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What Kind of Forex Trader Are YOU?

By Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist
09 March 2011 12:30 GMT

What kind of trader are you?

The question seems straight-forward, but the ability to meaningfully answer it almost certainly requires a long track record amply tarnished by false starts and crippling losses, the battle scars that eventually produce each accomplished trader’s unique approach. Like mastering any skill that is more art than science, learning to trade successfully begins with a foundation of basics but ultimately cannot proceed without a deep, soul-searching journey revealing the peculiar aspects of the student’s personality that make it possible to separate what works from what doesn’t for that specific individual.

Know Thyself!

Bookshelves and websites alike are littered with manuals outlining various “winning” strategies, and each one carries a familiar disclaimer: past performance is not indicative of future results. This is as much a reflection of ever-changing market conditions as it is of the endless variety of personalities that may put a given strategy to work. Do you have the patience of a position trader to wait for months at a time before a trade turns in your favor? Do you have the discipline of a scalper to ruthlessly cut losses at the first sign of trouble? It seems easy to answer these questions off-hand, but things become profoundly more difficult in the heat of battle when a person’s hard-earned money and fragile ego are at stake.

Will the most success come with using technical or fundamental analysis? Perhaps a mixture of the two is best, but in what proportion, and what tools from each discipline are most appropriate for YOU? More often than not, the novice investor has had to pay for the answers to these questions with emotional and psychological strain as well as a good deal of money. As traders, we at DailyFX know this struggle and have created a Trading Personality Test to simplify the process, analyzing each person individually to qualify the key attributes of the strategy that fits best and offering relevant research tailored to them. While not a substitute for experience, we hope it helps you find the path to success easier and with fewer bruises.

TAKE THE TRADING PERSONALITY TEST

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09 March 2011 12:30 GMT