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Turtle Trading – The Turtles made Millions with no Trading
Experience, and You Can Too!
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Turtle Trading – The Turtles made Millions
with no Trading Experience, and You Can Too!
In two weeks a group of 14 people from different walks of
life were taught to trade, and these “turtles” as they were
nicknamed became world famous.
There’s much to learn from the turtle traders - lets look
at how they did it and how we can copy them.
The turtle trading experiment proved ANYONE can become a
successful trader and everything about trading can be learned.
Traders with no experience learned the tools to make millions
in just two weeks, and they came from a variety of diverse jobs
and backgrounds, including:
· An actor
· A security
guard
· Two professional
card players
· A bookkeeper
· A boy fresh
out of school
· A woman
who used to be an exchange clerk
They then went on to make annualized 70% returns!
Is Trading a Learned Skill, or is it all Down to Natural
Ability?
In 1984, Richard Dennis taught a Trend Following trading
methodology to a group of students, to prove anyone, no matter
what their profession, could be taught to trade successfully
in financial markets.
Dennis was settling a debate with his friend and business
partner William Eckhardt over whether trading skills could be
taught to anyone.
The Importance of Following Trading Rules
Dennis believed that trading abilities, given in a set of
rules, could be taught to others. Eckhardt believed trading
abilities had more to do with innate instincts.
The Experiment
The group of 14 traders he taught (the turtles) earned an
average annual compound rate of return of 80% far in excess
of most professional asset fund managers, proving Dennis right.
What the Experiment Proved
The experiment with the “turtles” showed that anyone could
indeed be taught to trade - all they had to do was learn, and
follow a set of rules.
This is where we can all learn something from the turtle
trading experiment.
What you can learn from the Turtles
Trading actually looks quite simple, yet few succeed.
The reason most traders fail is simply they cannot get the
right mindset. The turtle trading experiment taught them the
RIGHT MINDSET to succeed.
The system they were taught was essentially simple, so simple
in fact, that anyone with the will to learn it could.
Dennis however realized that the problem was that most people
can trade successfully, but don’t because they can’t trade with
discipline. Their emotions get the better of them and they end
up losing.
Why is Discipline so Important?
Quite simply, without the discipline to follow a method,
you don’t have a method in the first place, and are doomed to
failure - money management goes out the window and losses follow.
Dennis taught them to have confidence in the system they
were trading, and follow it rigidly to achieve success.
A Simple System made the Turtles Money
Dennis also knew that complicated trading methods are NOT
likely to be more successful than simple ones - in fact, a simple
trading system is more likely to be successful, as it will be
more robust in the face of changing market conditions.
Not only was the system simple, it was easy to understand
- meaning the turtles had confidence in it and could apply it
with rigid discipline.
So, What can we Learn from the Turtles?
Well, we know that anyone can learn to trade quite quickly.
We also know that simple systems applied with discipline and
strict money management will work over time.
The turtle story is inspiring, as we know that anyone with
the mindset to succeed can, and it doesn’t matter what we do
for a living - trading success is within reach of all of us.
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