Last Update: August 2021

Good Day Rookie Bloggers.

This week I want to talk about the two-headed monster inside of all of us when it comes to trading.

The monster I am referring to is the trader we WANT to be and the trader we HAVE to be.

This statement may sound strange to you if you have just waded into the trading pool. You see we all get illusions about what trading can mean to us. Everyone has seen the Hollywood version of trading, it’s the Wall Street type driving the Ferrari and wearing the $3000 Armani suit. As nice as this image is it really does a disservice to the budding trader as it can put both unrealistic expectations and unnecessary pressure to achieve this lofty status. This is not to say that one can’t be ultra-successful at trading and achieve very lofty goals but it is important to know one’s self and to work within that framework to achieve whatever one desires.

This blog idea was born from the hour I spent on Trade Masters tonight with my good friend Tyler. For those who are not familiar with the Trade Masters show on the Tackle Trading YouTube channel, it is a show in which two traders go head to head with trades to crown a winner judged by a somewhat neutral party. In this particular show, we each brought three picks to be judged. Now for a little background on Myself and my buddy Tyler. Tyler and I have very different approaches to trading, I have been well known for being conservative and using only equities with a certain amount of history and fundamental strength. My friend Tyler on the other hand is a technical wizard and hasn’t ever met a chart or pattern he didn’t like. Tyler likes a certain amount of volatility or more aptly put he looks for volatility to enrich his trade setup. I myself on the other hand prefer my volatility to be in check most of the time and only need the volatility in certain situations. I could simplify this even further, I like boring old trades with as certain outcomes as possible and my pal Ty can handle a little more uncertainty and excitement. The interesting thing about us two as traders is that both of us are successful at trading in our own ways.

So during the show, we both brought our best trades but as you can see from the ticker symbols the trades, even though we used similar strategies, were very different in nature. I put together trades using the tickers, HD, CSCO, and DE. One could classify these as boring stocks but I classify them as slow and steady or perhaps the word predictable might be apt. My pal Tyler on the other hand used the tickers COIN, ARKK, and AMC. These symbols could be classified as manic on one hand and extreme on the other. This is not to say that these are not excellent trades, it is just that these tickers have much more volatile personalities than the tickers I used. So what does this all mean? This is the crux of this week’s blog.

You have two traders that have very different approaches to trading yet still able to be successful at what they choose to do. Success comes to each of us because we remain true to the type of traders that we are. It can sometimes take a long time to figure out what kind of trader you are but it is imperative that you spend the time to figure out what makes you tick because this will lead to your own individual success and it will make the process of trading much easier to streamline and in turn much easier to repeat the winning parts of any trading system you employ. It may not have been evident from my description but a little review of the trades would quickly show that both Ty and myself were staying true to the type of traders we are and that is what gives us the edge in trading. Getting outside of one’s comfort zone without study and practice can be very detrimental to one’s bankroll or trading capital and that is an unacceptable condition for trading success.

At the end of the day, the most important thing that I learned about trading is that it can be a reflection of one’s own psychology. If we try to be something we are not when it comes to trading it can get very expensive. This does not mean we can’t learn to do other things but we must make them our own before we can be successful at implementing these new processes and skills. So if you want to trade well then be true to yourself and let your own nature guide you through the process of becoming great at what you do. If you be the trader you are meant to be instead of the trader you want to be then you will find much more success.

Trade Well and Trade True,

Coach “Old Money” Holmes

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