Is intelligence really important for trading? Any Ivy league PhD here? Are you making profits? Any school drop-out make a fortune by trading? Please share your view!
Intelligence has nothing to do with succesful trading, most mistakes in trading happen because a trader lets his emotions take control. To control that is what really counts.
given the choice, i'd rather be smarter ...in any endeavor (much more fun i am sure). this is like asking is raw horsepower important to win races? certainly helps and is necessary to a degree, rather have more than less, but not sufficient in and of itself.
Self analysis is whats important, being able to become aware of underlying thought patterns and emotions and then change those patterns. Which of course requires a certain kind of intelligence. But I believe this kind of intelligence can be cultivated. Of course this is only one aspect of trading. Analytical ability is also necessary in varying degrees depending on your style.
No, IMHO it is a hindrance. I tend to really over think my trades instead of following the method verbatim. Looses me a LOT of money.
smart ? intelligence ? that does not mean anything ? if you mean highly educated (as you imply I think) it has a tendency to make the learning curve longer. but because trading is a business, at one point education, business oriented (or in science) is an important asset. so although education won't help you to get it (and many never get it), education will help you grow afterward, when you finally get it. tntneo
If everyone thinks IQ isn't so important, why the wall street still recruits quantum physicists ? Are they crazy?
No, this is no absolute correlation. But I have to admit that I must be smarter than 50.001% of all traders.