Ed Ponsi's book will be released next week. I've already said on the back cover that I think it's a great book. Ed is honest, an actual trader, and eats what he cooks (in other words, he trades what he teaches). Here's his book:
Yesterday, I spoke with Ed and he answered 5 Questions. One of my favorite interviews.
How did you get started in trading?
I was a stock trader, and I was lucky to start during the mid-90’s, when the market was very forgiving. I used to carry around a quote device, a sort of crude, early version of a PDA. I opened accounts with several online brokers and started placing trades. I had no idea what I was doing, but the bull market would bail me out of my bad trades.
I think the only thing that saved me was that I understood that I really didn’t know what I was doing. I decided that in order to gain a true trading education, I’d have to enter the belly of the beast. Where better to learn than Wall Street? Heck, it was just a few hours away. I began to send out my trading track record and resume to various companies. After a few months, one of them called, and my trading education began in earnest.
What's a favorite trading war story (present or past)?
Initially I had trouble holding on to my winning trades. Back in my days on Wall Street, I was holding a massive equity position when the entire system crashed – not just for me, but for all of the 200 guys in the room. That was the most frightened I had been as a trader up to that point. When the system finally came back on line hours later, I was way up on the trade. I realized that if the system had been working properly, I would’ve gotten out way too soon. After that it became much easier to hold on to my winners.
What hours do you keep for trading?
Over the years I’ve become more long-term oriented. The trends run for such a long time (just look at EUR/JPY or USD/CAD recently) that I feel cheated if I don’t catch a nice chunk of the move. My entries for this type of trading are based on price as opposed to time, so the trades could occur at any time, as long as the entry criteria is met. My trades usually last for at least a couple of days – the exits, like the entries, depend on the price. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to reach the price, or what time of day it happens. I’ve found this type of trading to be less stressful and less labor-intensive, as well as more profitable, than very active short term trading.
Is that you playing the guitar on your Web site?
No, but thanks for noticing! I wanted to go into the studio to record a ‘soundtrack’ for the website, but there just wasn’t enough time. One of my web guys came up with that guitar loop; I think it sounds pretty cool! One of these days I might record a music CD if I ever find the time.
If you could add any one thing to your book (now that it's too late!), what would you add?
It would be just this – anyone can learn to trade successfully; you just need a strong desire to succeed. Education is not a pre-requisite; there are many MBA’s who can analyze the heck out of a balance sheet, but that doesn’t make them successful traders. Intelligence is helpful, but that alone won’t get the job done – in fact, many intelligent people over-analyze trading situations and over-complicate the trading process. But if you really want to learn how to become a successful trader, and you are 100% committed to that goal, then nothing can stop you.
