top three core qualities of successful traders. You
have the ability to be analytical in making decisions. However, you may not grasp the big picture well or be orderly in your way of doing things. If you manage these parts of yourself, you have potential to do very well in the markets because you have one of the three core qualities. But your success depends on your willingness to do a few things. First, are you willing to take complete responsibility for your trading results? There is no room to blame the market, your broker, your education, or anything else. Second, can you change your thinking so that you treat your trading as a business? Initially, this means writing a thorough business plan. Third, could you develop a trading system that fits you? Most people want to start here, at the technical side and back end of trading; however, I recommend saving this until you have completed the other tasks first. My studies have revealed that your psychological biases and issues will affect your trading system development if you have not taken the time to work on yourself first as the core of your trading. All those things just mentioned are what you can read about in our weekly newsletter. Thank you for signing up for it. Should you find it less than useful, you can click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter anytime you desire. Helping traders become their best is our mission at the Van Tharp Institute and weve helped thousands of traders do that for over 25 years. We offer excellent educational and training programs designed for both beginning and advanced traders/investors. If you have questions or would just like more information, please visit our website at www.vantharp.com. So lets get to your report. The next page describes your trader type based on your answers. Look for what rings true for you and keep in mind that no individual will match up exactly with a profile. Next, youll discover how to leverage your strengths and challenges to become a better and more profitable trader. And finally, we list the trader types and their potential for success in the markets. 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com You are an... Adventurous Trader Top Three Core Trader Qualities: 1. The ability to see the big picture, new possibilities and connections between things. 2. Making decisions based on logic and analysis. 3. Being decisive, orderly and doing things sequentially. SUMMARY YOU are a quiet and flexible observer until a problem appears and then you quickly act to find a solution. You are good at determining what makes things work and going through a large amount of information to find out what is important. This quality will help you immensely as a trader. You are not easily persuaded by anything that is not based on fact. However, if your orientation tends to be external, then you are probably a big risk taker. You like to plunge into things and just do it. And if it involves risk, you probably are even more intrigued by it. As a result, if you are taking this test, its probably because youve already jumped into the markets without thinking or planning. Youve taken lots of risk, and you are now wondering why you lost so much money. And, if this hasnt happened, feel grateful and take the steps that are necessary to protect yourself now. You are probably flexible and pragmatic, focusing on immediate results. Theories and conceptual explanations tend to bore you because you are a practical realist. As a result, youll probably struggle with the things that are important to trading success. You are probably very good at following through with things and tying up loose ends, which really helps you as a trader. In addition, you are good at figuring out cause and effect situations and analyzing details into logical principles. However, you may put off making decisions and fail to follow through. You have a real sense of adventure and you love action. You could easily be into extreme activities like sky diving, motorcycles, and surfing. However, this could be dangerous to you as a trader because youll tend to be obsessive with trading and take unusual risks just for the adventure. As a result, I strongly suggest that you master the art of position sizing before you even attempt to trade or invest. While you are good at details, you may have problems seeing the big picture and this could hurt you as a trader. As a result, you may have trouble grasping what is really going on in the markets as you get trapped by the minutia of what is happening in individual market positions. Adventurous Trader Type As a Trader... you are good at determining what makes things work and going through a large amount of information to find out what is important. This quality will help you immensely as a trader. You are not easily persuaded by anything that is not based on fact. Example Trader: Jimmy Rogers Jimmy Rogers started the Quantum Fund with George Soros, but retired in 1980 after helping the fund gain 3,365% in ten years. Traders like Rogers want adventure in their trading; the result is usually disastrous. Rogers solved this problem by making his life an adventure. He did a motorcycle trip around the world with his girlfriend in pursuit of investment information. He then drove around all the major continents going to places in which the mere entry would be considered suicidal by most people. To be a great Adventurous trader, use Rogers as an example, and not our second model, Stu Ungar. Stu Ungar is the only three time winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Over his career he is said to