Trading Personalities
Explore the 9 Types of Business Personalities
1. The Analytical Trader
Analytical traders enjoy working with indicators or statistical information to help them make decisions. This type enjoys defining boundaries in which the market can move; for example, the use of a market overbought or oversold indicator. Known to be those possessing an ‘engineer-type’ mindset, they love when things move in perfect and predictable patterns. Unfortunately, this can leave them inflexible to erratic market movements due to their stiff personality and many lagging indicators cannot shift fast enough to account for spontaneous data. On the upside, analytical types are meticulous in their learning process: “if I’m going to learn it, I am going to learn it right.” This can make them very observant of their capabilities and honest about their faults and successes. However, as they are known to be perfectionist, they can have trouble exiting a losing trade and ruining a ‘perfect’ record or feel compelled to overly invest in finding the ‘perfect’ method of trading the market. This mindset ultimately hinders their ability to move forward as every step is then observed with precision and subjective flaws are magnified disproportionately – analytical traders grow when they learn to breathe in the chaos.
Do you
- Feel compelled to be perfect in your endeavors and become frustrated with yourself when success is not instantaneously achieved?
- Become paralyzed and afraid of making a mistake, even when you have an objective and systematic plan in place?
- Get obsessed with data but can’t stay focused when things move differently from initial predictions?
- Become impatient and ‘doubting’ of yourself only to follow with unfair and misdirected criticism towards others and their abilities?
- Correlate your abilities to do something ‘right’ with your self-worth?
2. The Social Trader
Social traders enjoy working with others in a way where they can interact, help, and be helped. They tend to work best in small to medium-sized groups of people where they feel connected and supported. Known to be natural communicators, they find more clarity in their thoughts when they spend time explaining their process to others. Talking through trades and getting feedback from their peers boosts their confidence and abilities greatly. When alone, these traders tend to get nervous or anxious without sufficient ‘backup’ to make a decision. The lack of support clouds their judgment of the market in a way that they feel as though they are ‘trading blindly’ – straying from their plans and systems. Social traders learn best by taking new information and ‘teaching it back’ to their peers. They will often go above and beyond for the sake of others and have been known to pursue certain goals (such as trading) for noble causes, often to bolster the quality of life for themselves and those closest to them.
Do you
- Feel more comfortable trading in a collective group, especially when it comes to tackling big and seemingly intimidating patterns and movements?
- Feel relaxed and empowered when you spend most of your time helping others?
- Feel anxious to take on new endeavors (such as trading) alone or to do things for your own sake?
- Find it easier to advise others, but difficult to take that advice yourself?
- Constantly find yourself in the role of a caretaker or counselor?
3. The Adaptive Trader
Adaptive traders are true to their name – they have flexible attitudes, enjoy versatility, and excel in competitive environments that provide plenty of recognition. Their goal is to achieve benchmark quality in all their endeavors. Traders of this type tend to have the least amount of concerns when it comes to excelling at something new; if they aren’t good, they will become good. Many of their problem in trading, however, are found in deeper psychological areas. Often out of touch of their emotions, they will have a hard time pinpointing the exact reason they are unable to move forward. Since trading does not have a set path to success, many adaptive traders may feel frustrated if they cannot determine what mindset they must ‘adapt to’ to have an edge over the market each day. Some days, they feel as though they took a big step forward, other days, they might see themselves as being propelled miles backward. This can be frustrating to all types of traders, but especially to these types, who are commonly used to gliding their way up the success ladder with ease. However, when adaptive traders have a clear definition of what to ‘adapt’ to day-by-day (with the help of market context), they usually fly through the ranks with chameleon-like abilities – taking on the best of the best.
Do you
- Find that most things come naturally to you, and if not, rarely concern yourself over being unable to achieve something if you fully intend on mastering it anyways?
- Feel your best after you’ve accomplished something; especially if it earns the attention of others?
- Feel the need to become the best at what you do, even if no one particularly pushes you to do so?
- Occasionally have trouble defining what your emotions are or even what your real wants and needs may be in at a given moment?
- Do you have tendencies to neglect your health for the sake of ambition – especially in work or career-related matters?
