RWCMom

Do You Need to Be Abnormal to Trade Successfully?

Abnormal? No. Unique? Yes. This is my perspective as a buy & hold value investor.

Momentum traders (is this the new term for day traders?) seem to possess outsized mathematical intelligence and ability to process information uber-quickly. You look for short-term rather than long-term trends. You are like hunters in the woods quietly looking for your target hoping that no one else sees it first. You have a certain sense of delayed gratification in that you are willing to endure many losses because the law of averages says that you will eventually be rewarded handsomely; this you have in common with technical direct salespeople. Salespeople do this because they enjoy the process of nurturing relationships; you do so because you enjoy...???? (still trying to figure that out).

We each get something out of how we invest. I really enjoy getting inside the heads and minds of those who work for a company, their goals, mission, processes to increase shareholder value and combining that with their historical record of managing well.

I've come to recognized most momentum traders by their arcane, blustery language that seems to want to encourage others to trade in a way that benefits themselves; I move on to comments that reflect actual information about the companies I own or watch.

In the end, we are each looking out for ourselves, financially. The heart of it is how we use our gains to benefit this earth and its' residents for the short time we are here.

Claire