5 Golden Qualities of A Millionaire Option Trader
After more than a decade as a professional option trader and hedge fund manager, I’ve had the honor of knowing many great option traders all over the world as well as the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of thousands of broke option traders.From these great and brave option traders who dared go where no men has before, and from my personal option trading experience, I am quite awed to realize that there really isn’t much difference in the methods used by both profitable millionaire option traders and completely broke option traders. Both kinds of option traders used the appropriate option strategies corresponding to their opinion on the direction of the underlying asset. Most of these option traders even have the same opinion on the same underlying asset but ended up in dramatically different results.
I slowly understood that it takes more than just correct analysis and perfect option strategy execution to make it as a millionaire option trader. It takes a different breed of man! It takes a breed of man with qualities not naturally found in most people and who behaves and thinks very differently from an average person.
I have consolidated and listed here 5 outstanding qualities of real Millionaire Option Traders :
1. Cool Headed
While amplifying profits, option trading even greatly amplifies the effects of every tiny whipsaw on the underlying asset. What looks like a small, harmless whipsaw in the price of a stock will look like an earthquake on the price of its options. In the face of losing a lot of money very quickly due to whipsaws, a millionaire option trader remains cool headed and calm no matter what the trading value says. Too many option traders bail out and lose 50 to 60% of their money instantly due to such whipsaws, all due to their inability to stay cool in the face of such pressure. I was trading in the call options of a stock along with one of my option trading students in mid 2006. That particular stock went into a quick and deep whipsaw that took 50% from the value of our positions instantly. That option trading student of mine almost went crazy and then sold that position incurring a loss even though our stop loss point has yet to be hit (it was very close then). That position went on to make a profit of about 40% for me right after that whipsaw. Same trade, same opinion, different results.
2. Patient
The stock market is not an auto-teller machine where you simply go to withdraw money at will. No. The Stock market is like an ocean and all of us option traders are seafarers. All veteran seafarers know that there are seasons where one should not go out to sea at all. These are the seasons where the veterans seat back and watch the amateurs perish in the storms. A Millionaire Option Trader knows such seasons and is patient in waiting for the harvest season to come before making a move. Most amateurs option traders (yes, broke too) are more interested in making a lot of trades than to make profitable trades. Many of them will rush in and just trade something even if market conditions are too turbulent to result in a profitable trade. As we have mentioned before, option trading greatly amplifies every whipsaws made by the underlying asset. When you enter the market during very turbulent times, the whipsaws are enough to scare every option trader into making the wrong moves or to result in unnecessary tripping of stop loss points. A Millionaire Option Trader is like an eagle; He soars and glides peacefully and patiently, only when a clear opportunity turns up does he soar down mercilessly for the kill.
3. Systematic
A Millionaire Option Trader is systematic in identifying trading opportunities, systematic in trade and portfolio management, systematic in the execution of every trade, systematic in the stop loss of every trade, systematic in the profit taking of every trade, systematic with his or her lifestyle (in order to maintain a sound mind during trading hours), systematic in loss recovery, etc… Nothing is left to last minute decisions. Nobody can be trusted to make perfect decisions under pressure. A Millionaire Option Trader leaves no decision to be made during those times as every possibility and their corresponding action has been planned before hand. Unsystematic option traders, especially in the area of trade management, will often find themselves making huge losses and very small profits all the time.
4. Disciplined
Millionaire Option Traders are not only systematic, they are also highly disciplined traders. They stick to their trading plan, stop loss points and profit taking system with an iron clad discipline no matter how good or bad their position is doing. Being disciplined also mean that millionaire option traders are not driven by fear of loss or greed for profit. They have only one mission and that is to carry their trading methods to their ends. Unlike trading in stocks, the huge volatility in option trading often scare undisciplined traders into insensibly closing their positions at great losses before their stop loss points are hit and to greedily take profits off the table the very moment it is made even if their profit taking criteria are not fulfilled. This creates a situation again where option traders with the same opinion on the same stocks, executing the same option strategies end up with very different results.
5. Focused
Most amateur and often broke option traders jump from one method of trading to another like a lost bunny. They often go from long term option strategies into short term speculative trading just because they feel that there are money to be made there. It is like the man who ordered steak one minute, changed his order to pasta 5 minutes later and then changed his order to burger before the pasta arrived and then complained why his orders never came. All option trading strategies take time to produce results. A millionaire option trader is focused on the trading and investment objectives of his account and sticks to sensible strategies that fulfill those objectives.
There are many more differences in the qualities between a millionaire option trader and a mauled option trader but these are the main ones that I feel really make a difference. May this list help you reflect upon your own success or failures so that you can make internal changes that will show up as long term option trading success. For a free online trader psychometric test to help find out your suitable trading style, please visit http://psychometric.mastersoequity.com and for free option trading education, please visit http://www.optiontradingpedia.com .
Good luck on your journey to becoming the next Millionaire Option Trader.
posted by Jason Ng @ 12:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home