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I already read your book… and I can’t explain the experience in words. Now I’m thinking in terms of go with the flow in each and every aspect of life. Means trend following works in everyday life. I definitely want to meet you once in a lifetime. Thank you Michael.
Thanks, but I am not that special!
Food for thought:
Enjoy.
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John Force is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16 time champion and his team has 18 championships under them. John is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with over 144 career victories and he is still pushing limits at 68 years old. John is considered the best. He is a premier example of making it happen with no excuses.
What drives John? He says, “At the end of the day everyone has to eat.” But beyond that, he simply loves what he does. He loves driving the cars and explains it as magic to him. It is that passion that has gotten him through crashes, burns and even fatalities among fellow racers and friends.
Passion may be what keeps him going, but it is a system that keeps him alive. There is an aspect of a cowboy attitude, however John has a checklist that he lives by. He has been driving for 4 decades and at this point he pokes fun at himself saying he is a trained monkey. It’s about sticking to what you have been taught and not veering too far from those teachings.
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Mark Minervini is author of “Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard: How to Achieve Super Performance in Stocks in Any Market” and now his newest book, “Think and Trade Like a Champion: The Secrets, Rules and Blunt Truths of a Stock Market Wizard.” He was also featured in Jack Schwager’s “Stock Market Wizards.” This is Mark’s second appearance on the show.
Nature vs. nurture or the debate of whether a person is “naturally gifted” is one of the oldest debates out there. Mark says he was an “unnatural” when it came to trading and he was actually in the negative for the first six years when he started. Why did he keep going? He had a passion for trading and a bigger vision of what he was doing. Mark knew he had all the tools to trade for profit, just not all the experience yet. He believed in what he was doing, had a passion for it, took responsibility for his flaws and put the process before the results–that is why Mark thinks he has been able to thrive over the years. “If you do not think you can perform at a certain level, you won’t be able to perform at that level” explains Mark.
Trading ultimately doesn’t come down to talent, it comes down to a trader’s correct mentality. Everyone wants to win, but everyone doesn’t choose to win. Is your passion your priority? Sacrifice is essential when trying to obtain anything worthy and Mark shares some of the personal sacrifices he made to become who he is today.
Next, Mark explains what is known as “the trading triangle.” Your average gain, average loss, and percentage of wins is what is known as the trading triangle. Averaging those components makes up your personal bell curve. When Mark does workshops only 8-12% of people attending have an idea of what their average gains and losses are.
Michael and Mark end the podcast going over the pros and cons of diversification. Diversification is great until it turns into what Mark calls “di-worsification.” When traders and companies start to veer too far from their core values they can start to hurt themselves with diversifying. There are many benefits from diversification when done in the correct way. Good traders know when to step on the gas and have a strategy backing them up.
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Food for thought:
Enjoy.
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Paul Singer is described as one of the smartest money managers. He has a 2.2B net worth. His perspective on trading mirrors trend following even though he is not a stated trend trader. Listen and learn.
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Hi Michael,
I came across your work around 3-4 months ago, I don’t remember how but I’m glad I did. I’ve gone back and listened to many of your podcasts and in one of them you spoke about the ability or wondered if someone could be taught to become a Trend Follower with no market experience.
I don’t remember it exactly, however I felt it described me perfectly. For the last 2.5 years I have worked in Foreign Exchange as an Account Manager in Australia. A person who already worked their took me under their wing and has taught me about trading over the past 18 months. He has been a trader for 17 years and trades Currencies, Stocks (Options), Commodities and uses the same strategy regardless of the instrument.
At the time I did not know, however they are a trend follower so from day 1, that’s what I have also been taught…. and when I look at things now I don’t understand why everyone isn’t a trend follower (music to your ears) as it makes 100% complete sense to me.
I guess I am writing to you to say, YES! Someone can be taught from zero experience in the financial markets to become and be taught to be a trend follower. The firs thing my mentor told me to do was read Jesse Livermore’s books which I have done. Over the past 18 months, I have read those books, found new mentors (yourself included) joined Twitter to follow you guys and paper traded for 12 months.
I’m not a rash, spur of the moment guy, and I think that’s why Trend Following appeals to me, I’ve read and listened to many many people considered to be successful traders in this area and really taken my time to understand and learn about the markets and more importantly how to be a successful trader/trend follower.
I just wanted to reach out and say YES, from an absolute novice with no experience you can be taught to be a trend follower, and I think it’s the only way to trade! Your book has been ordered from Amazon (New Version) along with TurtleTrader, Market Wizards and Trading in the Zone to accompany my 3 Livermore books and my wall of mentors:
Jesse Livermore
Michael Brown (work colleague)
Michael Covel
LMT978 – Larry
Stephen Burns
Rayner TeoA few others, however I’ve come across these guys from your site and interviews (thank you).
I look forward to becoming an extremely successful trader and one day would love to be interviewed for you audience as a very successful trader that no-one had heard of!
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Thanks for the nice words!
