Retired Traders Fail Because They Lose Accountability

Van’s Note: Van Bryan here, Jeff Brown’s managing editor. At The Bleeding Edge, our focus is on the biggest tech trends right around the corner. But we also like to occasionally share valuable ideas from our friends and colleagues.

Today, we bring another essay from Jeff Clark, a master trader who is holding a very special event tonight at 8 p.m. His son – after being stuck at home during the lockdowns – wants to learn to trade his own money just like his dad. And Jeff is going to show him how with the technique that allowed him to originally retire at age 42.

It’s a lesson no one interested in learning to trading should miss. Go right here to sign up.

By Jeff Clark, Editor, The Delta Report

I’ve always argued to my customer service representatives that, while I love getting positive feedback (because it’s motivational and inspires me to work even harder for the benefit of my subscribers), the negative feedback provides a greater opportunity for me to better educate readers.

But there’s one type of feedback I get every so often that I feel I should comment on… Especially because it fits with something completely different I’m doing tonight.

Some subscribers have written to me saying that if I was really that good at what I do, then I would just trade for a living rather than sell a newsletter.

I have to tell you – I make FAR MORE money trading every year than I will EVER make in the newsletter business.

When I closed my brokerage firm on September 30, 2007 – which should earn the “market timer of the century” award – I didn’t want to fall into the trap that so many other previously successful traders fell into. They left the trading business, retired, and figured they’d spend the rest of their days trading their own money.

But they discounted the value of accountability.

When they were trading other people’s money, they performed rigorous research. They had to explain the rationale behind their trades. And they were held accountable for their mistakes.

When these traders retired, accountability went out the window. And so did their success.

Instead of rigorously following the markets, these traders would put on their positions and then spend the rest of the day on the golf course or in restaurants and bars. It was just their own money, after all. They weren’t handling other folks’ funds anymore. They figured that if they took a loss on a trade, they could easily make it back up.

You can guess what happened to most of these traders.

They lost the “edge” that made them successful. They stopped doing the research, performing the work, and sticking to the discipline that made them consistently profitable. And they ended up blowing their accounts.

I didn’t want to do that.

So when I retired from running my own brokerage firm in 2007, I focused my energy on my newsletter business.

I’m accountable for every trade I recommend. It doesn’t matter if it’s a recommendation with a complete write-up or a quick “scalp” trade that I recommend in my blog. I know subscribers are putting their hard-earned money behind my advice. And I take that responsibility VERY seriously.

It’s that seriousness that forces me to delve into the details of the trade and to perform the rigorous research that I used to provide to the clients of my brokerage firm. And it’s that sort of research that helps me maintain my “edge” in my own trading account.

Make no mistake… This isn’t a selfless endeavor.

Yes, I hope folks can profit off of my advice. And I want to share my best trading ideas with as many people as possible. But if you want to boil it down to the lowest common denominator…

The reason I write a trading newsletter is because it keeps me sharp. It keeps me accountable to the value of my research. And it helps me maintain my edge as a trader.

I always give my best ideas to readers… but I still make a lot of money trading stocks and options. Much of that success is spun off from the discipline I have to instill by recommending trades to subscribers. I work as hard as I possibly can to make sure you can profit off of my advice.

It doesn’t always work out that way. But if I thought for one moment that my trading ideas were causing more harm than good, then I’d gladly retire and spend the rest of my days lying on a hammock. I’ve made far more money than I – or, more importantly, my wife – could ever spend.

For me, trading is a passion. I look forward to every day I have a chance to profit in the stock market. And I want to share that passion with as many people as possible because it makes me a better trader.

To prove it to you, I’m going to be giving the same advice I’ve given to my readers for years to my own flesh and blood – my son, Carson, who wants to learn to trade.

I’m going to give him a crash course in trading tonight at 8 p.m. ET and broadcast it. Then, he’ll take everything he learns from our lesson and make an option trade entirely on his own with $1,000 he made from landscaping work in our neighborhood last year.

Most importantly… It will be his decision. And if the trade doesn’t work out, I won’t be bailing him out.
I’m confident he’ll pull it off. And if you want to see his attempt, be sure to sign up for your seat right here.

Best regards and good trading,

Regards,

Jeff Clark
Editor, The Delta Report

P.S. In fact, a lot of what’s been keeping me sharp lately is Carson’s newfound interest in what I do.

Carson just graduated high school in May. He’s been curious about how I’ve been able to provide for our family in the way that I have… vacations in Italy, our beautiful home in northern California… and how he can potentially have the same kind of financial stability.

Tonight at 8 pm E.T., I’ll be sharing my technique with Carson, and he’ll try to double his money on a short-term trade. He’s never done this before – and he knows the risk of putting his own hard-earned savings on the line… with no chance of me bailing him out if he fails.

At the event, I’ll also be giving attendees a free trade recommendation – so you can try my technique out for yourself. Sign up here.

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