Are you Playing Ducks & Drakes style?

“Gambling is taking risks without checking if the odds are in your favour. Professional Trading is taking risks when the odds are in your favour”.

A few winning trades often misleads amateur traders into thinking they are ‘onto something’. This pattern of winning here and there and then giving all your gains back, keeps traders in a cycle of gambling in blind hope, and it slowly depletes their accounts until its gone.

Einstein rightly said “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity”… therefore we could even go so far as to say that continuously gambling in your stock trading account will not only create financial problems, but it’s foolish.

Trading is a business where you are your own boss and there are basically no rules. This can make you addictive and induce gambling qualities within you. You have to recognize whether you are trading like a gambler and if you are; you need to make a change and start trading like a trading professional. If you set your mind and your daily routine as a professional trader you can avoid throwing of your time and hard-earned money down the drain. Check whether you are a gambler or a trading professional.

Gambler	Trading Professional
Has no trading edge and has no effective trading strategy	Has mastered art of trading and has mastered effective trading strategies.
Does not have a trade plan	Has a clear trade plan
Does not maintain a trading journal	Maintains a Proper trade journal
No attention to Risk Management	Risk Management is a key focus
Focus is on profits & rewards	Focus is on loss management
Emotions get active in trading	Works with proper trade plan & strategy
Overtrading is commonly observed	Treats trading as a Business.

If you have any of the above traits as a gambler there is a need for some action.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you are gambling in the markets, it happens to all of us, and it has happened to me in the past. What you should focus on is changing this behaviour and trying to improve yourself as a professional trader.

Remember playing the ducks & drakes style can ruin you!!!!!!