It has often been believed that excellent commodity futures traders seem to possess a certain flair for trading. However, many professional traders such as Bill Lipschutz, Ed Seykota and Gary Bielfeldt believe that it is possible for traders to acquire successful trading traits. Regardless of the trading instrument used, these elements are consistent across all types of markets. This is due to the fact that human beings are ultimately the ones driving market prices up and down. At the end of the day, the market is a strong reflection of collective human emotion.

One of the first attributes for successful trading would be discipline. It is common practice for traders to follow a plan when trades are placed. This is a trading plan with preset rules that traders develop to help strategize their entry and exit strategies. Put in place prior to order placement, trading plans help to guide traders in making decisions based on entry and exit points. The problem is, many commodity futures traders tend to break their own rules when they become emotional in a trade. It’s easy to feel the adrenalin when the market is active. This can cloud the judgment of the trader and drive him to make the wrong decisions. In this sense, perfect discipline is required of the trader so that his actions become like clockwork. As these trading plans have been back-tested on historical prices before being put into use, they help traders increase the odds of a winning trade.

Another element of a winning trader would be the passion for trading. With passion, the trader would unlikely be reluctant to spend countless hours to test and retest a trading system through various scenarios. Traders who are passionate about what they do are determined to be successful traders and are willing to work hard to achieve their goals. They are also naturally disciplined and work according to a preset routine.

While discipline and passion are two important trader attributes, they are merely adequate to prepare the trader. However, the scenario changes DURING a trade, where emotions come into the picture. It is easy for predetermined trading rules and common sense to be shoved under the table during these times. Many commodity futures traders are plagued by their emotions when they are in action, make the wrong decisions and end up losing in the process. Therefore, what is required is a strong desire to win and a willingness to lose.

These two attributes may sound conflicting, but in fact, should be applied at different times during a trade. A trader with a strong desire to win will not exit prematurely in a trade. He knows exactly when to exit, and follow his rules to the dot. On the other hand, if he is in a losing trade, he will not hesitate to get out once his stop loss is hit. This is essential so as to avoid making even greater losses should his position worsen.

In reality, there are also certain traders with a subconscious desire to lose when they are in a trade. They don’t follow their trading rules and end up exiting from a trade before it makes adequate profits. On the flip side, they hold on to a commodity futures trade too long when they are losing, hoping that things will make a turn for the better. In the end, they don’t make enough in positive trades, and lose more than they should in losing ones.

Finally, an excellent trader strikes a balance between knowledge, skills, experience and control of emotions. With all of these attributes, there is a reason to believe that everyone has the potential to become great commodity futures trading traders.