4. The Adaptive Trader
Adaptive traders are true to their name – they have flexible attitudes, enjoy versatility, and excel in competitive environments that provide plenty of recognition. Their goal is to achieve benchmark quality in all their endeavors. Traders of this type tend to have the least amount of concerns when it comes to excelling at something new; if they aren’t good, they will become good. Many of their problem in trading, however, are found in deeper psychological areas. Often out of touch of their emotions, they will have a hard time pinpointing the exact reason they are unable to move forward. Since trading does not have a set path to success, many adaptive traders may feel frustrated if they cannot determine what mindset they must ‘adapt to’ to have an edge over the market each day. Some days, they feel as though they took a big step forward, other days, they might see themselves as being propelled miles backward. This can be frustrating to all types of traders, but especially to these types, who are commonly used to gliding their way up the success ladder with ease. However, when adaptive traders have a clear definition of what to ‘adapt’ to day-by-day (with the help of market context), they usually fly through the ranks with chameleon-like abilities – taking on the best of the best.
Do you
- become the best at what you do, even if no one particularly pushes you to do so?
- Occasionally have trouble defining what your emotions are or even what your real wants and needs may be in at a given moment?
- Do you have tendencies to neglect your health for the sake of ambition – especially in work or career-related matters?
5. The Informative Trader
Informative traders enjoy building up an elaborate knowledgebase of the market and feel that their ability to trade is measured by the information they have compiled on it. These traders can explain complex concepts as though they were walking encyclopedias but may never feel like they’ve comprehended enough to truly master it. They constantly grind for more information, minor details, and scrutinize for hours searching through books and videos for specific pieces of data. Most traders of this type tend to isolate themselves while working, oftentimes believing that they concentrate better when doing so. They also might have difficulty reaching out to others: seeing autonomy and independence as crucial to their functionality. Due to their isolation, they may never actively seek help from others: only relying on what they can find in other sources where interaction and dependency do not occur. This can be a problem as this limits their perspective on their trading; something rarely ever exposed to the public. Growth can be slow as ‘lack of knowledge’ is usually not the actual problem (although they will always feel like it is). In reality, lack of confidence and the ability to apply the knowledge is the main verdict. Informative traders grow best when they begin to test their theories actively while building confidence to reach out and have their work exposed to constructive criticism.
Do you
- Feel that your ability to face the world is reinforced by the amount of knowledge you’ve acquired?
- Find yourself feeling oppressed in the presence of others, especially once they begin to place their agendas on you?
- Reduce your needs and interactions to a minimal to provide yourself with more time and resources to do the things you want to do?
- Feel anxious if forced to act on something you neither know or understand?
- Find that you are more connected with your thoughts than your emotions?
6. The Fearful (JEKYLL-HYDE) Trader
Fearful (Jekyll-Hyde) traders are one of the most complicated types of traders. Before people begin to compare themselves to this type of trader, we need to understand that the fear of making a mistake or financial loss is a common concern amongst most traders. What makes the fearful type unique is their intense fear for nearly everything – a fear that is usually derived off one major concern: “that they are not good enough.” Traders with this issue usually fall into a vicious cycle of dreaming big only to experience crippling self-doubt when necessary actions are required. Prone to paranoia and suspicion of others, they have difficulty trusting the world and oftentimes find themselves in a pattern of skepticism, nervousness, and endless self-doubt.
What makes this type the ‘Jekyll-Hyde’ is that they tend to face their fears in one of two ways – or through a mixture of both: extreme passivity or intense aggression. They may either take on the market through a slow and procrastinated method or approach it aggressively (and sometimes successfully) until their need to self-sabotage kicks in moments after success appears imminent. Because their success is dependent on their abilities, prolonging its process through procrastination cushions them from the pain of proving to themselves as ‘unworthy’; thus, permitting them to continue blaming what they believe is the real cause for their failures. On the other hand, by being aggressive, they attempt to prove that they are not afraid, only to reach a successful pinnacle and, feeling a deep impending fear of being exposed for their ‘true worth,’ begin to self-sabotage as to send a message that speaks “It wasn’t that I lacked the ability to succeed, but that I chose to fail.” The fear in this type of trader is one of the most difficult psychological problems to resolve and usually requires them to stop thinking the worst of themselves and others – as well as to gain self-confidence in their actual abilities. They can attain this by integrating themselves into a community of supportive people or by shadowing a mentor who can guide and help them build up their sense of self-worth.
Do you
- Tend to either lean towards authoritative figures for help or otherwise completely ostracize their input altogether?
- Feel unsafe no matter where you are or easily taken aback if something were to happen that you couldn’t account for
- Occasionally wish someone else would do or solve an existing problem for you?
- Find yourself stuck in a cycle of procrastination but seem unable to explain why or feel incapable of resisting it?
- Find yourself constantly questioning your ability to succeed in life?
