“I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t
work.” – Thomas Edison
“…If trading is only about money, you have very little
chance of success.” – Dr. Van. K.
Tharp
In recent times, some people have questioned the morality of
online trading. Obviously, the question comes from lack of real understanding
of trading.
Trading had long been done before the advent of the
Internet: the Internet technology simply made it easier and easily accessible.
In other areas of life and business, most things that were done before the
advent of the Internet have now gone online. Think about hotel reservations and
university applications for examples.
There are different types of markets, and Forex is just one
of them. For examples, one can speculate on the prices of agricultural products
online, and the risky nature of doing that doesn’t make it immoral.
It’s clear that trading online isn’t a sin – just as reading
religious literature online and joining a service online isn’t a sin. We can
now listen to sermons online, which wasn’t possible 50 year ago. Does that make
it a sin?
With fast advances in science and technology, the ways we do
business will forever keep on changing and evolving. A few or several decades
ago, trading was done mainly in the pit, but things have changed now. Thanks to
the Internet.
James Altucher says that when he was 13 years old, the job
he’s doing now didn’t exist. His daughter might end up doing a job that didn’t
exist when she also was 13 years old. Those who don’t adapt to the changing
technological ways of life will pay a heavy price for their myopic views.
At the beginning of his book, “Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do,” Robert H. Schuller
(RIP) mentions what happened to his dad as a farmer. All his labor, crops,
property and so on, were all destroyed by a violent storm. All his hard labor
was in vain. Does that make it immoral to be a farmer?
Apart from the fact that there are certain factors beyond
the control of the farmer (like weather conditions, poor harvest and economic
forces); the farmer can sell at loss or at profit. That doesn’t make it a sin
to be a farmer. In fact, farming is a noble profession. Trading is a noble
profession too.
Robert’s dad continued working as a farmer. Though he seemed
totally hopeless and helpless, but there was inner hope in him. What later
happened to him? He was already a successful trader when he died.
One popular celebrity said she doesn’t believe in marriage.
She was married about 32 years ago, and the marriage crashed in less than 2
years. Since then, she’s been preaching against marriage. Certain male and
female celebrities also don’t believe in marriage. Does that make it wrong to
get married? I know many people whose marriages are super successful. Marriage
isn’t compulsory; neither is it evil.
A trading legend makes money trading stock and loses money
trading futures, options and Forex, and he concludes that one can’t make money
from Forex. Another legend that makes money from stocks, options and Forex says
they’re excellent markets. What can you conclude from that? It means that the
fact that one person is losing in a market doesn’t mean that others can’t make
money from the same market.
The world-famous Dr. Van K. Tharp has been using what he
calls “oneness formula” to transform lives of traders. He mentions something
like an inner guide who leads and guides traders to become successful not only
in trading, but in other areas of life. According
to him, if you are not organized or tend to procrastinate or run away and hide
each time you encounter some major psychological issue that impacts your life,
then you don’t have a chance at becoming a successful trader.
This is what one of the beneficiaries of Van Tharp’s works
has to say:
“There was a time I identified a negative association about
God and trading, and sometimes I felt uncomfortable with the idea of trading.
But then, I learned how it was just a belief. Just that. And I can always
change any belief I want, and when I see things in a different way, there is no
conflict between God and trading.” - J. Ernesto D. M. (Source: Vantharp.com).
Anne-Marie Baiynd is a successful trader as well as
religious. This is what she’s to say:
“I strive for God to be in charge of my life. I live as a
speck of dust, flawed, sinful and self-serving by nature. My existence is
defined by emptiness without the existence of the All Mighty God. I am accepted
and loved, nonetheless, and that creates within me, a great joy and contentment
knowing that all my triumphs and successes come from God.”
Sir John
Templeton, a market wizard, also said: “We are trying to persuade people that
no human has yet grasped 1% of what can be known about spiritual realities. So
we are encouraging people to start using the same methods of science that have
been so productive in other areas, in order to discover spiritual realities.” (Interview
with Financial Intelligence Report).
Bruce Bower, a hedge funds manager, is a Christian who goes
to Church regularly. Joes Ross, one of the most experienced and the most
eclectic traders in the word, is a good Christian. There are good Muslims
who’re also traders. There are good Hindus, Buddhists, etc. who’re good traders
as well. There are proficient traders all over the world who belong to major or
minor religions. This is a level playing field.
Failure Is a Good
Thing
Please see the quotes from Thomas Edison and from Dr. Van K.
Tharp above. Failure is embedded in success. It’s part of success. It gives you
opportunity to do your trading intelligently. Failure helps you to see how not
to trade. When you do trading and fail, you learn how not to trade, and you use
another method. Even if the new method fails, you try another method… Until you
come across a trading approach that works for you.
Those hugely successful people that you now envy took risks.
They could’ve failed just like many others, but they were fortunate. If they
failed, they’d try again and again. Mark Zuckerberg, who thinks of himself as
an atheist, says the biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that’s
changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not
taking risks.
The fact that you fail or the majority fail in something
doesn’t make it sinful. Good trading is a serious business, not gamble.
However, it’s not without risk, just like any other things in life.
Trading is definitely no sin. Good trading principles aren’t
against any other religions.
This piece is ended with the quotes below:
“I pray to Jesus Christ every day, but that is not a
means to handle trading. I ask Him to guide my decisions, and that I would do
my investing to glorify Him. Because I use my rules, there is little, if any,
stress over trading. My processes are designed to take my emotion out of my
infrequent buying and selling.” – David J. Merkel
“I love the markets: They are alive, they move, they have
spiritual energy. They are an expression of the universe and of course they are
my mirror, just as they are your mirror. They are the medium through which I
choose to express myself and grow. I am grateful
for this and the technology that allows me to participate and trust that the
markets will always be there, no matter what change is upon us in the coming
years.” - Mercedes Oestermann van
Essen (Source: Thebuddhisttrader.com)