have made over $30 million. Unfortunately, the adventurous type can also be quite compulsive, and he died penniless. It only took him about 2 months to lose his winnings from the 1997 WSOP. TRADI NG STRENGTHS Youre great at analyzing details to determine what makes things work. Once you understand how to do it, you would be great at evaluating what makes a good system. If someone hands you a system that works, you can follow through with it as you love to pull the trigger and execute trades. TRADI NG CHALLENGES You might have problems with self- analysis, which is critical to eliminating mistakes in trading. You have a need to be right and you tend to be overconfident, which can be detrimental to good trading. You like adventure and excitement. If you look for it in the markets, it would be a disaster. www.vantharp.com 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 LEVERAGI NG YOUR STRENGTHS AND ADDRESSI NG YOUR CHALLENGES AS AN ADVENTUROUS TRADER As an Adventurous Trader you like to trade exactly as your name suggests, jumping in for the experience and then reeling from the effects if things dont go your way. However, you are good at finding solutions to problems although you may not want to do what it takes to ensure trading success, simply because you prefer immediate results. LEVERAGI NG YOUR STRENGTHS AND ADDRESSI NG YOUR CHALLENGES AS AN ADVENTUROUS TRADER Strength #2 Strong System Developer Potential Do you know what a complete trading system entails? If not, your trading results would benefit greatly by understanding that. As an Adventurous Trader with your analytical skills, you can excel at systems development. Read the Article What Is a Trading System? www.vantharp.com 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 Strength #1 Strong Analytical Skills You are strong in the analytical capabilities area which is highly supportive of great trading. However, thats not all thats required for trading well. Do you really understand what it takes to succeed in the financial markets? The following article might help. Read the Article What Is Involved in Peak Performance Trading? LEVERAGI NG YOUR STRENGTHS Strength #3 Execute a System Well Typically, Adventurous Traders types love action and in trading they love to pull the trigger, to put trades on. Execution speed can be a great asset, especially when you are in tune with the markets. When you are out of touch with the markets, however, your love of action can generate a sense of struggling and get you in trouble quickly. Learn how you can use your strength in this area to tell quickly if you are flowing with the market or struggling against it. Read the Article The Flow of the Markets ADDRESSI NG YOUR CHALLENGES Challenge #1 Inability to Self-Analyze You might have problems with thinking about and understanding how you operate internally. This is critical to eliminating mistakes in trading, which you will need to do to keep you in the game. The following article is an introduction to this fundamental area for successful trading. Read the Article Make an Honest Self-Appraisal Challenge #2 Need to be Right You may feel the need to be right all the time based upon your encyclopedic knowledge. In trading, thinking you are right once you are in a trade though can lead to big trouble as the position may get worse even while you think it will work out. I call this the loss trap and this article describes what it is and how to avoid it. Read the Article The Loss Trap Challenge #3 Need for Adventure You like adventure and excitement, but if you look for it in the markets, it would be a disaster. You might even show compulsive tendencies. If you bend the rules to force trades and get action, youll get it but that kind of approach to that in the markets will cause you to blow up at some point. Take our Compulsive Trader Test As an Adventurous Trader, you like to trade exactly as your name suggests, jumping in for the experience. You are good at finding solutions to problems although you may not want to do what it takes to ensure trading success, simply because you prefer immediate results. www.vantharp.com 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 Read on for Additional Resources.... ADDI TI ONAL RESOURCES First, if you choose not to become a serious trader, thats OK. You are certainly doing lots of interesting things in this world and trading might just not fit in. One suggestion that may work for you is to find a financial newsletter with a good track record with a kind of trading you can understand and believe in. Alternatively, you could find someone you can trust with your money and let them manage it for you. If you have someone else manage your money, there are some principles to follow so that you dont find yourself dealing with someone like Bernard Madoff. This article was actually written by a money manager to help people avoid getting ripped off by unscrupulous advisors and managers. Its from the book Panic Proof Investing by Tom Basso. Please keep it for future reference. Read the Article Good Money Manager If you do choose to pursue trading excellence, the Van Tharp Institute has numerous books, courses, and aids to help Adventurous Traders become better. As an Adventurous Trader you may expereince set backs due to lack of self analysis which could prohibit you from eliminating mistakes in trading. In my book, Trading Beyond the Matrix, you will learn tools and ideas for self analysis that someone with your temperment will find both interesting and useful. These are not the same old boring ideas youve heard before, but rather