{"id":2562,"date":"2010-07-25T05:00:53","date_gmt":"2010-07-25T09:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/club.ino.com:80\/trading\/?p=2562"},"modified":"2010-07-23T15:09:12","modified_gmt":"2010-07-23T19:09:12","slug":"5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Being a professional trader is a dream many investors strive for. According to Moby Waller of Big Trends<\/a>, it is an attainable goal that like everything else, requires a strong foundation. Here are 5 tips to becoming a full timer from Moby that you or may not have considered. Be sure to comment and let us know what your ultimate trading goals are and what you have found to be important parts of your trading routine.<\/p>\n

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n

So you want to be a professional trader?\u00a0 Here are some aspects of the job that you might not have thought of.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Have a dedicated working environment and structured work hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Create a space for your trading that is solely devoted to that and make sure it is suitable for your needs.\u00a0 What kind of computer power do you need?\u00a0 How many monitors will you be using?\u00a0\u00a0 What software packages and scans will you be running?\u00a0\u00a0 Do you want CNBC or other channels on a television?\u00a0 What newspapers, magazines and websites will be perused each day?\u00a0 And so on\u2026<\/p>\n

Next, devote a set amount of time to trading every day.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s the 6.5 hours that the U.S. market is open, or 1 hour at the open\/close, or 2 hours before the open and after the close, find a time that works for your trading and stick with it like a real job.<\/p>\n

I knew a trader in Chicago who began \u201cscalping\u201d U.S. Futures vs. German DAX Futures, which required him to go into the office every night from about Midnight to 5 am.\u00a0 Is this a sacrifice? Yes \u2026 but the pay and profits from it made it worth his while.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Have regular performance reviews and keep detailed records.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trading on a professional basis is a very competitive, bottom line business.\u00a0 Think of it as being a professional athlete.\u00a0 When companies are \u201cgiving\u201d you large amounts of capital to trade with, they want a good return on their investment.<\/p>\n

In addition to benchmarks of indexes and positive returns, many firms will pit and rank their traders against each other on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis.\u00a0 The top performers are richly rewarded, while the laggards and money-losers will quickly be cut from the roster in many cases.\u00a0 The top traders are often given leeway and other perks (such as showing up late) that won\u2019t be given to those who haven\u2019t or aren\u2019t proving themselves.<\/p>\n

Evaluate your own trading performance with such a ruthless eye.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t making your weight over an extended time frame, pull yourself off the trading floor so to speak, and re-evaluate.\u00a0 Test new methods and concepts in paper trades.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Find a profitable niche.
\n<\/strong>
\nThis is an obvious, but difficult, concept.\u00a0 Most traders and firms will specialize in one area of the markets where they find a significant \u201cedge\u201d, and attempt to milk that area as long as possible.\u00a0 There are very few jack-of-all-trades these days in terms of actual day-to-day trading.<\/p>\n

There are so many niche areas in the marketplace these days, some example are:<\/p>\n

Earnings plays, takeover arbitrage, currency hedges, premium selling, bond durations, breakouts, trading ranges, volatility, convertibles, delta neutral, intermarket hedges, growth stocks, value stocks, ETF arbitrage, etc.<\/p>\n

A rule of thumb here is that the least number of people that understand a certain trading niche, the more profit potential & edge there is in it.\u00a0 For example, think of the number of people who trade mutual funds vs. stocks vs. options \u2013 it gets progressively lower.\u00a0 Often the more complex an area is, the more reward can be potentially garnered from it.\u00a0 Think of the very complex derivatives that we saw during the mortgage boom.\u00a0 These were apparently so complex that many of the buyers of these (who were giant, wealthy, multi-national firms) now claim they didn\u2019t even fully understand what they were buying!<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Develop a network of contacts and continually upgrade your education.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most, if not all, traders are trained in a particular method by a firm, their backers, or other experienced traders.\u00a0 They then implement what they\u2019ve learned and add to it over time as they find success.<\/p>\n

Additionally, traders develop contacts and friendships over time that allows them to find out what is the \u201chot\u201d market or area, so they can move on if a certain trading niche becomes tapped out.<\/p>\n

Similarly, as an individual you can develop contacts over the internet and other ways with like-minded individuals and also develop your education in a variety of manners.\u00a0 This is how you can find that latest, greatest technical analysis indicator or technique that is killing the current market.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Have the proper mindset.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trading is not for everyone.\u00a0 There certainly is a high burnout factor among professional traders due to the stress involved.\u00a0 Think of the markets as various shark tanks, with a certain number of sharks fighting for those scraps of meat.<\/p>\n

