Uncover the Myths of Stock Trading

By W. Alan Gay

I've been a Stock Trader for over 15 years, and know the business inside and out. I didn't start at a fancy brokerage firm with sophisticated training courses. Instead, I made my success my own way, failing here, tweaking there, using seminars and self taught classes to learn what I needed as I went.

While I may have taken longer to succeed using this self taught method, it has given me a lot more real world knowledge of stock trading than I would have gotten following the one process taught by my employer. For one, I have found a number of myths that crop up again and again when talking to people about stock trading. Here are three of them:

First, is the myth that only certain types of people make successful stock traders. True, those folks who can analyze stock trends and pick the big winners are typically left brained thinkers (more than 60%), which is probably how this myth originated.

But there really is something in stock trading for every type of thinker. If you aren't a left brained analytical type, you just need to find a process that works well for you. I am definitely right brained, and I am being completely honest when I tell you I would hate to sit around and analyze stocks all day. Despite this, I have made a great living trading stocks. Anyone else can too.

The second misconception is that stock trading has a lot of risk to it, even more than running a small business. Now, I will be the first to admit that plenty of people have lost everything in the stock market, and of course those are the stories we see splashed over the papers that terrify a lot of people.

But I have learned that if you have the right process in place for setting your stops and limiting your risks to a level that you are comfortable with, it can really be a very low risk profession. For example, I have created a system for myself that allows me to trade with a 75% or more success rate, which is fantastic! I know of no other business that can give me that kind of low risk situation.

Finally, I hear again and again that to really make money in the stock market you must commit to it full time and then some. And I agree, this is absolutely true for some types of trading and particularly if you don't have a good stock picking service. Then you have to do all the leg work in a fast paced environment. That does take a lot of time.

However, it is absolutely possible to make a great career out of trading stock for 2-4 hours a day, and having the rest of your time to do what you want. The trick is to have a process in place that is low risk and efficient with your time. How do you find such a process? There are a lot of courses available and it can be tricky to find the one that's right for you. I advise you to investigate several options, ask questions (if there's no one who will answer your questions, move on...life is too short to deal with bad customer service). Head into your research knowing the right process is there for you, and you will be on your way to success at stock trading in no time. - 23200

About the Author:

W. Alan Gay has been a stock trader and coach for fifteen years. His free report describes Alan's voyage to becoming accomplished at trading stocks and gives useful techniques he and his students have used to consistently trade profitably. Click to obtain a free copy of his report and learn more about how you could be a profitable stock trader in as little as fourteen days.