal of post analysis of my trading, I made the proper changes to make sure I don’t do this again.
One last piece of advice: Traders should not obsess with their day-to-day results. What I personally do is shoot for positive quarters. You’ll stress and beat yourself up too much trying to make money every day, week, or month. Rather, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If you’re like me and want to stay in the game for a long time, you are better off looking at the bigger picture and focusing on long-term consistency. Good luck trading!
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