The Trader's Pendulum. Samuels Jody

reading The Trader's Pendulum – The Ten Habits of Highly Successful Traders, I found myself enjoying the compare and contrast theme as the pendulum swings. There were different moments when I laughed because I knew the central characters well enough to say I have met them because at any stage they were me. With Jody's help, I now trade in the middle of the pendulum.

      For many years, Jody traded successfully in the highest echelons of the banking industry before transitioning into a highly acclaimed, internationally recognized Trading Coach. When you combine all her experience, understanding, and commitment to seeing others succeed, you can understand why The Trader's Pendulum – The Ten Habits of Highly Successful Traders is an absolute must-read for you.

      Now you are holding this book, and you are confronted with a choice:

      Either you do nothing, or you take the first step in changing your life forever. A step toward your own personal freedom and a lifestyle envied by your friends and family.

      I wish you good luck and happiness with your decision.

Kel TaltyProfessional Currency TraderQueensland, Australia

      Acknowledgements

      For me, writing The Trader's Pendulum is really putting a story about my trading business down on paper. In 2008 when I decided to create a coaching program for traders based on my market experience, I started with an outline that I wrote called the 10 Habits of Successful Traders. I thought about the 10 Habits a trader needs to develop in order to run a successful trading business as an entrepreneur. I also thought a lot about traders chasing the latest and greatest black boxes and automated trading systems and the promises from gurus who claim you can have overnight trading success.

      And so the Technical Trader's Trap, which you will read about in this book, was born.

      I also felt at the time that there would be nothing that a trader could experience that I haven't experienced myself during my 30 year trading career, beginning as an institutional trader with a major investment bank. That's another way of saying that I thought I couldn't learn much more about trading – but I could never have been more wrong about that!

      For the seven years leading up to writing this book, I have had the opportunity to work with and coach many traders. This has been nothing short of a gift. When I think back over the years, the word that keeps popping up is “gratitude”. Gratitude for meeting wonderful and insightful people, gratitude for connecting with dedicated, knowledgeable and serious traders and gratitude for realizing that my students have been the greatest teachers in my recent trading career.

      On this note, to all of my students from whom I have learned so much, may you continue to have trading success and reach your full potential. And may I continue to show my gratitude to you daily.

      I would also like to thank my FX Trader's EDGE team, all of whom are great mentors in our trading community, and whose dedication and expertise have allowed me the freedom to spend the time on this endeavor. Juan Maldonado, thank you for your utmost commitment to making sure the business ran smoothly and for being one of the best Elliott Wave strategists in the industry. Neil Bradford, thank you for contributing top notch mentoring and trading tools for our trading community and for reviewing a few chapters in the book brilliantly. Vince Vacarella, thank you for your round-the-clock attention to the markets to make sure our traders are clued into the trading opportunities. Thank you to Andre Porco, Tim Stuyts, Fernando Luna, Alex Kaziyev, Robert Mis and John Thomas for your important contribution to FX Trader's EDGE and the Elliott Wave Desk.

      I would be remiss if I didn't remember my original FX Trader's EDGE team, all of whom played an important role in the early stages of the development of FX Trader's EDGE: Mick Lewis, Tanya Harrison, Michael Syvertsen, Neil Bradford and Randy Dodgen – thank you!

      These acknowledgements wouldn't be complete without thanking my parents. Dad, you were always so proud of my accomplishments, and it is from you that I learned the importance of balance in my life. When I think of being balanced on the continuum between fear and greed, I think of you. Mom, you always had such good trading instincts even though you never traded. In my early days I can remember asking you if I should go short, long, hold, or close and you always gave me your assessment of the situation which ended up being correct most of the time!

      Finally, thank you again to my wonderful family, to whom this book is dedicated.

      About the Author

      Jody Samuels is one of North America's leading coaches for successful traders, and the creator of The FX Trader's EDGE Coaching Program modelled after the “10 Habits of Successful Traders”. She works with members of her program in group and private coaching sessions and is passionate about teaching individuals how to trade the market cycles and use entrepreneurial skills and habits to effectively manage their business.

      Jody's educational background includes Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School, University of PA, followed by an MBA at NYU Stern School of Business. Jody's trading expertise spans the financial, currency and commodity markets, as a former trading professional for US global investment bank JP Morgan, a sales professional for an energy company and now CEO of FX Trader's EDGE, an Elliott-wave based education and coaching company for traders.

      Jody soon realized from her institutional trading experience, that new and seasoned traders lacked the guidance to graduate from the Technical Trader's Trap to becoming an Entrepreneurial Trader. Jody wrote The Trader's Pendulum: The 10 Habits of Highly Successful Traders based on her 30-year trading and coaching experience to help traders transition to managing their trading accounts as a business.

      She has moderated a daily online trading room, been interviewed on Bloomberg Television, and is a sought after speaker at the Toronto Money Show and the NY and Las Vegas Traders EXPOs. Her most recent and very exciting speaking debut occurred in Shanghai this year. She has authored articles published in Stocks and Commodities Magazine and has been interviewed by the Money Show, and by FX Street for the Women in Forex article which appeared in FX Trader Magazine.

      Prologue: A Day in the Life of a Successful Trader

      It's 5:50 a.m. on a typical weekday. Before everyone else in his family has woken up – in fact, before most of the population of the city are awake – Charles Thompson is already out of his pajamas and has his coffee brewing. For the past 15 years, Charles's habit has been to start his day before dawn. He believes that starting his daily race before everyone else does will give him a winning edge.

      By 6:10 a.m., Charles begins his meditation sitting in his study. Admittedly, he has to fight the drowsiness, but he does it anyway. He added this habit to his morning routine less than half a year ago, and he is improving day-by-day. The meditation practice is more than a mind training that clears his mind, but also a discipline of focus and determination. These are important to both his life and his work. So he shows up on his meditation mat every single morning.

      Twenty minutes later, as he stands up from his meditation mat, he does a brief stretching exercise. He feels his blood rushing to every cell in his body, and is fully refreshed and awake. He puts on his training shoes and gets out of his house for a 30-minute jog in the neighborhood park. If it rains or snows, Charles will opt for running on the treadmill in his home gym, but he prefers running in the park, for the jolt of fresh and frosty morning air.

      Back home over breakfast after a hot shower, Charles launches the newsfeed application on his iPad to read about the major events that have happened overnight around the world. He makes a note of anything that he thinks he should pay attention to. Reading the news is his effort to connect with the world at large. Besides, his job requires him to keep abreast of the major daily events that may have an effect on the global markets.

      By 7:30 a.m. Charles is at work in his home office. Although he does not have a boss to report to and no one will know if he slacks off, it is his habit to show up punctually at his desk by 7:30 a.m. He reviews the notes that he made and starts planning his trading day. Every morning he follows a set of well-defined steps. From 8:00 a.m. to noon, he gives his undivided attention to trading. Nobody is allowed to disturb Charles until lunchtime.

      That