It all started in February of 2000 when her husband came from work and she, with the subtlety of announcing that they were having chicken for dinner, told him that she was going to make money trading online!

There was only ONE problem . . .

She didn’t even have a clue about how to actually make money stock trading, much less what technical analysis was.

Like so many others out there, she was simply overwhelmed with the sheer volume of stock trading information available, and each “stock market guru” pitching her their latest miracle cure . . .

She was this close to joining the 95% Club – you know, the 95% of stock traders who enter and leave trading without ever turning a dime of profit . . .

And then it happened . . .

She started to nail trade after trade! She writes, “I was absolutely shocked! I couldn’t believe that my problem came from my perspective of where I expected my profits in the stock market to come from and my total lack of understanding in how to profit from both amateur and institutional traders.”

Have you ever stopped to wonder where your expected profits in the stock market will come from?

To the shock of most traders, your money will not come from higher company earnings or even lower interest rates.

The only reason there is money in the markets is that other traders put it there. They money you want to make belongs to other people who have no intention of giving it to you.

In essence, trading is trying to take someone elses money while they are trying to take your money. It is war.

It is easy to take money from amateur traders who are trying to satisfy some irrational, internal goal.

For example, a trader buddy of mine desires recognition so bad that he makes the most outrageous calls and investments with the idea that everybody else will end up being wrong and only he will be right.

In the middle of the bank meltdown, he bought banks when everyone else was running away from them. He bragged about buying banks. His hope was to tell everyone that he, and he alone was right while everyone else was wrong. He hoped that everyone around him would bow down before him and kiss his feet and proclaim that he, and he alone was a genius stock picker.

His arrogant desires came from him feeling out of control with his life. Whether it was from his wife who “wore the pants” in his home because she is the primary bread winner, or his boss who told him what to do every second of the day, he wanted to act out his deep desire for independence and recognition in the marketplace.

What happened?

He lost everything. Other traders took all his money. He has funded his account again, and he will lose everything again. I’ve even warned him not to act out his internal conflicts in the marketplace but he won’t listen. He can’t listen.

Such a trader is very easy to take money from.

Thank God there are a never-ending supply of such stupid traders in the marketplace for us to take out.

Learning to trade takes hard work, time, energy, and money. Very few traders rise to the level of professionals who can quit their day job and trade for a living. Professional traders are very serious about what they do. They satisfy their irrational goals outside the marketplace.

Institutional traders are much more difficult to take money from.

For example, traders at banks have access to a service called the “squawk box” which is provided by a group of former CIA officers. They scan the media to detect early trends and then broadcast these intelligence reports via the squawk box. They are the first to hear the news.

When you trade from your house, you are never the first to hear the news.

The best weapon you have for taking money away from institutional traders is to exercise your right to not trade. You have the ability sit on the sidelines and wait for the best trading opportunities. Institutional traders have to trade. Most traders over trade and do not realize they have this advantage.

I hope you enjoyed this article and please feel free to leave your comments below. Thank you and happy improved trading.

Lance Jepsen
President, GuerillaStockTrading.com
Your Trading Coach
(because everyone, even Tiger Woods, needs a coach)