If you have a pulse, chances are that you or someone you know is on a diet. It may be as extreme as juice-fasting or the Paleo Diet, or as mainstream as Weight Watchers or South Beach. And if that same pulse was subjected to a polygraph, you'd be hard pressed to come up with success stories -- especially when it comes to keeping weight off in the long run.
Similarly, if you're reading this article, you or someone you know is most likely an active trader or investor. If you're familiar with the Elliott Wave Principle then you probably also know some technical analysis. Perhaps you've earned some impressive returns based on contrarian investing. But the truth is, only a relative handful of traders ever see long-term success.
Dick Diamond is an exception. Over the course of nearly 50 years, he has made his living trading futures – which, statistically speaking, is practically a miracle.
Here’s what Dick often says on the first day of his course:
“Most of you will not succeed as traders. I can teach you everything I know, but most of you will not follow my advice. And those of you who will try won’t have the emotional discipline to stick with it.
“Learning to trade is like learning about weight loss. Every weight loss book out there says basically the same thing, yet only 12% of dieters lose weight, and only 2% will have the discipline to lose it permanently. For futures traders, the success figure is roughly 5%. Main problem for dieters and traders alike is not the lack of knowledge – it’s the lack of discipline to do the right thing.”
The few traders who win have the mental toughness to live by their trading rules. For most people, disciplined trading is even more difficult than a disciplined diet.
As a new dieter myself (on the Yoga Diet – talk about a challenge!), I can relate. Additionally, just as I must know how to resist food cravings by being prepared for office-party temptations, Dick Diamond says that a trader must know how to short the market just as readily as knowing how to go long.
Choppy or bearish markets aren't “bad” -- they're a natural part of the price action. The trick to making money trading consistently, says Diamond, is to play both long and short sides, with discipline.
Don't fall into the "trading trap," doomed to yo-yo results. Learn discipline from a market legend who has maintained a successful personal trading career over 45 years –