Ten Signs You Are Probably A Terrible Trader

Ten Signs You Are Probably A Terrible Trader

by

An image of a distraught stock trader who lost a lot of money

Warning the following article is beyond harsh and is information no seasoned trader will tell you. Before reading further, I have been trading since 2011 when I was still in college. I have over 1,100 trades and have beaten the market since 2013  (S&P 500). I have well over six figures in profits as well. So the information below comes out of experience and honesty. Take what you will from it.

Over 90% of traders will lose money in the stock market. If you are reading this you are a loser in the Market. To encourage you to quit before you lose all your money, I created a list below to make you realize you are terrible at trading and should find another dream to pursue.

1 – You follow “professional” traders on Twitter. The truth is many on Twitter are complete phonies and have built a fake trading persona to end up selling you something in the end. More on this can be found in my guide on identifying fraud traders.

2 – You look at inspirational quotes or quotes from “famous” traders as part of your trading regimen. This is nonsense, this won’t help you.

3 – You assume psychology is a major part of trading, much more than an actual system. As such, you constantly remind yourself that you lost money in your last trade because of psychological mistakes and thus you refer to #2 on the list to regain focus (useless trading quotes). If psychology was such a big part the simple solution would be to write programs that would trade for you (this isn’t a moneymaker). Many “professional” traders instill that psychology is big enough to sell you their products to improve your “weak” psychology. To be clear I am sure most of you lack discipline, but even with discipline you still would lose money.
4 – You watch CNBC or look at mainstream media for advice on trading the Market. News flash, journalists, and people who write articles are unlikely to understand the exceedingly complex and random forces that are the Market. Always ignore the headlines when trying to justify market movements.



5 – You think the more time you put into the Market will directly result in actual profits. No, this is not true, again this is false information given by “professional” traders to up their winning persona so that in the end they can sell you something. If indeed one has developed a winning system, it does not require hours of looking at charts on Friday night while your wife gets dressed up before you guys go out. It’s done with programs and scripts scanning the markets which take seconds a day (after the initial work done to develop a winning edge..this will likely never happen).

6 – You buy a lot of trading books and software. The information from trading books or software may have been profitable. However, once that information is public and its knowledge is known by many, it will likely yield an edge in the Markets. Hence, a reminder if you have something truly profitable you should keep it a secret.

7 – You subscribe to a trading service.  By 2024, you should have learned all these services are bogus scams. To understand why I claim that stock trading services are bad, the article linked provides a plethora of information.

8 – You trade options. Options are gambling. It always gives the person who sells the options a massive edge. Let’s hope you have yet to be inspired by WallStreetBets on Reddit to go all-in with out-of-the-money options, YOLOing your life away.

9 – You hindsight trade. If you do this, you have no business even owning a stock trading account. Should of, could of, and would of is not a winning strategy! It’s a strategy for the fastest way you can lose your house to the bank!

10 – Finally, your account continually goes to $0. Take a hint. Quit.

How many of the ten listed above are you guilty of?

For those who want to stop losing, look at our article on creating a trading edge based on your current system. It’s an in-depth guide I have yet to see anywhere else online.

Leave a Comment