imagative and creative exercises to explore your inner-workings! As an Adventurous Trader, you look for proven approaches. I have provided a lot of tested trading ideas in my book Super Trader: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets. The five sections of the book delve into the key areas for every trader to focus on for success: working on yourself, business planning, trading systems, position sizing, and monitoring your psychology. Whether these terms are familiar or brand new to you, Super Traders fifty chapters are all short and each has one or two actionable ideas to help you improve your trading. There are a lot of fun parts in it you would probably enjoy. Most people dont have a good understanding of how they operate and thats trouble for any trader. Because Adventurous Traders are motivated by being correct, its paramount that you understand this aspect of yourself before you can trade well. I highly recommend the Peak Performance Home Study Course. Adventurous Traders will find value in all five volumes but Id like to point out two of them in particular. Volume 1 covers the topic of risk. You tend to invite risk to the point of danger. If you were able to learn to manage your desire for risk, you will be able to trade successfully for a long time. Volume 3 on attitudes would also be very valuable for you. As you can find strong motivation in excitement, its important that you understand that your attitudes, values, and feelings play an important role as well at a deep level. There are numerous exercises that help bring out your hidden attitudesones that might cause behavior and actions you might not understand sometimes. Knowing yourself, what you believe, and how youll react in different situations is critical in trading before you put money on the line. Learn how to identify, understand, and manage your attitudes and feelings and trading will be a rewarding experience. Learn how to use your analytical skills to understand risk and how to put risk to work for you. Along with Peak Performance Home Study, you can also take Investment Psychology Inventory Profile to examine in even further detail your strengths and weaknesses. To view and learn more about our entire line of products, please visit www.vantharp.com/products.asp. www.vantharp.com 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 www.vantharp.com 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408 HI GH POTENTI AL FOR MARKET SUCCESS: Strategic Trader Planning Trader GOOD POTENTI AL FOR TRADI NG SUCCESS WI TH SOME WORK: Detailed Trader Facilitative Trader Innovative Trader Spontaneous Trader Independent Trader Administrative Trader Values Driven Trader Socially Responsible Trader Accurate Trader Adventurous Trader POTENTI AL FOR TRADI NG SUCCESS WI TH LOTS OF WORK OR HAVE OTHERS MANAGE THEI R MONEY: Supportive Trader Artistic Trader Fun Loving Trader LI ST OF THARP TRADER TYPES AND THEI R POTENTI AL FOR SUCCESS I N THE MARKETS THANK YOU for taking the Tharp Trader Test, which evaluates psychological tendencies relating to how you gather, store, comprehend and act upon information and input. After modeling and studying thousands of traders, Im able to help you understand a little about yourself with just a few questions, based on a much lengthier profile that we use to evaluate traders. This test was designed simply to introduce you to some of the issues that affect your trading.
After all, YOU are the single most important factor in your trading performance but how well do you understand that? How well do you know yourself, and what kind of internal forces are at work when you trade? The Tharp Trader Test helps you identify strengths that should help you trade and challenges that may interfere with your trading. It also helps evaluate your possession of the three core qualities of top traders: 1. The ability to see the big picture, new possibilities and connections between things. 2. Making decisions based on logic and analysis. 3. Being decisive, orderly and doing things sequentially. For more information, click on the links in this report or visit our website at www.vantharp.com. You will start receiving your newsletter sometime in the next month (or sooner). Until then you can find issues (current and for many years back) on our website under the Newsletter link at the top of the home page. Also, be sure to read each section of the Tharp Think Concepts if you have not already. These concepts take the mystery out of trading by helping you understand who you are as a trader, how your personal psychology can work for you instead of against you, how to think about and manage risk, and how to develop winning trading systems. Again, thank you very much for taking the Tharp Trader Test and good luck to you. Sincerely, Van K. Tharp Trading Coach Founder and President, The Van Tharp Institute www.vantharp.com
What if you have read this report and only some of it or even very little of it seems to apply to you? Thats possible. To make this test fast to take (and very low cost!), I kept the sampling questions to a minimum; the resulting trader profile is merely a rough estimate of who you are. If it seems off-base, you could consider taking the test again or simply just be aware that the results in this profile are not you; they are an extremely simple model of you. In most cases, however, I have found it to be fairly accurate. If a more scientifically rigorous psychological profile interests you, we offer that on our website in the products section. ! www.vantharp.com 102A Commonwealth Ct. Cary, NC USA T 919.466.0043 F 919.466.0408