What Really Differentiates Professional Traders from Retail Traders?
Making the transition from a retail to a professional trader takes commitment and a thorough understanding of the way the
What is a professional trader? Professional, by definition, means that it is your job, what you do to make a living.
However, in my opinion, where Forex trading is concerned, just because trading is your job does not necessarily mean that you are a professional trader.
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You are only a professional trader if you are consistently profitable month after month. Only then can you call yourself a professional trader.
There are many so-called professional traders that still trade with retail trader mentality. What do I mean by retail trader mentality? Well, retail traders have certain beliefs about the market that are incorrect.
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I am not going to go into detail about these here, but believe it or not, even some professional traders are trading based on these incorrect beliefs. And these beliefs are guaranteed to lose you money in the market.
Trading has not really changed that much in all the time that I have been a professional trader. The markets go up, the markets go down. The things that were true many years ago are still true today, and the market will for the foreseeable future remain the same.
So what sets professional traders apart from retail traders, apart from them being consistently profitable? Its quite a complex question, but the answer is very simple: knowledge.
The reason professional traders make money while retail traders lose money, is that professionals know more about how the market really works. And to be successful to the point where you can make the transition from retail to professional, you have to acquire knowledge of how the markets really work. Whether you are a technical trader or a fundamental trader, you have to know as much as possible about every aspect of the job in order to be successful and profitable.
Any profession requires knowledge, and Forex trading is no different. The more knowledge you have, the more successful you will be, and the easier it will be for you to make the transition from retail trader to professional trader.
What is the point of this article?
Does’t really say anything or offer any value.
Why is FM publishing this non-sense?
It says something about the author and offers potential value to him. It looks like a lure to draw you to his website so that HE can make money from YOU!
This article actually highlights why the retail trading market has had a hard time adjusting. Too many people who do NOT trade professionally or at least traded professionally spouting a lot of misinformation or 1/2 truths about how derivatives markets work. You need to be working at or for a hedge fund, prop firm, or investment bank to be able to explain the roles of the trader and other participants correctly. Here are a few examples of professional traders pointing out the real differences: Anton Kreil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK0FJfkWzyY . The entire series is worth watching, but from the first video, he… Read more »
Very complete information of the article and blog entirely.