{"id":146189,"date":"2019-08-19T14:47:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T04:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gomarketingteam.com\/auarticles\/8-attributes-of-trading\/"},"modified":"2021-04-15T08:49:13","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T22:49:13","slug":"8-attributes-of-trading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gomarkets.com\/en\/articles\/trading-strategies\/8-attributes-of-trading\/","title":{"rendered":"8 attributes of trading as a business rather than as a hobby \u2013 A checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Many traders recognise the positive nature of the theoretical philosophy of treating your trading as you would a business, and yet the majority are unsure about what this may mean in practical terms and fail to move beyond the \u201chobby trader\u201d in their trading activity.<\/p>\n

Recognising the potential wisdom of a \u201ctrading business approach\u201d, this article attempts to differentiate between these business and hobby approaches through looking at eight key attributes.<\/p>\n

The aim has been to offer a checklist for the reader to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make a judgement about where they are now in the business V hobby concept; and<\/li>\n
  2. Facilitate decision making about what potentially to work on to move towards trading as a business.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We have organised the thinking in a table for ease of use. This is of course not an exhaustive list and offers overview information rather than major detail, but should be sufficient to encourage individual thinking of where you are. So, your eight attributes are as follows:<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Attribute<\/strong><\/td>\nTrading as a business<\/strong><\/td>\nTrading as a hobby<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Level of commitment<\/td>\nSignificant planning and follow through for trading activity. Recognises the need to work hard at the front end to obtain sustainable results<\/td>\nLikes the “idea” of trading, believes that can succeed with minimal effort<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Trading plan<\/td>\nComprehensive, specific statements relating to entry, exit, position sizing, strategy outlines and IS dynamic and IS used.<\/td>\nMay have some entry indictors and loose exit guidance, ambiguous statements that do not facilitate consistency and measurement.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Measurement and testing<\/td>\nKnows key trading numbers and journals trades. Review system in place which involves action planning to revise trading plan based on evidence.<\/td>\nFocus on limited trade information often restricted to P\/L of individual trades. Changes to trading plan often based on a whim or the next new indicator. No study of decision making.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Time management<\/td>\nHas a clear plan for all aspects of trading activity. Optimises the limited time for trading based on lifestyle and objectives<\/td>\nNo time planning evident. Often uses time inefficiently or may have a distorted trading\/life balance.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Learning approach<\/td>\nDevelops and implements a trading development plan based on identifying and filling gaps in knowledge\/skills that may most impact on results.<\/td>\nNo systemised approach to learning. May attend webinars\/seminars without follow through. Unaware of\/ignores gaps in knowledge\/skills and often trades what others trade.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    System changes<\/td>\nBased on evidence gained from measurement. Has the information to compare and adjust indictor perimeters and add new criteria for entry\/exit.<\/td>\nBased on a whim or the hope that a new indictor (usually entry only) may produce better results without rigour in forward testing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Purpose<\/td>\nHas a clear purpose for trading based on creating additional lifestyle choices and views trading as a potential vehicle to get there.<\/td>\nPurpose is to profit without obvious reason beyond making money. May like to trade as it “feels good\u201d to be a trader.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Discipline<\/td>\nReligiously follows a plan for the majority of time as recognises that this is the ONLY way to determine whether a system works or needs adjustment.<\/td>\nFails to execute according to plan. May more commonly miss entries\/optimum exit points or enter\/exit earlier than plan states.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    So, assuming you may have a desire towards the trading as a business idea, your mission should be clear. Take the information in this article and make a judgement as to what you could work on next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Many traders recognise the positive nature of the theoretical philosophy of treating your trading as you would a business, and yet the majority are unsure about what this may mean in practical terms and fail to move beyond the \u201chobby trader\u201d in their trading activity. Recognising the potential wisdom of a \u201ctrading business approach\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2814],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trading-strategies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n8 attributes of trading as a business rather than as a hobby \u2013 A checklist - Wixad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gomarkets.com\/en\/articles\/trading-strategies\/8-attributes-of-trading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"8 attributes of trading as a business rather than as a hobby \u2013 A checklist - Wixad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Many traders recognise the positive nature of the theoretical philosophy of treating your trading as you would a business, and yet the majority are unsure about what this may mean in practical terms and fail to move beyond the \u201chobby trader\u201d in their trading activity. 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