3 Best Traders To Learn From

The beauty of the internet allows you to learn from anywhere in the world – for free. Almost any topic you could possibly want to know more about is covered somewhere on the internet. Wikipedia and Investopedia alone are treasure troves of basic knowledge. Nowadays, no one needs to go to a school to learn trading 101, but a quick Google seach can kickstart a journey into trading.

Of course, some traders and investors are more successful than others. They’ll have made a name for themselves in their field, being hailed as the best. It’s difficult to say what exactly sets them apart – is it personality, mindset, work ethic? We may never know.

What we do know however, is that one of the best ways to learn is understand what the best do and then imitate them.

Let’s look at 6 of the best traders of all time and what key lessons we can take away from them to expand our trading 101 repertoire.

• 1) Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet is one of the most successful financial investors of all time, period. Today he’s one of the world’s wealthiest men, famous for his modesty and non-flashy lifestyle. He’s the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world’s largest holding companies.

Buffet has a simple philosophy, which is to “never lose money.” He preaches patience and preparation. One of the key lessons to take away from him is to be ready when the signs are aligning. Your research might show that a big move is happening in your market, which doesn’t exactly happen every day. When those stars align, it’s all about maximizing gains, not quick profits.

This means there’s often more money to be made if one looks at the longer term and waits a few days, weeks or months before jumping on a big mover in the market.

• 2) Ray Dalio

In a similar vein to Warren Buffet, Ray Ralio is a living legend in the finance world. He’s also a billionaire investor and manages one of the world’s most prominent hedge funds and investment firms, called Bridgewater Associates. He’s listed in the top 100 wealthiest people in the world.

Dalio teaches a lesson that many traders take too long to learn – there is no place for emotions when it comes to finance. Getting attached to trades or stocks is a surefire way to lose money. No one cares if you were right or wrong, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is if you profited or not.

To be a successful trader, one needs to self-evaluate one’s personal strengths and weaknesses and go into the market aware of them to consciously work around them.

• 3) George Soros

George Soros is one of the most influential people in the world. His claim to fame is a little different than most others – he had a more notorious rise to power. In 1992, Soros made headlines when he placed $10b on a single forex trade. He essentially shorted the entire Great British Pound on his own and ended up profiting almost $2b on that single trade. This sent the GBP into turmoil and ruined the year for a lot of people.

He then opened his own company, now known as the Quantum Fund. He’s known for his highly aggressive investment strategy and regularly generated returns over 30% per year.

The lesson to learn from him is about betting on the unexpected. Plenty of traders will follow the herd and the results are obvious – you follow the herd, you lose with the herd. Too many traders get caught up in a biased view of a market, convinced that it’ll always be a bear or a bull, when in reality a market can flip in the span of minutes. Always prepare for the unexpected – becoming complacent will lose you money.