By Zachary Storella, CountingPips.com
Today, I am very pleased to bring you our latest trader interview with Brady Dahl. Brady is the author of the new trading book Momo Traders which chronicles the trading experiences and adventures of ten successful retail stock market traders. A writer who is best known for his work on the first four seasons of the FX hit show Sons of Anarchy, Brady has also been an active stock market trader since 2008.
Momo Traders, which donates a portion of its proceeds to charity, is an entertaining read as these full-time, independent traders possess diverse personalities, trading styles and strategies as well as provide fascinating accounts of their big losses, big wins and lessons learned. In this interview, we touch upon his work on the Momo Traders book and his own personal insights on what he learned from the traders.
Q: Hi Brady, thank you for agreeing to join us for an interview and congratulations on a great book. These traders you profile are very similar to many people who are participating in forex trading. I think anyone who is starting out as a trader or someone who might have an interest in hearing real trading stories from successful traders can definitely benefit from your book. I know I did.
BD: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And thank you for having me.
Q: What made you decide to write this book?
Free Reports:
BD: I always wanted to sit next to great traders while they worked and ask them dozens of questions and basically just absorb as much as possible. I
Q: Did you have any expectations going into this project? Do you feel you met what you set out to do?
BD: I didn’t have lofty expectations if that’s what you mean. Personally I expect myself to do the best I can in any endeavor, so there are those standards, but as a writer, you do the work and then let the audience interpret it, for better or worse. In this case, we’ve received such an overwhelmingly positive response, I definitely feel we achieved what we set out to do. It’s been very rewarding to hear great feedback from traders of all skill levels.
Q: Do you have any favorite trading books?
BD: No particular favorites, but I will say this… I’ve read many investment books and trading books, and the best, most compelling reads, are the ones where passages make you stop and say, “Wow.” And then you have to re-read that sentence or paragraph two or three more times while you try to digest it, like you can’t possibly move on until you soaked it in a few times — set the book down on your lap and shake your head moments. And for me, I find that phenomenon always occurs when reading about someone’s personal account of their trading, as opposed to simply reading about charts. Those were the moments of inspiration I needed to start investing and trading in the first place years ago.
Q: What did you find was the hardest thing about writing the book?
BD: Editing. The conversations were easy. I could have discussed topics for days with these guys. But the editing was painstaking and took months. But absolutely necessary and worth it.
Q: How did you choose the traders you interviewed? Were there certain requirements? How diverse were their backgrounds?
BD: Co-creator Nathan Michaud and I put together lists of traders we both thought were awesome and then whittled it down. I guess I never even thought about their backgrounds until I started asking them questions about their childhoods during the interviews. The only real requirement that I wanted to stick to was that these traders should be people who did what we did, which was trade every day for themselves. We had read books with traders who were way out of our league, trading billions of dollars of other people’s money, but that never felt relatable or even attainable, to be honest. The traders in Momo Traders still trade in the trenches every day, just like our readers.
Q: I would say one of the most interesting aspects of the interviews was that many of these traders seemed to be specialists in shorting the stock market. As someone who is unfamiliar with the stock trading ins and outs, I had always heard that shorting the stock market was very difficult. So I found that surprising. Was there anything that really surprised you?
BD: The most surprising aspect of the process in general was just how forthcoming and honest the traders were in their answers. They didn’t shy away or hesitate to discuss specific trading setups, techniques, actual trades, most profitable setups — pretty much anything I asked them. We even got into account size, position sizing, and how much money they make each year. These traders aren’t worried about sharing their “secrets” because they’re confident in their ability to keep learning and evolving as the market changes.
Q: Do you feel that anyone could be a successful trader or do you think it takes certain features, characteristics or backgrounds?
BD: I think trading can definitely be learned, just like any other craft, with drive, dedication, and determination. Now are some personalities better suited to trading? Probably. But it’s also not out of the question to change your personality, either. It all depends how much work you’re willing to put in on yourself. If you aren’t already disciplined, or cannot become disciplined through behavioral change and personal growth, you will not succeed in trading.
Q: Did you find any important common characteristics that most of the traders shared?
BD: Determination and discipline. They were determined to succeed when they were first starting out, even after blowing up accounts and failing. They got back up and started again. And their discipline is what makes them profitable, because it allows them to — without hesitation — enter trades when great setups present themselves and stop trades when they’re not working. Two seemingly simple tasks which become exceedingly difficult without discipline.
Q: What would you say stands out as the biggest thing you learned about successful trading from writing this book?
BD: Reacting versus predicting. People tend to think great traders are predicting price action through sheer gut feeling and intuition. Surely he must have known that stock was going to go up a buck, that’s why he longed it right before it made the move. But I’ve learned that’s just not the case. Most of the great day traders are not predicting future action but rather reacting to current action. When familiar conditions present themselves — whether that’s news, promotion, price action, volume, or anything else — these traders simply react. They buy and sell just like they’ve done time and time again on similar setups. Then if the stock doesn’t do what they expected it to do, they react again to current action and cut their losses. It’s a realization that, again, may sounds simple, but to me, it means trading can be learned and that you don’t have to be some prophetic genius.
Q: Do you think you would like to write another book about trading?
BD: Sure. And after so many readers have said they were saddened to turn the last page of Momo Traders because they enjoyed it so much, perhaps I will.
Q: What is the best way for people interested in the book to get more information?
BD: If anyone wants more information, feel free to contact us @MomoTraders or using the contact info at http://www.MomoTraders.com. Thanks! And good luck in your trading!
Thanks Zac!
Thank you Brady for taking the time to answer my questions in our latest interview. To find out more about the Momo Traders book, please visit his websites at bradydahl.com and momotraders.com.
