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A Risk Management Tip from Peter Brandt: "Find your Niche"
This Q&A with an accomplished trader can transform your trading strategy.
By Jill Noble
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:15:00 ET
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The jazz virtuoso Miles Davis once said:
 
Do not fear mistakes. There are none.
 
Words spoken by a "non-trader," you might think. But even though every trader knows that mistakes can be expensive, legendary commodities trader Peter Brandt may well agree with Davis. In his best-selling book, Diary of a Commodities Trader, Peter insists that managing losing trades is the single most important component for success.
 
Brandt put it this way:
 
Every successful trader I know trades their own unique way. Each has found a niche that works for them. Finding a niche and a plan that works takes time. 
 
I think it takes two to three years for a novice trader to really catch the scent on the approach they will use for market speculation. It is a process, not a moment in time. It probably takes five years for a trader to really become excellent at the craft…
 
Chances are great that the exact niche found by a trader will reflect his or her character weaknesses and strengths, risk tolerance, time available for market activities, capitalization and a few other factors. An engineer will think differently than will an air traffic controller or an artist. These traits will emerge in a trading plan for each…
 
Brandt views trading as a craft -- one that demands learning patience and discipline. And with an audited +41.6% return over 18 years in the markets, he ought to know.
 
Peter says that novice traders need to risk very little capital per trade initially -- and that he built his career even though "as many as 80 percent of [his] trades over shorter periods of time will be unprofitable." Learn more about Peter's approach to risk management and much more, when you download this FREE Q&A with Peter >>
 
Learn about Peter's strategy for making money in the markets, including what he considers the biggest mistakes novice traders make, via this Q&A adapted from an interview from the Kirk Report.
  
 
 
Editor's note: If you are ready to learn in person from one of the world's most accomplished trading virtuosos -- Diary of a Commodities Trader author Peter L. Brandt -- learn more about his upcoming Traders Boot Camp now >>. The markets charge tuition, and learning from Peter can help you save your capital and stay in the game for the long haul.
 

Tags: commodities, Elliott Wave Education, Peter Brandt, risk management, technical analysis, Traders, trading lessons
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