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The next type of trader that we are going to describe as part of our series on Tharp’s trader personality types is the Strategic Forex Trader.
This one is a particularly interesting and important type because the Strategic Trader is one of the only two trader profiles that have the best predispositions for a trader and therefore are most likely to become successful traders in the long run according to Dr. Van K. Tharp.
That of course, doesn’t mean that they will achieve success without putting any work, but what Dr. Tharp suggested with this is that Strategic Traders and Planning Traders (the other best-suited trader type) will find it easier to achieve success in trading compared to the other types of traders who will generally need to put more effort.
Strategic Forex Trader Qualities
This type of trader will tend to focus on staying knowledgeable on different subjects as they generally also highly value intelligence.
Strategic Forex Traders have many great qualities for a trader, but most importantly they possess all 3 of the key qualities that Dr. Tharp identified as being crucial to the success and profitability of a trader.
As we also discussed in previous posts of this series, the 3 key qualities are:
Strategic traders are capable individuals that know how to achieve they are goals if they wish and/or desire to do so. Generally, they can grasp complex, theoretical, and/or academic ideas fairly easily.
The usual trader of this psychological profile will also be very good in rational thinking and decision making which are extremely important and valuable characteristics for any trader or investor whether trading Forex or other markets.
Trading Strengths
They are enthusiastic about working on themselves and achieving their maximum potential. They have the perseverance to push through until they succeed in their goals.
While many other types of traders may lack this excitement to succeed, this attribute is a great characteristic of the Strategic Type of trader that is certainly a big advantage for them.
These traders are able to spot new patterns quickly and connect them with other market developments in order to generate fresh trading ideas. As a result, finding new and good trading opportunities is something they do easily and almost effortlessly.
Strategic Forex Traders also have no problems with planning things and so they will naturally treat trading as a business and will often even develop a full business plan.
Trading Challenges
They can disregard their emotions so much that sometimes they cannot realize that the emotions are still affecting them and messing with their trading.
Strategic Forex traders may also be perfectionists as they usually feel a strong need to be right. This is not useful because trading is not a perfect game and losing will always be part of the game. Realizing this basic truth will be the first step to overcoming perfectionism.
Being a perfectionist, in turn, can often lead to another bigger problem which is not executing stops. This can come in the way of avoiding to close a position when a mental stop is hit or blatantly widening an existing stop, not because of analysis but because they can’t accept that they were wrong.
These traders need to realize that trading is about making money – not about being right. In trading, you can be wrong and still make money. Achieving that is the job of the trader.
