Do You Have What It Take To Be A Star Trader?.

How many times have you asked yourself if you had the balls?
From: DynamicHedge: “…While not identical to the Myers-Briggs, I’ve included the results of what the http://personality-project.org/ test and how each personality trait links to trading style:

Extraversion: Your average score on extraversion was 5.1, which is considered high. It is in approximately the 91st percentile for males between 26 and 39 years old. Your score on Extraversion is high, indicating you are sociable, outgoing, energetic, and lively. You prefer to be around people much of the time.

Not a huge revelation. I’m a pretty social person and I hate trading alone. The ugly truth is that being an introvert is probably more optimal for trading. The danger of being too introverted is obviously that you risk becoming myopic and isolated. Extroverts run the risk of seeking out and relying opinions of others. I know that I have two or three people that I consistently call during the day and bounce ideas off of. I have no idea of why I do this, but I do. I always have to be conscious of making evidence based decisions and not letting the opinions of others cloud my judgement.


Conscientiousness: Your average score on conscientiousness was 3.4, which is considered low. It is in approximately the 23rd percentile for males between 26 and 39 years old. Your score on Conscientiousness is low, indicating you like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized.

I was quite shocked at this one, but my wife assured me this is accurate. I somewhat disagree with the notion that I live for the moment and do what feels best now. I have a track record of delaying instant gratification for the sake of the bigger picture and long-term payoff. I will say that I have the ability to make snap decisions and I tend to overlook the feelings of others when coming to conclusions. When it comes to disorganization, this is one area that I am vigilant about improving and supplementing through partnership. I’m a big picture guy, but my business and trading partners are all very detail orientated.

Trading is a game where there are winners and losers. There is always someone on the other side of your trade and you can’t be too sensitive to the feelings of other market participants, otherwise you’d never do anything. One area of conscientiousness and empathy that can help in trading is the ability to visualize the thought process of those on the other side of your market view. Where are they likely to feel they are wrong and feel pain in their positions? When will depression or euphoria cloud their judgement and create tradable opportunities? Sounds a bit evil but people do it….

Just getting started here. For more check out: http://dynamichedge.com/2011/10/17/trader-personality-defects/