By Fernando Gonzalez, one of the original founding members of Online Trading Academy*
Posted: March 28, 2008

My most vulnerable state as a trader is when I think I have figured out the markets. Such a state is even more distinct when I am deep into a long winning streak. Although I can usually get my trading direction right and can have a pretty wide imagination as to how far the market can go in any one period of time, the market has taught me over time that reality can often eclipse the imagination. On top of its common propensity for reversing direction suddenly, it also has an awesome way of going higher and lower than I can imagine it could go before the turn.

Perhaps this is an innate limitation I possess as a single human being, competing against the awesome breadth of a vast market that represents the collective behavior of tens or hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people. Although I have taken my trading to the pinnacle, I have long ago surrendered to the fact that, despite finding myself teaching so many others about the markets, I am always a student, a student of the market.

Thus, I trade not to lose, and in so doing, I can often make it to the winning side. This happens by my own doing, and in an eerie kind of way, I get there because every decision I make is geared not to go in the wrong direction. And, to go to an even more bizarre level, countless are the times when I have booked very profitable days and weeks, despite having been dead wrong about what I thought the market would do.

I suppose that if I were to describe the "pinnacle" of trading, one would be the ability to make money, even if you are wrong. I suppose it's about developing an instinct for separating our own innate limitations as individuals and surrendering completely to the market.

In my rookie year as a trader, I thought that, one day, if I did this long enough, the light bulb will suddenly turn on, and everything would be easy after that point. Not so. So many times, when the light bulb turns on, in fact, it's not really "on" or "off" but more like a dimmer switch that constantly oscillates between on and off, even so to this day.

On the way, I have found that, perhaps, my most vulnerable times were those when the light was shining the brightest. As a result, time has taught me that I must always be prepared for changes that come in various sizes.

I advise rookie traders that, because we can receive so much "bad" information and education about trading, we have to be in a constant state of looking for those little "bits" of knowledge, just enough to fit what we need in our trading NOW.

Having an open mind, or being a humble "student" of trading and the markets, should be an unending state. It ensures that you are always ready for the changes the market constantly brings and thus perpetuate an effective interaction with the markets.

Until next time, happy trading!

*Reprinted (and modified) with permission from Online Trading Academy www.onlinetradingacademy.com.