DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRADERS

I’ve been stressing how important it is to know your style of trading. I’ve
seen hundreds of traders over the years and most have their own nuances
that make them special or not so special. Traders and people differ
in so many ways that if I were to write a page on every type of trader
I knew, I could fill this book quite easily. There are people who like to
short and those who like to go long, there are traders who trade only based
on news and others who only look at charts. There are some who trade
off the news but confirm their decisions with charts and there are others
who trade off of charts and use the news to make their final decisions.
Some traders scalp for a few ticks, others hold on forever. Some look for
trends, some for reversals, and others for range bound markets. Some use
Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) or Relative Strength Index
(RSI); others may use Bollinger bands and stochastics. Even among
those who use the same indicators, many traders look at them in many
different ways.

Traders also differ in risk aversions; some are not afraid to risk more
per trade while others are too scared to trade, and risk very little, not giving
themselves time to let a trade work. Some have lots of money, while
others barely have enough to open an account. Some traders work for
Goldman Sachs and can move a market, while others do one contract at
time. Some people like to have no position at the end of the day and others
like to trade overnight. Some have holding times of two minutes, others
two weeks. Some have egos while others are modest. Some like green
eggs and ham and some do not. And then there are unlimited combinations
of all the above, which when put together make very few traders
similar.

As you can see I can go on and on about the different types of traders
and trading styles there are. Your concern is figuring out which type of
trader you are.