Yet, that’s exactly where I’ve started planning my next trip to: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Turkey. Why exactly?
Well, it’s very simple:
Because in life, like in trading, nothing is as it is constantly being presented in the media.
I’ve traveled to 65 countries and the most important lesson I learned is… that the world is much safer than we think. Seriously. Each day we see wars, shooting and violence on the TV. But this is just a very very tiny part of the world we live in. I would even say less than 1%!
During my travels, I’ve visited some really crazy and potentially “dangerous” places. And I can tell you – I have never, EVER, felt as unsafe, as the mass media are constantly trying to imply the world is. Quite the opposite: I mostly met friendly people, who only want to be shown a bit of respect. Even when I got lost in a dangerous area in Phoenix, and I had to ask two drugged guys for directions, they showed surprising kindness once I showed some respect to them.
Now, let’s talk about the markets.
The media love horror stories of lost fortunes and ruined lives. However, this again is NOT the reality.
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During my trading career, I’ve met thousands of traders. NONE of them ever lost their entire fortune. Yes, there were guys who lost some significant amounts of money, but after a few months of being shaken up, their lives continued on. The truth is, most losing traders lose something here, something there, but definitely not a life ruining tragedy.
So again, the mass media love cherry-picking only the stories they can put enough drama into, but totally ignore this is a very tiny fraction of traders, probably again less than 1%.
And when it comes to not being in that 1%, I again believe that it all comes down to RESPECT too.
If you simply develop a healthy respect for the markets, knowing that markets not only can reward you but also bite you, the chances of a tragic ruin, are in my opinion, close to zero.
Sure, there can still be some highly unexpected incidents, like a brokerage company going out of business. But in the same way you could be hit by a car any time you go out of your house. We can’t control and predict everything.
Yet, with a hefty dose of respect, I believe you will always be more or less fine.
That’s also why I’m totally not afraid to travel to Saudi Arabia and the surrounding countries. And I’m already looking forward to it a lot (probably in April already).
Meanwhile, don’t forget to check out some proven techniques to give markets more respect too, like the Smashing False Breakouts, Trading Market Internals, or Dynamic Position Sizing programs.
Happy trading!
Tomas
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