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Become a Successful Trader

November 22, 2011

10 Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make in Vegas

Attending the Traders Expo is always a blast, but when it’s set in Las Vegas it adds a little extra excitement. On top of that, I was invited to speak for the second time, a sincere honor.

I touched down at McCarran airport in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon.  After getting things situated in my hotel room I met up with Chris Dunn, Corey Rosenbloom and a handful of other traders for a little social time at Le Central Bar in the Paris Hotel.

Let the Fun Begin

Great times were had and I got to meet some new traders including A.J. Brown, Chris Henry, and Jared Tendler. It’s always fun to socialize amongst like minded people and sharing stories.

Chris Dunn, Corey Rosenbloom, Tim Racette, Chris Henry
From left to right: Chris Dunn (EminiAcademy.com), Corey Rosenbloom (AfraidtoTrade.com), Tim Racette (EminiMind.com), Chris Henry (EminiAcademy.com)

I called it an early night Wednesday since I was scheduled to speak at 8:00 AM the next morning. I did cruise down the strip a bit and take in some of the Vegas air before heading back to my room and rehearsing my talk a couple more times.

I knew I’d be able to enjoy myself more after giving my talk, so I didn’t mind being given the 8:00 AM time slot. I was a little nervous because I had two big time speakers going at the same time as me, John Carter and Robert Green. Would anyone show up to my presentation I wondered?

Time to Get Serious

I arrived about an hour early to make sure the room was setup how I wanted and to prepare my slides. Then I sat back and crossed my fingers that people would show.

Traders Expo Las Vegas

To my surprise, the room which seated 100 people or so was almost full by the time I was about to start. My delivery went just as I had practiced. I received some great questions from the audience that sparked really good dialogue during the presentation.

Truly Honored

Afterwards, a number of audience members came up and thanked me for giving such an excellent talk. I got to know a few of them and meet with a bunch of EminiMind readers as well.

I was incredibly honored when a couple of EminiMind readers said they made the trip to Vegas just to hear me speak. Thanks Rufus, Bala, Gary, and Tim I had a great time getting to know all of you.

To everyone who came out to hear me speak, Thank You so much!

How to Avoid the 10 Costliest Trading Mistakes

If you weren’t able to make it out to Vegas, no worries, I put together a re-recording of my presentation for you to view below:

Here is a link to my Presentation Slides.

If you’re looking for the transcript you can find that here.

After my talk was over I headed over to the expo area to chat with some other traders, Rob Hoffman, Markus Heikotter and John Carter. I sat in on a few presentations throughout the day and then headed out for the night.

The rest of the story stays in Vegas…

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About Tim Racette
Tim Racette is a day trader of 15+ years in the E-mini futures and swing trader of stocks. Mountain biker, lover of the outdoors, and explorer. Tim is an ASU Sun Devil and a Chicagoland Native now living in sunny Scottsdale, AZ.
10 Comments
  1. I would rather have watched your presentation in Vegas! Thanks for the great video! I agree with your presentation 100%.

  2. Great presentation Tim – thanks for posting this one and sharing it with us.

  3. It was great having you at the show Tim! See you at another one soon…

  4. Thanks for sharing this Tim! Glad you had a successful Expo. -Mercedes from MoneyShow

  5. Thanks Tim..

    I recently faced with my CFA candidate Friend and He just believes the TEch Traders in the end won’t Outperform Index. He then continues to say that he doesn’t understand why Marty schwartz or Mark Cook or Larry Williams or Paul Rotter are not as Famous as Soros or Buffett if they are making so much money. And Why they are just Teachers. He says its just because they dont make money.

    Any comments on this my Trader friends??

    • As humans we tend to fit data to our beliefs. I don’t believe there’s a correlation between how many people have heard of you and how much $ you make. BUT when these traders like Marty Schwartz or Richard Dennis or Ed Seykota made the switch from trading their own accounts to managing client assets well then yes, they had to put themselves out there to be found. And actually, Jack Schwager (author of Market Wizards) had never heard of many of the traders he interviewed, he simply got a referral from another trader.

      I can’t relate to managing multi-million and billion dollar accounts, but from what I’ve read in the form of trader interviews and such from books like Market Wizards, you have to adapt your strategy to both the market conditions over the years. As your account size changes, it can have a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of your strategy. I know some traders who manage small accounts relatively to Soros (only in the millions) and they do very well and have for 25+ years. With an edge, it certainly is possible to outperform the market, albeit fundamental or technical.

      • thanks for the reply..

        But I really wonder too why woudn’t they open up Hedge fund firm if they are so consistent. I am including you too Tim.

        If you are so consistent why do you only Trade your account when you can make so much money trading other peoples money?

        Is this the Fear of losing Freedom of Trading anytime you want? Or…has to deal with Stress??

        • Well, setting up a hedge fund and raising capital is an extremely difficult process aside from all the legalities. I did look into it a few years ago and you’re looking at 80-100k just for setup costs. For me personally, growing my own trading account is sufficient for my lifestyle, perhaps down the road I’ll revisit taking on client money.

          Stress is the other side of it. When you manage client’s money now you have their emotions and expectations to deal with, something that can impose on the trading itself. Ask any financial advisor or money manager and they will tell you it becomes a game of managing client expectations.

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