I live on a small ranch on the beautiful  Central California coast. I am a writer by trade and a trader by choice. I ride horses, play tournament poker, and spend a majority of my "down" time sitting outside in my anti-gravity chair, listening to the birds, watching my horses, and letting my mind drift to the softer corners of everyday life.

Aside from the above, I also spend time writing this columnm, which to me is fun, edifying, and enlightening. In a former life, I mediated disputes between people who had real animosity toward one another. The aspect of mediation I truly enjoyed was helping people help themselves become better people. My goal is here is to help you help yourself become a better trader.

Hoping to hear from you …

My trading career spans years, not decades. My trading stories are few and boring. I’ve never pocketed $50,000 in a month, but I have watched three times that slip away. I have never “bet” more than I could afford to lose, and my family has never suffered emotional distress or devastating financial losses from my trading. Consequently, any “recovery” needed from busted trades took minutes, maybe hours, from my life.

I don’t coach, and I don’t consult. I can’t tell you how to trade, nor what the next “hot” trade is. I can’t even tell you that I have gotten rich from trading. What I can, and will, do for you, though, is give reasoned responses to your questions. I will tell you the truth as I see it, which you might or might not like. I will tell you things I have learned, things that might turn losses into gains and frustration into equanimity. I talk about the personal side of trading, the side that deals with you as a trader, not you as a decipherer of symbols and patterns. Double fat bottoms, upside-down waving flags, or cups with two heads mean nothing to me. I am a simple trader with a plan and a piece of software that works. I have no grand trading ambition, nor do I believe trading is a way to vast wealth. For every Warren Buffet, tens of thousands are licking their wounds, patching up their lives, or simply living out their lives in some measure of desperation.

As well, though, tens of thousands of traders work hard, make a decent go of it, and survive to make another buck on another day. These are my people, my traders. These traders are the salt of the “pits.” Traders who actually succeed with their emotions and bank accounts in tact form the foundation of anything I will ever tell you. My simple goal is to help you help yourself become a successful trader. So, ask me a question. Check it out for yourself.

Just a bit more …

A Memorable Moment

It was more like 10 minutes, but I will never forget it. I took a position in a stock that opened around $12.50. It toyed with $14 for most of the morning and the early afternoon, and then… In the next few minutes, that stock sold in lots bigger than an elephant in a small room. My Level II quotes were moving so fast that I at first thought something was wrong. The stock ran up past $19, and then settled back into the $17 range where it closed. Wow!

A Memorable Month

In my early days, I lost lots of money. I had no plan, no strategy, and no psychological foundation for trading. I saw trading as another way to take a risk, which is what I do. I am a risk taker, always have been. Anyway, I quickly tired of losing, so I did two smart things. I began a search for knowledge, and I looked for a software package that would help me become successful. I found both, eventually. After reading a book that turned my head around, as well as learning to utilize my new trading software appropriately, I began to have small successes. I built on those and began trading some twenty trades per month. And then it all clicked, at least for one month. I made money on 18 of 20 trades, but that was not the best of it. The best of that month was not the “wins.” It was the boost in confidence such success brings. As a personal record, I have not repeated that month, but I have come close on a few occasions.

A Memorable Mating

No, this is not about a loose night in my youth. This about gambling, which is what we all do when trading markets. I am a tournament poker player, as I have said, and my trading successes started coming just about the time I figured out that trading is extremely similar to playing serious poker. Both “games” put money at risk, true, but the secret to success for both lies in understanding and acting on three concepts. The first concept is to accept that you cannot win 100% of the time. Understand you will lose. In fact, you might only win 50% of the time. Your win/loss percentage, however, is not the measure of success. The bottom line is the true measure of success. How much have you made, and how much have you lost?

The second concept is two sides of the same coin—know when to hold them and know when to fold them for poker. Know when to get in and know when to get out in trading. Take profit cut losses. Trading, like playing serious poker, is a business and notions such as “hope” play no role in success, which leads me to my third concept.

The concept that most actualized success for me is the clarity that comes from controlling your emotions. If you cannot control your emotions in poker, you will have “tells,” and you will lose just when you think the big-chip scoop is coming your way. If you cannot control your emotions in trading, you are doomed. Successful trading is more about you and your emotions than it is the markets. Tournament poker and trading are two peas in the same pod, as far as I am concerned, and knowing this has made me a better trader.

A Memorable Mentor

If you haven’t done it, find yourself a mentor. Mine taught me early on the rudiments of the markets. He never told me how to trade, rather he let me make choices and lose, and then he told me what I might have done differently. Don’t do what I did, though, which is risk too much in the beginning. Start small and work your way up. Mentors can do a lot for you, but one thing a good mentor will do for you is give you at least one “rule” that if you forget, or do not apply, you will get hurt. Even though I forgot this one rule more than once, I have now learned it—Cash is king. Learn this and your trading will be much safer and more rewarding.

A Memorable Motto

Remember, when the final bell rings and the markets shut down for good, do you want your life reflection to focus on the trades you made, or what you did with your precious time on this planet? Money is a tool, and only a tool. It is not the end; it is a means to an end. The important question is … what do you want that end to look like?

Trade in the day; invest in your life.