A great post today in the WSJ's Informed Reader blog got me thinking. The post discusses the fact that "highly intelligent" Presidents have not necessarily performed better. The post states:
Furthermore, many of the situations that presidents face are defined by uncertainty, rather than complexity.
This is true of traders as well. Highly intelligent people that i have worked with, often have a tendency to over-think a trading situation. They believe that trading is complex, which then leads them to create highly complex trading systems with endless parameters. In my experience, simple systems work better. When I have visited traders that work on Wall Street, I have found them to be highly disciplined, willing to take responsibility for their decisions, firm in their management of risk. But they don't care if they are viewed as the smartest people in the room. Being right to them, in other words, isn't as important as making money.
