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Two Traits Make Great Traders According to Boris Schlossberg, Ep #66

What makes a great trader? Is it some magical natural ability? Or some sort of learned skill? According to Boris Schlossberg—the founder of BKForex—there are two traits that great traders have: Humility and a constant willingness to learn. You must start every day embracing those concepts. What else does Boris believe leads to a great trading career? Listen to this episode of How to Trade It to learn his secrets.

What two traits make great traders? @Fxflow shares his take in this episode of How To Trade It! #stocks #stock #trading #StockMarket #Investing #DayTrading #StockPicks #Forex #NASDAQ Click To Tweet

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You’ll want to hear this episode if you are interested in…

  • [2:17] What does a new trader need to learn?
  • [5:45] Boris’s new system to determine entry positions
  • [10:16] The markets that Boris focuses on
  • [16:53] What does Boris love about trading?
  • [18:59] Trading is a continuous process of learning
  • [21:24] Boris’s secret to trading
  • [23:41] Why Boris likes teaching trading
  • [28:54] Check out Boris’s upcoming event!

What does a new trader need to learn?

Boris has been trading since 1987, and the #1 single most important lesson to learn he’s learned in his decades of trading is to embrace humility. The markets can—and will—do things that have never happened before. The market will do things you could never have imagined. Markets are made up of human beings that repeat themselves but repeat themselves differently enough to make it hard to beat them. People get too lulled into the idea of historical cycles. Humility is the acceptance that there is no chance of winning 100% of the time. Knowing this, you’ll be more receptive to setting and taking a stop-loss.

Boris’s system to determine entry positions

According to Boris, everyone pays homage to trends, but in the end, they trade mean reversion. What does that mean? Everyone says to trade momentum but they really try to pick tops and bottoms. It’s a natural human instinct. But trading isn’t about beating the crowd, it’s about figuring out where the crowd is going and joining it.

It took Boris a while to get comfortable with trading momentum. But he believes for real money, positions, and structure, you have to trade with trend. But you need to create proper entry structures. So Boris has been playing around with a system that tries to isolate the starting point of trends. He has a formula for figuring out the break-even of any risk-reward strategy.

If you’re risking $2 to make $1, that’s a 66.5% break-even strategy. If your win rate is 75, then you’re well ahead. Your win spread is the difference between your expected winning rate and the break-even rate of your risk-reward strategy.

@Fxflow talks about his system to determine entry positions in this episode of How To Trade It! #stocks #stock #trading #StockMarket #Investing #DayTrading #StockPicks #Forex #NASDAQ Click To Tweet

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Trading is a continuous process of learning

Boris emphasizes that there’s no talent in trading. Trading isn’t hockey, basketball, or football. If Tom Brady wanted to lose, he could lose. The true testament of all of the truly skilled professions is that you could force a loss by not using your skills. But you can’t force a loss in the markets. Sometimes doing something stupid can give you a win, not a loss. The market is a random vehicle. There isn’t a permanent skill that you can bring that really helps you.

But success with trading is learned. All of the amazing traders Boris knows are constantly learning every single day. You have to go into every single day thinking “I know nothing today, I’m going to learn.” Everyone needs that attitude.

Boris’s secret to trading

The person who sees the charts sees a pattern that’s working at this particular moment. Boris believes only two things work in trading:

  1. Trading a continuation (believing that the price is going to continue in the direction it’s moving).
  2. Trading mean-reversion.

This applies to quantitative, technical, and fundamental trading. Fundamental analysts say “The company is doing well today and we think it’s doing well tomorrow.” Or “The company isn’t doing well today, but we see strong signs of a change and we think it’s worth a buy” and that’s mean reversion. Everyone is making a decision that it’s either a continuation trade or a reversal trade.

What is @Fxflow secret to trading? Listen to this episode of How To Trade It to learn more! #stocks #stock #trading #StockMarket #Investing #DayTrading #StockPicks #Forex #NASDAQ Click To Tweet

Why Boris likes teaching trading

Boris points out that if you want to learn something, you should teach something. Boris teaches every day in his chatroom and every time he teaches, he’s speaking to himself. He notes that teaching is never a one-to-many process, it’s collaborative. You’re not the sole source of wisdom. The people listening aren’t just empty vessels; they have ideas, criticisms, and perspectives that can be better than yours. Boris has taken ideas from his students and incorporated them to make the process better. Teaching is always about asking questions and responding, regardless of who is asking or answering. It’s continuously learning.

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Boris Schlossberg

Connect With Casey Stubbs

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Disclaimer: Trading carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. Before deciding to invest you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment. Therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.

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