The reason 90% of traders fail is not because they cannot read a candlestick. It is because they cannot read themselves . Every Wiley PDF ever written points to the same conclusion: The market is a mirror. It reflects your impatience, your greed, and your fear.
The intermediate trader often becomes too mechanical. They forget that markets shift regimes (from trending to ranging). Their backtested system that worked in a bull market fails in a sideways chop. trading basics evolution of a trader wiley tradingpdf
The trader survives six months without blowing up their account. Stage 2: The Intermediate (The Mechanical Martyr) Psychological State: Disciplined but rigid. Focus: System execution and backtesting. The reason 90% of traders fail is not
In this stage, the trader is looking for the perfect entry. They hoard PDFs, collect indicators (RSI, MACD, Stochastic), and believe that if they just find the right combination, the market will become an ATM. It reflects your impatience, your greed, and your fear
At this point, the trader has read the PDFs. They have a checklist. They enter trades based on patterns (head & shoulders, flags, wedges). This is where Thomas N. Bulkowski’s Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns (Wiley) becomes the bible.
| | Goal | Key Indicator | Position Size | Wiley Reference | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Novice | Survival | Simple Moving Average (20 & 200) | 0.5% risk per trade | Trading for a Living – Elder | | Intermediate | Consistency | ATR (Volatility) & RSI Divergence | 1% risk per trade | Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns – Bulkowski | | Professional | Asymmetric Returns | Order Flow / Cumulative Delta | Variable (Kelly Criterion) | The Evolution of a Trader (PDF) – Bulkowski | The Single Most Important Paragraph You Will Read If you take nothing else from this article, remember this: Trading basics are learned in a week. The evolution of a trader takes years.