Buy the rumor, sell the fact. By the time an idea or news event hits the major media, chances are high the market has already discounted that information.

- Jim Wyckoff

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Top 10 Trading Rules -- Complimentary E-Guide

To be successful, traders need to have guidelines or rules and the courage and discipline to follow them. This trading guide discusses the top 10 trading rules every trader should follow and as a bonus you'll receive recent markets forecasts for over 600 world markets from VantagePoint -- at no cost!

Go here to get your e-guide and recent market forecasts!

I have had many readers through the years -- most of whom were less-experienced traders -- tell me that at some point in the future they planned to quit their day jobs and trade futures full-time using a tool like VantagePoint. In this feature I have a few questions that may help determine if you are ready to attempt to join the elusive rank of "full-time" trader. But first, I want to present you with some straight facts.

I have been in this business nearly 20 years. I have read stacks of trading books and have voraciously studied markets and market behavior. I have worked right on the trading floors of all the major futures exchanges. As a journalist, I have conducted countless interviews with the very best traders and analysts in the world. But I still cannot specifically predict what a given market will do in the future.

Now, at this point a few of you may be thinking, "This is not very encouraging news. Maybe I should listen to some of those other guys that say I can have immediate trading success by learning their 'secrets' or adopting their 'proven' system or strategies?" Although I hope this is not the case with you, I am very proud of the fact that I have made my reputation in this industry by refusing to be marketed and promoted (hyped) as something I am not, nor can ever be.

Markets will never be tamed. Trading is a business of exploring market probabilities, based upon fundamental and technical analysis -- and human behavior. By exploring and understanding market probabilities, and human nature, one can achieve trading success. Having the right tool, like VantagePoint Trading Software, can help you identify price probabilities and aid you in making trading decisions that can lead trading success.

Before going any further, I want to address another question you may have in your mind: "Jim, why don't you only trade futures full-time if you are so knowledgeable?"

I have never attempted to be a full-time futures trader. By "full-time" I mean focusing only on trading futures and using the realized profits for my living expenses. In my case, that would mean no analytical service, no custom consulting, no educational writing -- all of which I'm doing now. Since I have never tried to make a living only by trading futures, I cannot tell you whether I would be successful or not.

Now, on to a few questions you should ask yourself if you think you might be ready to trade futures full-time:

1. Are you a successful part-time trader? You'll need to be successful at trading futures on a part-time basis before you think about moving into the full-time trader ranks. Don't be fooled into thinking that trading futures on a full-time basis will allow you to spend more time to cure your part-time trading ailments. In other words, don't say to yourself: "If only I could spend more time trading markets, I could have more success than I've had just trading 'one-lots' here and there."

2. Do you have enough money available to live on when (yes when, not if) you hit a streak of losing trades? A losing streak will inevitably occur -- and probably sooner rather than later. And I don't mean a losing streak of two weeks but more like a stretch of poor performance of up to six months or longer. In today's volatile markets having the right tool can protect your assets.

3. Do you have the psychological stamina to be a full-time futures trader? Quite frankly, most people do not. Can your psyche (not to mention your pocket book) handle six months of mostly losing trades?

4. Will your immediate family members support you -- even during a prolonged rough stretch of trading? Believe it or not, this is a very, very important question. For example, if your spouse does not support your decision to trade full-time, then you are likely doomed to failure. The pressure of having to produce winning trades and knowing that your spouse is skeptical of your efforts is almost insurmountable.

5. And on your part, will you be able to uphold your family or other important responsibilities even during a rough trading stretch? Or, will you brood and kick the dog when he happens to cross your path?

I think you'll agree with me that those are tough questions to answer.

Now let me stress one more point: It is possible for someone who can give positive answers to those questions to be a successful full-time trader. But it is a challenge and does take work, and you should be prepared for that. Reading the clues that you get from a software tool like VantagePoint can help you spot good opportunities and give you the confidence to pull the trigger to make the trades you need to make to be successful.

One more thing: I do have many readers who are "full-time traders," but who fall into a different category than what I described above. These are people who do have enough money to trade futures on a full-time basis -- even if their trading profits alone will not support their lifestyles. These are individuals who already have significant amounts of money derived from means other than trading futures. Also, I have many readers who are now full-time traders, and that have retired from another profession and want to spend the "autumn of their lives" not in a rocking chair, but in a field that is challenging to them. Again, they, too, have other means of income besides just futures trading profits.

That's it for now. Next time, I'll touch on another important issue on your road to more successful trading.

-Jim Wyckoff

Top 10 Trading Rules -- Complimentary E-Guide

To be successful, traders need to have guidelines or rules and the courage and discipline to follow them. This trading guide discusses the top 10 trading rules every trader should follow and as a bonus you'll receive recent markets forecasts for over 600 world markets from VantagePoint -- at no cost!

Go here to get your e-guide and recent market forecasts!