Strength and Weakness in Trading

Trading Strengths and Weaknesses

This mornings article is a list of my own trading strengths and weaknesses.  Thankfully the former far outweighed the latter and I would describe my career as an unmitigated success, despite the many mistakes along the way.

Hopefully it offers some pointers in adjusting your own trading and lifestyle and helps to maximise your career and most importantly your happiness!!

We trade to live and not the other way around!!!  (a famous quote from an ex gas trader circa 2025)

Weaknesses

I thought everyone cared about gas as much as I did!

Looking back I must have been a lot more boring than I thought.  I talked about gas a lot and assumed that people found it interesting.  They generally didn’t though and most of them had no clue what I actually did for a job, even when I had finished talking.

Didn’t switch off

I wasted soooooooooo much of my own time, checking weather runs, looking at the news and ringing the 24 hour shift desk (sorry team).  Did it make much difference to my lifetime P and L?  The honest answer is probably not, but it did make a big difference to my home life and not in a good way!!

Ran from Conflict

I spend a lot of time as a coach discussing how positive conflict is an absolute must within a successful trading team.  Unfortunately for me the first time I faced a possible conflict in my career, I ran off as fast as my little legs would carry me.  It was a terrible career decision but it did humble me and teach me lots of lessons that I needed to be taught.  It also made me a better trader in the long term and showed me that there are always very valuable lessons within adversity.

 Didn’t Spend Enough Time Learning

It was undoubtedly a different and easier time, but in hindsight I could have continued to learn and improve myself and my trading.   I hit the proverbial big time fairly early on and perhaps that lead to me resting on my laurels a little. 

I should have taken a step back from the day-to-day intensity of what I already knew and focussed on where I could improve. 

Became too Cautious

As I was approaching the end of my career I became conscious that I didn’t want to blemish an almost perfect trading record.  I began to trade with the handbrake on and became somewhat risk adverse compared to my younger days.  The P and L’s were still good, but they could have been better.

Tools for Unwinding

 I played football, was always in the gym and would ride my bike to work.  There was no doubt I was physically fit and getting rid of that trader tension from my body in a positive way.  The chosen method for taking the strain away from our heads was less healthy and involved very regular visits to the pub.   That constant cycle of trading, heavy exercise and heavy drinking left no time at all for recovery and came home to roost in the end. 

And the Strengths…………..

Process

The reality of trading is possibly less sexy than people think it is.  Good traders have a process that they follow and that process makes them money.  It then becomes a case of rinse and repeat and watch the P and L flow in. 

Unfortunately for the current market participants, the events that started in Ukraine in 2021 have sent many a winning process on a long holiday and in some cases they might be redundant completely.   

These bad spells happen though and I am happy to share that it is possible to alter the way you trade and still be very successful.  Due to changes in what and where I traded, I had to adapt my own process 3 times through my career and each time I came out a winner.

Simplicity

I have worked alongside people who are a lot smarter than me for my whole career.  That isn’t putting myself down, it is just the reality of rubbing shoulders with people that did maths, economics and physics @ some of the top universities in Britian. 

Despite this, my trading results were often better than theirs, sometimes because they were overthinking it and other times because they were afraid of risk.  They spent sooooo much time worrying or trying to look smart to management or their colleagues, that they missed the easy wins.

A good trading process doesn’t need to be too clever, it just needs to be authentic, nimble and crucially successful!!

Gut Feel

My main super strength was my gut feel for the market and this was an integral part of my processes.  I am not sure it is something that can be taught, but its certainly something that can improve with the use of journalling and pre and post mortem’s of trades.

I had Nothing to Lose

I come from a working/middle class family from Leeds, my childhood was ace and I went to a good school, but my path to trading through the local electricity company was certainly different to most peoples. 

By the time I reached the trading desk @ 23, I had been @ work for 7 years already, worked in 4 different departments, had 4 promotions and felt like I could master anything.  I treated trading like a free hit and if it didn’t work out, I knew I would have a perfectly good career in sales or something similar.

That no fear attitude undoubtedly helped me in those early days and throughout my career.  I wasn’t afraid of losing money and that is a massive strength for any trader to have.   

I would encourage everyone to work out their own worst-case scenario and then to go and have a real good bash at it.

Risk

I loved having risk on and I was also very good at managing it.

Team Player

 There are a few notable exceptions, but most great traders will tell you that they prefer being part of a good team, then working alone.  People who think differently, bring different strengths, help with each other’s weaknesses and challenge each other are likely to make more money than any individual working alone.

I was the glue in many of the teams I worked in and would passionately facilitate trading discussions, act as peace maker and organise social occasions. 

The best teams I worked in had their own trading books, but also a team book for when everyone agreed on something and we would go large.  None of these team book structures ever lost money over a year and the years they paid off were the happiest and most fruitful of my career.     

I have seen some traders who move from shop to shop, look at the fundamentals and then go max one way or the other.  If it works they take home millions and if it doesn’t they go elsewhere.   Being that self-assured is indeed a strength and I certainly wouldn’t criticise it, but it is also extremely self-serving and I would never want that type of trader in my organisation.

Didn’t Let my Ego Drive the Bus

Ok, ok, ok, ok I did sometimes and especially if I had the encouragement of 3 Stella’s at lunchtime, but I would take it out on the screen, rather than indulge in idol gossip.  I hated it and still do when people discuss other traders and their supposed losses, especially when those traders are good people who have done brilliantly for themselves.

If you spend your own trading career looking at other people and comparing yourself, you will diminish your own ability and fail to fully enjoy the freedom and trappings that trading can offer everyone. 

Chances are you won’t be the best gas, power or carbon trader to ever walk the planet and so just be the best version of yourself and do it with a smile on your face.

I can honestly say I did that and am now enjoying my next chapter.  Trying to help others navigate these increasingly difficult markets is a fantastic challenge and I love it. 

If you feel like a no obligation chat could benefit your own trading, message me on +44 7818 01209 or email me @ robert@thetradingcoach.co.uk