Is a mentor necessary to have success as a trader

Discussion in 'Educational Resources' started by OPTIONAL777, Jul 13, 2003.

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  1. Can you walk and chew gum?

    Some can trade and and within the downtime between trades think and verbalize their thought at the same time about other issues.
     
    #31     Jul 13, 2003
  2. bubba7

    bubba7

    ive us proof you can pass the chewing gum test then we can move on from there.

    We all know it's on your mind and you pop it up bingo.


    So far we know fairly reliably with statisitcal significance the second one is definitely not a possibility for you.

    We will track all your comments next week. Be sure to let us know what trade you are in when you start your post. If you are not in a successful trade, then anycomments you make at that time cannot be included in the test we will be doing.

    The comment you make while in a trade, as you say, may not be about that trade but must be about some other topic that is on the floor as contributued by someone else. If you bring up any random OT or other stuff it will be regarded as spurious and definitely be counted as a failure on your part.


    From the way you talk, your walk is going to be pretty marginal. Lets go for 3 comments per trade. The old 3:1 ratio.

    Let's see your juice. You started the thread. Back up your mouth.
     
    #32     Jul 13, 2003
  3. I trade for my lunch money and for the hell of it, I don't try to squeeze money out of poor suckers who don't know how to trade.

    I make no claims to be a great trader, run no ads to recruit traders and suck no money from them by pumping up their hopes and dreams.

    That you can't see the difference between what Brandon is doing and what I do is apparently a particular blindness.

    This is the major fallacy of those who don't know how to construct or understand an argument, but simply talk out their smelly opinionated end zone, that the ability to point out flaws in others' activities, and provide a valid criticism is independent of the person putting forth the arguments status as a trader or not.

    I doubt that I would need to be a successful dictator like Hussein to point out his immorality.

    The valid argument will always stand on its own merit, independent of who is making the argument.
     
    #33     Jul 13, 2003
  4. Have you yourself been able to trade something other than money to your mentor for the experience? If your mentor expects money in return for experince then what do you, the student, have to offer the mentor besides? Do you have some skillset the mentor can profitably learn?

    I'm interested to know, because like has been discussed here, the mentor is in it for the gratification of having passed on some knowledge. If you are being paid for it you are acting as a 'trading coach'.

    Bruce
     
    #34     Jul 13, 2003
  5. how do those who see themselves as "mentors" ( that word cracks me up :p ) learn ??

    :confused:
     
    #35     Jul 13, 2003
  6. Good questions. Yes, in my relatively short experience as a trader, I've established two highly constructive relationships like this. I bartered EL programming skills, and have written significant amounts of code for our mutual benefit. It allows the teacher (or coach as you said) to test out his off the cuff ideas, and allows me to see how an outstanding veteran trader thinks. I also tabulated a year of trade statistics from which we are hohning the portion of the strategy that has been shared. There is no monetary exchange, or serious formal commitment, which is ideal. We're just learning together. When I worked on an institutional floor, it worked the same way in many cases.

    I can't see myself ever buying this education, but to share the learning experience in a classroom like style has been a very effective way to learn.
     
    #36     Jul 13, 2003

  7. You bring up a very interesting point about the mentoring process.

    Intent. Just what is the real intent of the one who is mentoring. Do they really care about the person they are mentoring, or are they only in it for the money.

    Let's look at a definition of intent:

    men·tor ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mntôr, -tr)
    n.
    A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.
    Mentor Greek Mythology. Odysseus's trusted counselor, in whose guise Athena became the guardian and teacher of Telemachus.


    A key component of this relationship is trust. Trust that the information being given is valuable, trust that the relationship is based in mutual benefit for both parties, etc.

    There are certain occupations that can take advantage of this trust.

    These "service" occupations typically are in the areas that the success of the relationship between helper and the helped is difficult to define, and pray upon those who are desperate for help.

    An example would be the abuse seen in the Chiropractic field.

    There are some unscrupulous Chiropractors who schedule session after session for "adjustments" which are in reality nothing other than a paycheck for the adjuster.

    The same has been seen in the mental health field, where the psychologist becomes financially dependent, if not emotionally dependent on their clients.

    I personally think psychology has its limits in nature in some areas, because the bottom line is a financial arrangement. Unlike a friend who will listen to someone's bullshit because they actually care, a patient will never know if the shrink cares or is just in it for the money. If the client is expecting "love" from the therapist, this is akin to someone expecting "love" from a hooker.

    Subconsciously, this is know by the patient, and as such the patients are never really able to trust sufficiently to build a relationship necessary for mental healing.

    This why the success rate for those therapists dealing with addiction and substance abuse have less success on average than 12 step programs, that employ the concept of sponsorship based mentoring (giving back without financial compensation, in order to keep the message real for them and to genuinely help their fellow man).

    When someone is offering to mentor for pay, and yet claim they do it because they "love" doing it, as long as they are charging for their services, doubt of their true intention remains, and as such, the mentored may not trust enough to really surrender to the wisdom of one who has already walked the path of successful trading.

    In the old days, the apprentice would surrender to the master and go to work for them and work for living expenses in trade for a career.

    That was a proven system, what Brandon is selling is not a proven system, at least as far as I have seen statistical evidence in support of his claims.
     
    #37     Jul 13, 2003
  8. So, you are standing on the shoulders of giants, eh? That sounds like a great way to learn how to trade! Thanks for answering my questions.

    Bruce
     
    #38     Jul 13, 2003
  9. prox

    prox

    I think a truly good mentor can help reduce the learning curve by showing direction on a style of method. It is not necessary though and most traders that will put in the hard work to educate themselves will make it without any mentors.
     
    #39     Jul 13, 2003
  10. dbphoenix

    dbphoenix

    In other words, this entire thread was to have been yet another attempt to disembowel Brandon. I'm glad to see that those who have better things to do with their time made it into something considerably more worthwhile.
     
    #40     Jul 13, 2003
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