7. The Opportunistic Trader
Opportunistic traders enjoy the unpredictability of the market and take advantage of all the opportunities presented with it. When the world gives them lemons, they will make lemonade, lemon cake, lemon muffins, and lemon meringue pie. They are the kind to optimize their chances in trading by becoming efficient in every trading style and market. Something new and innovative? They are on it. Something fast? They want it. These types of traders like speed and fast-paced environments that are constantly shifting. Therefore, the swift, interactive, and high-yielding style of scalping is every opportunistic trader’s go-to. These highly mental types are speedy learners and can grow bored of repetition or routine – struggling to slow down, their minds are likely to be firing fifty thoughts at once. People of this type are unable to focus on one thing at a time: multitasking or jumping between ‘areas of interest’ is a common giveaway. While they can be extremely successful in trading, they tend to struggle with staying focused or hanging on to their winning trades. Too many possibilities go through their minds all at once and they will see little reason to stay in a retracing market if they can jump into a new one; that is until the market continues to push in their direction – moments after they have just exited. Learning to be patient with their trades, themselves, and the world will be their virtue – one that is hindered by their deeper, hidden anxieties.
Do you
- Have the ability to learn things quickly, but also tend to grow bored of them just as quickly?
- Seek new activities and adventures, even while you’re in the midst of one?
- Believe that the joys of life begin and end out in the outside world and less from within?
- Find that slowing down your pace breeds room for anxieties to grow inside you?
- Believe that positivity is the key to life, but feel incapable of facing your negative emotions or develop a tendency to ‘sweep them under the rug?’
8. The Control Trader
Control traders enjoy the possession of power and security obtainable through trading. Known by others as the power types: the soldiers, boxers, and bosses – they thrive on exerting control over their environment and emphasizing their sovereignty. Natural achievers, control types push hard to reach their goals and dreams, often in difficult fields known for having steep learning curves as they aim to attain the unattainable. Excessive energy and willpower are one of their strongest suits, so stopping or slowing down once something is in their sight is often an unlikely event. Strong advocates of their beliefs, they can appear especially oppressive and domineering to those they consider weak or insignificant.
While the obstacles of each control type can be different, most people of this type are afraid for their security, which usually counters the image they try to portray. Raised to believe that safety comes from exerting dominance and strength, they see softer emotions as fertilizer for weakness. Yet, by disconnecting themselves from their emotions, they ultimately give up control to one sole emotion – anger, a staple form of expression that they funnel all their negative emotions through. Sadness, fear, frustrations, hurt, and grief all become channeled into one major fallback: revenge trading. Traders who are unable to keep their aggressive nature tamed may end up losing more than just their trading account; only by coming to terms with their anger can they move forward in a field that demands fewer emotions, not more.
Do you
- Have little to no trouble leading a large team of people to complete a series of difficult tasks
- Find that you brim with energy and oftentimes have a strong physical appetite?
- Feel comfortable and relaxed even after experiencing occasional bouts of explosive anger towards those around you?
- Take personal offense over events or actions that seem to demean or belittle you while strongly advocating opinions that ultimately cause the same effect on others?
- Find yourself hypercritical of others and their perceived weaknesses, wishing they were ‘as strong as you?’
9. The Automated Trader
Automated traders make up around 80% of today’s population. They are the most detached from the process of their trading; usually the populace invested in commodities on the recommendations of their brokerage company. Passive trading is what most traders of this type prefer, as direct or active trading can be emotionally riling – something they try to avoid. The term automated is used to describe how these traders tend to function in society; given a set of rules, they autonomously apply those set of rules. Usually, with little to no resistance. That is why traders of this type do best when given a set of plans that they can follow with the given certainty of a profitable outcome. They are not trying to go for the ‘most money’ or ‘most exciting moves.’ Rather they are interested in making a steady, sure-fire income: get-in, get-out, take profits, rinse, and repeat. When they have their trade plan, they can be very calm traders who remove their emotions from the picture. However, because they strive to be unreactive, they may get themselves into some troubling issues if they avoid taking action when a market begins to move against them. “Should I get out or stay in?” These in-the-moment decisions are hard for them if they do not have a predetermined plan of action to follow.
Do you
- Often find yourself in a mediator role where you can observe the conflicts of both parties and can give fair, unbiased feedback?
- Feel uncomfortable and avoidant during moments of conflict, whether it be between you and others or between those closest to you?
- Find that you tend to ‘shut down’ when your emotional state is disturbed?
- See yourself reflected in the needs and wants of those around you, but seem unable to define your original wants and needs, much less act on them?
- See that you spend more time ‘drifting through life’ than actively participating in it?
