Your 2009 Trading Plan
The trading plan is discussed by top traders as Stuart McPhee interviews Mark Cook.
Stuart: 'A trading plan.
Is it overrated or do you need one?' Mark: 'No I think it is very much underrated because the trading plan when I won that 1992 US Investment Championship in 1991, I composed my first structured complete plan.
I really attribute winning the 1992 to the plan I composed going into that.
When I teach people in the mentoring, instruction, speaking I always allude to that because I guarantee whoever attempts that, even if they don't complete it or it's not as accurate or as detailed as it should be, it will improve your trade.
' Stuart: 'Plans are not overrated.
I think it comes down to that counter intuitive thing.
Everything we need to do is counter intuitive.
We don't realize that.
If we don't realize that and we don't have a plan, you'll constantly make decisions intuitively won't you? So I guess the plan is the thing that provides the guidance to forget about the intuitive thing and just follow the plan.
So that's good to hear because I like to think I push the idea of the trading plan across.
I always mention the three 'm's' - the mindset, the money and the method.
Which one of those is the more important, I guess you could argue for a long time.
Certainly managing money is important.
Do you think trading - a lot of people don't meet their expectations with trading - is trading as difficult as a lot of people think it is? Is trading difficult or is it easy? Mark: 'I do think it's very difficult but I think it is very rewarding.
So anything that is very rewarding probably needs to be difficult - if it was too easy you wouldn't think it was rewarding.
But monetarily I think the upside potential for it is astonishing.
And the limitation that people have is their mind, not their pocket book.
Because the amount of money I have made over my thirty-two years has astonished me, because I never thought I'd make that much money over that period of time.
Stuart: 'You probably don't do it for the money now.
It's process, it's routine, it's something you enjoy.
' Mark: 'Because of that I do it for the fun and go from there.
But you need to really be hungry to keep an edge and perhaps I don't have that as much as I once did.
But someone that is your age for example, I started my trading company when I was thirty-four years of age and I had goals I needed to attain and I exceeded all the goals.
But I was hungry back then, I needed to make x amount because of my family and other obligations I had.
Not to say I'm coasting now, because I enjoy the trade, it's fun to me, it's fulfilling to me, it's completed me.
But do I have to do it every day? No.
Do I want to do it each and every day? Yes.
' Stuart: 'Because you absolutely love it.
That's terrific.
Unfortunately there's a lot of people in this world who don't do what they love.
Who go to work every day and don't enjoy it.
And I think trading provides all those things, working for yourself, and from home and flexible hours and no boss and coming with the money you think wow this is the perfect occupation, why didn't I do this earlier? One of the crucial elements of course, of becoming and remaining a successful trader, is having a suitable trading plan.
'
Stuart: 'A trading plan.
Is it overrated or do you need one?' Mark: 'No I think it is very much underrated because the trading plan when I won that 1992 US Investment Championship in 1991, I composed my first structured complete plan.
I really attribute winning the 1992 to the plan I composed going into that.
When I teach people in the mentoring, instruction, speaking I always allude to that because I guarantee whoever attempts that, even if they don't complete it or it's not as accurate or as detailed as it should be, it will improve your trade.
' Stuart: 'Plans are not overrated.
I think it comes down to that counter intuitive thing.
Everything we need to do is counter intuitive.
We don't realize that.
If we don't realize that and we don't have a plan, you'll constantly make decisions intuitively won't you? So I guess the plan is the thing that provides the guidance to forget about the intuitive thing and just follow the plan.
So that's good to hear because I like to think I push the idea of the trading plan across.
I always mention the three 'm's' - the mindset, the money and the method.
Which one of those is the more important, I guess you could argue for a long time.
Certainly managing money is important.
Do you think trading - a lot of people don't meet their expectations with trading - is trading as difficult as a lot of people think it is? Is trading difficult or is it easy? Mark: 'I do think it's very difficult but I think it is very rewarding.
So anything that is very rewarding probably needs to be difficult - if it was too easy you wouldn't think it was rewarding.
But monetarily I think the upside potential for it is astonishing.
And the limitation that people have is their mind, not their pocket book.
Because the amount of money I have made over my thirty-two years has astonished me, because I never thought I'd make that much money over that period of time.
Stuart: 'You probably don't do it for the money now.
It's process, it's routine, it's something you enjoy.
' Mark: 'Because of that I do it for the fun and go from there.
But you need to really be hungry to keep an edge and perhaps I don't have that as much as I once did.
But someone that is your age for example, I started my trading company when I was thirty-four years of age and I had goals I needed to attain and I exceeded all the goals.
But I was hungry back then, I needed to make x amount because of my family and other obligations I had.
Not to say I'm coasting now, because I enjoy the trade, it's fun to me, it's fulfilling to me, it's completed me.
But do I have to do it every day? No.
Do I want to do it each and every day? Yes.
' Stuart: 'Because you absolutely love it.
That's terrific.
Unfortunately there's a lot of people in this world who don't do what they love.
Who go to work every day and don't enjoy it.
And I think trading provides all those things, working for yourself, and from home and flexible hours and no boss and coming with the money you think wow this is the perfect occupation, why didn't I do this earlier? One of the crucial elements of course, of becoming and remaining a successful trader, is having a suitable trading plan.
'
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