Yes, I admit it…
I have never been to a full-blown trading conference before.
Why?
Well, I have been to a lot of real estate investing seminars and they are all pretty similar. I have also helped organize a real estate conference.
So I know what goes on behind the scenes.
They do give you some good education, but they are mostly there to pitch you on courses from the speakers.
…and they pitch hard.
I felt that this blog has given me access to enough resources and traders, so that I didn't have to subject myself to a pitch-fest. But at the same time, it isn't that easy to meet other traders in my area and it is really hard to get in-person access to the best traders in the world.
Trading can also make you feel a little isolated.
So at the beginning of this year, I made it a goal to attend at least one trading conference. It was one of the best decisions that I have made for my trading, this year.
In this post, I will show you which conference I went to, what I thought of it and why I feel you should make the effort to got out to at least one a year too.
Let's get started…
The Market Doesn't Matter
Before I begin, I think that it's important to mention that you don't have to only attend Forex related conferences. Learning about options, stocks, futures and even bitcoin, can actually be a refreshing experience.
Sometimes, we get too comfortable in our little Forex world and we forget that there is a lot more out there. I'm not saying that you should jump into these other markets blindly. But there may be trading concepts that you can use.
That's why I went to the Trader and Investors Summit, put on by Tim Skyes. It was primarily a penny stock conference. Here are the top 5 things that I benefited from.
Maybe they can help you too…
1. The Live Trading Session
It wasn't all penny stocks, but that was the majority of the content. There were also speakers who talked about how hedge funds invest, bitcoin, Forex and futures.
It was a really good mix of different markets, trading styles and opinions. Tim Sykes did a great job of providing a wide range of viewpoints and education.
I also liked the fact that there wasn't much hard selling.
There has to be some selling, that is just how it works. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense for the speakers to come out.
But in this case, I felt that it was very tastefully done.
There was a ton of value, especially the live trading session with Tim. Understanding the thought process of a professional trader, in real-time, is worth the price of admission.
In this session, he took one trade and made about $500. The biggest lesson was to stay out of the market, if you don't see anything, or you are tired.
A great lesson for a trader at any level.
Others in the crowd made $4,000…but who knows how much risk they took and how big their account was. It was actually a lot of fun to see people in the crowd making money.
2. Get New Trading Ideas
Good trading is good trading. The markets are a little different, the strategies might be a little different, but at the end of the trading day, it is all about making money.
If you get just one good idea or learn a new way to improve your trading, it could be worth the price of admission. Sometimes all it takes is hearing something you have heard before, in a different way.
3. Learn the Successful Trading Mindset
For me, this was the biggest benefit. When you hear about what these successful traders had to overcome and where they are now, that reminds you that you can do it too.
These speakers can also reinforce things that you know you should be doing in your trading, but maybe aren't. For me, that was keeping better records of my trades. For others, it may have been to do more backtesting.
So don't underestimate the transformative power that seeing a great speaker can have on your success. It might sound cheesy, but once you have experienced it, you will want more.
4. The 5% Show Up Too
Let's face it, most of the people at trading conferences haven't placed a trade yet, or are still in their first year of trading. That's just the nature of the beast.
Want to know how to tell a newbie at a conference? They have an exotic car as the wallpaper on their laptop.
Give it a try and see how it works. Now you know who NOT to sit next to.
This seems to be pretty similar across the board. Regardless if you attend a conference for trading, real estate, online marketing or whatever, the fact is that most people are there to kick the tires and “see what this _____ thing is all about.”
…and as we know, 95% of those people will fail.
But that's OK.
Hopefully, they will move on to something that really excites them and they will succeed at.
So why should you spend a bunch of money to go to a conference, only to talk to newbies? Well, guess what?
The ballers show up to these conferences too.
500 people signed up for this summit. So if the 5% success rate is is applicable to this event, then there were about 25 legit traders in attendance.
There were about 10 speakers there, so that would leave about 15 people in the audience. One of the speakers asked how many people traded for a living and I would say that about that many people raised their hands.
Some of then may have been full of shit, but there were some legit traders, for sure.
My point is that you will have access to significantly more successful traders than you will have access to in your real life. It is a tremendous opportunity to meet professional traders.
5. Change Your Environment
Sometimes it helps to get out of the house.
…or your state.
…or your country.
We can get stuck in a rut sometimes and a change of scenery might just be the thing you need to start making some progress. Having the same routine every day can get boring.
Shake things up a little and you might be surprised at what happens.
Conclusion
So if trading is getting a little lonely and you feel like you are stuck, going to a trading conference just might be what you need to kickstart your trading mojo again.
Obviously, not all trading conferences will be good, some might really suck. But if you start going to one or two every year, you will learn to pick out the good ones and they can be a lot of fun.
If you can't find a trading conference near you, a Meetup group could be the next best thing. I hope to see you at one soon!
