I would agree that being tall does not guarantee you will be a good basketball player.

On the other hand, being short pretty much guarantees that you won't be.

I do not have a list of 'traits' that make you a good trader but I am pretty sure there's plenty of people that will never make it no matter how much they repeat what they do.

The idea put forward that a person can do anything they aspire to because of repetition and that there are no natural skills, I think it's lovely but I think it's a fallacy.

The point .... is that it takes a lot of work to get good at things that are difficult and that, beyond a certain basic level of competence and ability, the main distinguishing factor is not talent, but hard work and attitude. And specifically, the very best performers in any field are not the "most talented" - they are pretty much always the ones who work the hardest, practice the longest, and have the right mental attitude.

I believe Surely has summed it up beautifully.

I read "Talent is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin (good book). The author makes the argument it's Deliberate Practice which separates the Good from the Great. It's the hours and hours of hard work put in by the 'Great' practitioners which make the difference. The author also describes what Deliberate Practice is and isn't. Well worth the read.

And what about the traders whose charts are constantly changing? I mean different specialty bar types, different indicators, and thus different setups?

We all have our limits and there's some stuff we just won't be very good at in my opinion. 10,000 hours or not.

I think that you are actually inadvertently reinforcing the theory of deliberate practice that maggtrading discussed. Thanks to personal experience and my own reading, I too believe that many people confuse the effects of deliberate practice with on 'God-given advantages. '

For example, one popular stereotype is that Indians/Asians are innately smarter than Americans. However, if we delve into American culture vs Asian culture, we can see that they have completely different educational programs and cultural expectations that result in above average results compared to the average American. It is not that they are intrinsically smarter, but they were brought up in culture with a stronger emphasis on academic success. The unwavering requirement of excellence leads to deliberate practice which results in higher test scores

Another stereotype that you mentioned was that certain races are predisposed to be better at sports. But what you are writing off as an 'automatic advantage' based on race is nothing more than the effects of deliberate practice due to cultural differences... A child who has internet, plays three sports at school and also comes from an middle/upper class environment will no doubt struggle with staying focused for deliberate practice in basketball. However, the child doesn't have internet/cable, can't afford the luxuries in life, the child who goes to the basketball court because he shares a one bedroom apartment with his mother and two sisters is more inclined to undergo deliberate practice because basketball is a form of escape and can pave a way to a better life. Here in Chicago, I know of children that play 12 hours of basketball per day in the summer, so they are likely to reach 10,000 hours much quicker and receive coaching/training at an early age to turn good skills into great skills


The reason why people do research is so they can irrefutable proof instead of vaguely discrediting everything like you appear to be doing. You believe that there are certain traits that successful traders have that cannot be taught... would you venture to name a few? I am guessing not because they have to be intangible for you to keep that belief... because for every trait that you named, I could probably look in any copy of Market Wizards and proof the theory wrong. It isn't based on intelligence alone (LTCM proved this and there are plenty of successful traders without college degrees), it isn't based on race because there are traders in every country that are successfully making money, it isn't based on gender because Linda Raschke has made more money than the majority of this board. So if gender and race, the only two things imo that we cannot change (without expensive surgery at least) do not determine potential success as a trader, what other 'innate' ability are we overlooking as a whole?

I think a problem with your current perception is that you appear to be muddling probability with possibility. It is impossible for everyone to be profitable trading, but it is only improbable for any particular individual to be profitable trading. Anyone can be successful, it is just that statistically speaking, the odds are against them. The predeterminist view that ability is innate allows people to subconsciously accept their shortcomings as being out of their control, but it is not an accurate portrayal of reality.

This type of behavior typically gets a bad rap. And maybe my shadow side is defending it because I partake in this type of behavior. But in its defense, these types of activities are tantamount to crosstraining and should serve to strengthen the trading muscle.

In the final analysis a trader should be able to trade on any chart that is handed to him or her the same way a swimmer can swim in any water or a race car driver can drive any car.

But trading is not among the most difficult things to do. How difficult is it to capture one to three points during the day in the Crude market, and then add leverage.