Some of the work personality traits that will help you succeed over the long run include:<\/p>\n

Having a thick skin, being able to remove emotions, ability to think clearly in the moment when all hell is breaking loose, attention to detail, pattern recognition, analytical mind, aversion to gambling for gambling\u2019s sake, creative and innovative thinking.<\/p>\n

These can be developed through experience, although some certainly have these more \u201cingrained\u201d in themselves from the beginning.\u00a0 Having a full life outside of your trading is also important \u2013 the ability to \u201cswitch off\u201d and not take your trading results home with you each day will lead to a longer and happier trading career.<\/p>\n

by Moby Waller
\nFormer Market Maker & Index Options Timer portfolio manager
\nBigTrends.com<\/p>\n

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n

For more techniques professional traders use check out our FREE Email Trading Course<\/a> that we want to share with INO subscribers.\u00a0 This Trading course includes over 8 hours of tips and tricks from Professional Trader & Trader\u2019s Hall of Fame Member, Price Headley<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being a professional trader is a dream many investors strive for. According to Moby Waller of Big Trends, it is an attainable goal that like everything else, requires a strong foundation. Here are 5 tips to becoming a full timer from Moby that you or may not have considered. Be sure to comment and let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3455,1863,2182,3453,3454],"class_list":["post-2562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader","tag-guest","tag-kenny","tag-moby-waller","tag-professional-trader"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader - INO.com Trader's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader - INO.com Trader's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Being a professional trader is a dream many investors strive for. According to Moby Waller of Big Trends, it is an attainable goal that like everything else, requires a strong foundation. Here are 5 tips to becoming a full timer from Moby that you or may not have considered. Be sure to comment and let […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"INO.com Trader's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inocom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-07-25T09:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-07-23T19:09:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The INO.com Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The INO.com Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The INO.com Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d86a8cce826b7bd105200d88bb28a280\"},\"headline\":\"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-07-25T09:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-07-23T19:09:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\"},\"wordCount\":991,\"commentCount\":8,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader\",\"guest\",\"kenny\",\"Moby Waller\",\"professional trader\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\",\"name\":\"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader - INO.com Trader's Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-07-25T09:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-07-23T19:09:12+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"INO.com Trader's Blog\",\"description\":\"Expert Charts, Trading Tips and Technical Analysis from INO.com\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"INO.com Trader's Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/inologo-400.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/inologo-400.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":472,\"caption\":\"INO.com Trader's Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inocom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/1056449\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d86a8cce826b7bd105200d88bb28a280\",\"name\":\"The INO.com Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb06ce065c1db526fc31f4d08d898a30?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb06ce065c1db526fc31f4d08d898a30?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"The INO.com Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/author\/the-ino-com-team\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader - INO.com Trader's Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader - INO.com Trader's Blog","og_description":"Being a professional trader is a dream many investors strive for. According to Moby Waller of Big Trends, it is an attainable goal that like everything else, requires a strong foundation. Here are 5 tips to becoming a full timer from Moby that you or may not have considered. Be sure to comment and let […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/","og_site_name":"INO.com Trader's Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inocom\/","article_published_time":"2010-07-25T09:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-07-23T19:09:12+00:00","author":"The INO.com Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The INO.com Team","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/"},"author":{"name":"The INO.com Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d86a8cce826b7bd105200d88bb28a280"},"headline":"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader","datePublished":"2010-07-25T09:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2010-07-23T19:09:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/"},"wordCount":991,"commentCount":8,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader","guest","kenny","Moby Waller","professional trader"],"articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/","name":"5 Steps to Trading Like a Professional Trader - INO.com Trader's Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-07-25T09:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2010-07-23T19:09:12+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/5-steps-to-trading-like-a-professional-trader\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/","name":"INO.com Trader's Blog","description":"Expert Charts, Trading Tips and Technical Analysis from INO.com","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"INO.com Trader's Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/inologo-400.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/inologo-400.jpg","width":400,"height":472,"caption":"INO.com Trader's Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inocom\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/1056449\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d86a8cce826b7bd105200d88bb28a280","name":"The INO.com Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ino.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb06ce065c1db526fc31f4d08d898a30?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb06ce065c1db526fc31f4d08d898a30?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"The INO.com Team"},"url":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/author\/the-ino-com-team\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.ino.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}